George Magnus

George Magnus is the Senior Economic Adviser at UBS Investment Bank and the author of UPRISING: Will Emerging Markets Shape or Shake the World Economy? and The Age of Aging (October 2008). Previously he had served as the Chief Economist with effect from the merger of UBS and Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC).

Mr. Magnus' held previous senior positions at UBS before the merger with SBC, S.G. Warburg (1987-95), Chase Securities (1985-87, previously Laurie Milbank), and Bank of America (1977-85). Previously he worked at Lloyds Bank International (1974-77), the UK Government’s Central Office of Information (1972-74), and he taught at Westminster University and the University of Illinois. Mr. Magnus received an MSc Econ from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and did postgraduate research at the University of Illinois.

Mr. Magnus has long experience of analyzing the global economy and engaging with clients and the media. He has been working on several thematic issues, including demographic change, the economic causes and consequences of globalization, the creation and deployment of petrodollars and sovereign wealth funds, the implications of a the re-emergence of a new Silk Road in Asia and the credit cycle in the global economy.

In 2007, Mr. Magnus predicted in March that the US sub-prime mortgage finance crisis would become a Minsky Moment–or a full-blown credit crunch, named after the US economist Hyman Minsky–and he has written a series of illuminating research papers to highlight the nature and consequences of the crisis, and now, the economic aftermath.