Xavier Sala i Martin is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading economists, especially in the field of economic growth. He is Professor of Economics at Columbia University, Chief Economic Adviser at the World Economic Forum, and co-author of The Global Competitiveness Report. He was also Chairman of Barcelona Football Club.

He is a well recognised authority on growth and development, macroeconomics, social security, public finance, monetary theory and health economics. The Global Competitiveness Report, annually published by the World Economic Forum provides insight into the drivers of 148 economies’ productivity and prosperity, and Sala i Martin 2004 has been author of the prestigious Global Competitiveness Index published in the report.

He is currently a Professor at Columbia University where he is regularly rated the No 1 Professor by the students. He lectures on macro-economics to the undergraduates, innovation to the MBA Programme and economic growth and development to the PhD students. He is also a Visiting Professor at Pompeu Fabra and taught at the Universities of Yale (1990-95) and Harvard (2002-03). He was a consultant to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank (1993-2004) and researcher at the Centre for European Policy Research (1992-2004).

Sala i Martin was also a member of the Advisory Board of UNESPA (Spanish Association of Insurance Companies) and of the Catalan Board for Telefonica since 2004. He has been a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) since 1991, Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Growth since 1995, and Patron of the Fundació Catalunya Oberta since 2000.

Sala i Martin was a Board Member and Treasurer of Barcelona FC between 2004-10, and President during the three month electoral process of 2006. In 2004 he founded “Umbele: A Future for Africa,” a non-profit organisation that promotes economic development in thirteen countries in Africa, as well as of the non-profit “CEOs Without Borders.”

A columnist for the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia, he makes weekly appearances on the Catalan Radio Network RAC, on the television show Divendres of TV3, and on radio Onda Cero. He also contributes to CNN. He has authored numerous articles, papers and books.