Biography
George Papaconstantinou is the Acting Director of the Florence School of Transnational Governance. Papaconstantinou is also the EUI Dean of Executive Education and holds the Chair of International Political economy at the STG.
He is an economist who holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and has served government at the highest level, as cabinet minister, Member of Parliament and Member of European Parliament (MEP). As Greece’s Finance Minister and subsequently Minister of Environment and Energy, he guided implementation of an ambitious and wide-ranging governance reform programme relating to budget and revenue processes, market liberalisation, publicly owned corporations and the divestment of state assets, as well as for the transition to clean energy and a green economy.
In the earlier part of his career, he was a senior economist at the OECD, subsequently served in a policy advisory capacity for the Greek government, was a Board member of the largest telecoms company in Greece, taught at the Athens University of Economics and Business and consulted for the European Commission and international think-tanks. Since leaving public office, his work has focused on economic and financial policy-related analysis and governance issues. He has recently published 'Whatever It Takes - The Battle for Post-Crisis Europe'.
At the STG, Professor Papaconstantinou teaches Economics for Policy: Macroeconomics and International Economics and the Crisis Seminar, comparing recent crisis episodes. As EUI Dean of Executive Education, he also coordinates the Institute’s executive education activities aimed at policy professionals. His research focuses on the economics and politics of crises, on the transformation of global governance and the political economy of European integration.