Dr. Tarron Khemraj

Professor of Economics and International Studies

William and Marie Selby Chair

Education

PhD Economics (The New School)
MA Development Economics (University of Manchester)
B.Soc.Sc. Economics (University of Guyana)

Dr. Khemraj considers himself to be extremely fortunate to teach courses in which he is conducting research, allowing for out-of-textbook readings, discussions and perspectives once students are exposed to the fundamentals. He cherishes the opportunity to teach introductory courses to students who are fresh to economics. His practical central banking experience continues to motivate aspects of his teaching and research.

He is an unorthodox monetary macroeconomist, with strong emphasis on international finance and open economy macroeconomics. His work studies the interaction between financial institutions and markets as well as monetary aggregates and the real variables such as GDP, private investment, savings, employment, government spending, taxation, among others. He is interested in understanding how real-life fiat notes and bank deposits, as opposed to money as an exogenous numeraire, are created and destroyed, and their general implication for inflation, short-term growth, employment, foreign exchange rate, interest rate and foreign exchange market stability – the latter being a key determinant of living standards in developing and emerging economies. His research also encompasses the long-term problems of structural change and political economy. His theoretical and empirical modeling strategies aim for external consistency, accounting for real-life money as well as financial institutions and markets, production structure, geography, and historical facts; while internal consistency is presented when relevant and necessary.

Recent Courses

Econometrics
International Economics
Money, Banking and Financial Markets
Principles of Economics
Development Economics
Political Economy

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

“Dominant currency shocks and foreign exchange pressure in the periphery.” Review of Keynesian Economics, Vol. 12, No.1, 2024 (co-author: Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan).

“Structural change and sectoral interconnectedness in two resource-abundant economies.” Resources Policy, Vol. 88, January, 2024 (co-author: Sukrishnalall Pasha).

“Inflation dynamics and quantitative easing.” Eastern Economic Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4, 2023 (co-author: Sherry Yu).

“Central bank securities and foreign exchange market intervention in a developing economy.” Review of Development Economics, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2022 (co-author Eli Direye).

“Two ethnic security dilemmas: a political economy channel of the natural resource curse.” Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 70 (3&4), 2021.

“Geography, economic structures and institutions: a synthesis,” Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Vol. 51, December, 2019 (co-author: Collin Constantine).

“Exchange rate targeting and gold demand by central banks: modeling international reserves composition.” Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Vol. 55, Issue 1, 2019 (co-author: Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan).

“Monetary policy and excess liquid assets in small open developing economies,” in Handbook of Small States: Economic, Social and Environmental Issues (editor: Lino Briguglio), London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis, 2018.

“The political economy of Guyana’s underdevelopment.” Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 43, Issue 3, 2016.

“The effectiveness of Quantitative Easing: new evidence on private investment.” Applied Economics, Vol. 48, Issue 28, 2016 (co-author Sherry X. Yu).

“The colonial origins of Guyana’s underdevelopment.” Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 64, Nos. 2&3, 2015.

Money, Banking and the Foreign Exchange Market in Emerging Economies. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2014.

“Bank liquidity preference and the investment demand constraint.” Economic Modelling, Vol. 33 (July).

“Dual nominal anchors in the Caribbean.” Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 39, Issue 4, 2012 (co-author: Sukrishnalall Pasha).

“Analysis of an unannounced foreign exchange regime change.” Economic Systems, Vol. 36, Issue 1, 2012 (co-author: Sukrishnalall Pasha)

“What does excess bank liquidity say about the loan market in Less Developed Countries?” Oxford Economic Papers, Vol. 62, No. 1, 2010.