Overtveldt, Johan Van 1955–

PERSONAL:

Born August 24, 1955; married Hilde Jacobs, 1978; children: Matthias, David, Frederik, Laura. Education: University of Antwerp (UFSIA), license, 1977, Ph.D., 2001; Catholic University of Leuven, M.B.A., 1978. Hobbies and other interests: Read, bicycle, jog.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Belgium. Office—Director, VKW Denktank, Sneeuwbeslaan 20, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.

CAREER:

Trends magazine, Belgium, editor, 1978-82, head editor, 1992-99, chief economist, 1999-2004; Brussels Lambert Bank, staff member, 1982-87; Shoekonfex (distribution chain of shoes and textiles), general director, 1987-91; BTR, automotive group advisor, 1991-92; VKW Metena, Belgium, director, 2004.

WRITINGS:

(With others) Crash or Boom? De Wereldeconomie Op Het Einde Van Het Millennium, Roularta Books (Roeselare, Belgium), 1999.

Fons Verplaetse, De Peetvader, Roularta Books (Roeselare, Belgium), 1999.

Marktzege(n): Zes Aanklachten Tegen Het Antiglobalisme, Pelckmans (Kapellen, Belgium), 2002.

De Euroscheppers: Macht En Manipulatie Achter De Euro, Pelckmans (Kapellen, Belgium), 2003.

The Chicago School: How the University of Chicago Assembled the Thinkers Who Revolutionized Economics and Business, Agate (Chicago, IL), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Knack, Trends, Time, Standard, and the Wall Street Journal.

SIDELIGHTS:

Johan Van Overtveldt is an expert in economics and serves as director of VKW Metena, a think tank located in Belgium that focuses primarily on issues related to the economy. In the past, he held a number of positions at Trends, a news magazine, including editor and chief economist. His writings have appeared in various news publications worldwide, including Time, the Standard, and the Wall Street Journal. He has also published several books, primarily in Belgium, and is best known on an international level for The Chicago School: How the University of Chicago Assembled the Thinkers Who Revolutionized Economics and Business, which was released in the United States in 2007. The book takes a look at the history of the study of business and economics at the University of Chicago, an institute of higher education whose graduates and professors have garnered an unusually high proportion of Nobel Prizes and other awards in the economics field. Overtveldt examines the theory behind the famed "Chicago School" of economics, which advocates a strongly free-market economy, and its proponents, as well as the history of disagreement both on campus and in the academic community on the whole. A reviewer for ForeWord Magazine online dubbed the book a "challenging and informative study." Writing in the Economist, a reviewer found: "This is an admirably detailed and thoroughly welcome history of a great centre of economic thought." A reviewer in Publishers Weekly concluded that the book's "exploration of the interaction between institution and idea is unique and fascinating."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2007, Mary Whaley, review of The Chicago School: How the University of Chicago Assembled the Thinkers Who Revolutionized Economics and Business, p. 10.

Economist, June 23, 2007, "Hyde Park Corner: Economics in Chicago," p. 96.

Internet Bookwatch, August, 2007, "The Chicago School."

Publishers Weekly, March 26, 2007, review of The Chicago School, p. 77.

Reference & Research Book News, May, 2007, review of The Chicago School.

ONLINE

American: A Magazine of Ideas,http://www.american.com/ (May 17, 2007), Alan D. Viard, "A Free-Market Outpost in the Midwest," review of The Chicago School.

ForeWord Magazine,http://www.forewordmagazine.com/ (October 9, 2007), review of The Chicago School.

Midwest Book Review,http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (October 9, 2007), review of The Chicago School.

Stockholm Network Web site,http://www.stockholmnetwork.org/ (October 25, 2005), "Lessons from US Social Security Reform."

VKW Metena Web site, http://www.vkwmetana.be/ (October 9, 2007), employee profile.