Blejer, Mario Israel
BLEJER, MARIO ISRAEL
BLEJER, MARIO ISRAEL (1948– ). Israeli economist. Born in Córdoba, Argentina, to a traditional family, Blejer studied in the local Jewish day school and in 1967 made aliyah to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he received his B.A. (1970) in economics and Jewish history and his M.A. (1972) in economics. He received his Ph. D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1975. During his academic career Blejer held the Walther Rathenau Chair in Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1996–99) and taught at Boston University, New York University, Johns Hopkins, the University of Geneva, George Washington University, Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires, and the Central European University in Budapest. At the same time (1980–2001) he served at the International Monetary Fund, where he reached the level of senior. In 2001 he returned to Argentina to be appointed deputy governor and in 2002 governor of the Central Bank. He served in that position for one year, dealing with the country's financial crisis. In January 2003, Blejer moved to London, where he became the director of the Centre for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England and a member of the Financial Stability Board of the Bank. He also served as an advisor to the governor. He published books and numerous articles in specialized journals.
[Efraim Zadoff (2nd ed.)]