Peter Hubert Thurlow

Visiting Associate Professor of Practice in Economics Affiliation: Visiting
Education: BA University of Toronto; MA University of British Columbia; PhD University of Toronto

Research Areas: Monetary Policy; Fiscal Policy


Peter Thurlow has spent his career as a practicing economist, advising governments to the Ministerial level and Central Banks to the Governor level. Originally from Canada, Thurlow earned his BA in Economics from the University of Toronto, his MA from the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, and his PhD from the University of Toronto.

With his PhD thesis in the bag, Thurlow taught at the University of Toronto for a year before taking up a research position at the Bank of Canada, Canada’s Central Bank. In that position, Thurlow pursued theoretical and empirical work on the credit channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism. Rising quickly at the Bank, he also researched the monetary aggregates and financial markets.

Thurlow was also interested in international aspects of macroeconomics and joined the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs as an Economic Advisor, but also heading up a team that coordinated Canadian government interactions with the OECD, and was the Canadian delegate to the Economic Committee of APEC. In the latter role, he was quickly elected to be the Deputy Chair of the committee.

Furthering his international interests, he then took a position advising the Minister of Finance in Kosovo and leading a team of young Kosovar macroeconomists. In that role, he led the development of Kosovo’s first medium-term fiscal plan, and on the basis of that, the donors pledged 2 billion Euros of support. Then after a short stint in Azerbaijan, building models for the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Sovereign Wealth Fund, Peter came to Abu Dhabi as Fiscal Policy Advisor in the Department of Finance.

When Thurlow arrived, he was surprised that few people knew anything about fiscal policy. Starting from nothing, Peter developed a team, a modeling framework, and products to give advice on medium and long-term fiscal plans. Peter has been a regular presenter in meetings with IMF, bond rating agencies, and internationally at OECD meetings.

Courses Taught