Gita Gopinath is an Indian American economist who currently serves as Economic Counselor and Director of Research Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2019. Gita is on leave of public service from Harvard University, where she is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics. Gita earned her M.A. from Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington, and her Ph.D. in economics from Princeton in 2001.

Gita’s research is mainly focused on International Finance and Macroeconomics, where she developed the Dominant Currency Paradigm. This model takes into consideration that prices in global trade are predominantly not set in either the producer’s or destination’s currency but are set in dollars. The economists found that when most transactions are dollar denominated, “a currency depreciation is rather unlikely to increase exports.” Gita is the co-editor of the current Handbook of International Economics and previously co-edited the American Economic Review.

Gita says that tapping into a women’s potential is a huge win-win for their empowerment and achieve stronger, more inclusive and more resilient global economic growth. Gita’s emphasizes the significant role of gender equity in the labor market on national income, ‘if women were to participate in the labour force to the same extent as men, national income could increase significantly.’

Gita underlines the important role the private sector plays in ensuring gender equity through equitable pay and implement work-life policies that “support women’s labor force attachment.”

She is notable accredited for making a significant change in the language of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by replacing the phrase “All men are born free and equal” to “All human beings are born free and equal.”