World Economic Forum Creators & Guests

Jonathan David Ostry is an international economist who has served as Deputy Director of the Research Department and Acting Director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC. He is Professor of the Practice at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He is also a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London, England.

Laura Spinney is a science journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. She is best known for her 2017 book "Pale Rider," which is about the 1918 influenza pandemic.Spinney has written for Nature, National Geographic, The Economist, New Scientist, and The Guardian. Her first tow books were novels: "The Doctor," published in 2002, and "The Quick," published in 2007. Her collection of oral stories, "Rue Centrale," was published in 2013. Her best-known work, "Pale Rider," was published in 2017. Her translation of Swiss writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz's novel "Derborence" was published in 2018.Spinney received her B.Sc. in Natural Sciences from Durham University.