Lauren A. Johnston is CEO of New South Economics, in which capacity she consults for the World Bank (Beijing), EIU, and others. Former employers include the University of Melbourne, Beijing Foreign Languages Institute (IES), the World Economic Forum and Ministry of Finance of Sierra Leone. She holds a PhD (Econ) from Peking University, an MSc Dev Econ (SOAS) and a B.A/B.Com (Melb).