About

Harry Shutt is a freelance economist, consultant and author of numerous books on the World Economy. His ideas have been featured on television, radio and in the press.
In his early work as an economist in the 1960s he was mainly preoccupied with the problems of the developing world and how the living standards of the overwhelming majority of the world’s people could be raised to bring them closer to those of the industrialised world. By the 1970s, however, as the post-war boom started to evaporate, he realised the need to focus on a more integrated, global approach to development. This led him to work for a British trade union for a period before eventually becoming a freelance consultant in 1979, which he has remained ever since.In this capacity Harry Shutt has worked on more than 100 assignments over the last 30+ years, mainly for international development agencies such as the World Bank, UNDP, European Commission etc. A major advantage of being freelance is that it has given him both the independence and free time in which to study global economic problems in greater breadth and depth and write extensively free of commercial or institutional pressures.

Other Activities

2010 Participated in Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) Biennial Conference, Sao Paolo,  Brazil. Presented paper on Basic Income and the global financial crisis – a long-term perspective and took part in study groups focusing on the experience of different (mainldeveloping) countries in introducing basic income as a means of combating rural poverty and enhancing social equality.

2009  Presented paper on income distribution and economic stability to a conference on ”Re-regulating Global Finance in the Light of the Global Crisis” at the invitation  of International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs) – supported by Ford Foundation, US and Action Aid, UK – in Beijing, China.

2006  Acted as unpaid advisor to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in the formulation of Policy Guidance Notes (on Social Policy, Financial Policy and Macroeconomic and Growth Policies) to be used in the preparation of National Development Strategies.  (Published as National Development Strategies: Policy Notes. UN DESA 2008)

1986  Founder member, International Consulting Economists’ Association.1977Member of study group on British development aid policy set up by the Council on International Development