Andreas Georgiou

Andreas Georgiou (Greek: Ανδρέας Γεωργίου, born Patras, 1960) is a Greek economist and former President of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).[1] In June 2021, he became the European Parliament’s representative at the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board, the body that provides an independent overview of the European Statistical System.[2] Georgiou is a visiting lecturer and visiting scholar at Amherst College where he teaches statistical ethics and macroeconomics.[2] He is also elected member of the Council of the International Statistical Institute and a member of the Committee on Professional Ethics of the American Statistical Association.[2]

For other people named Andreas Georgiou, see Andreas Georgiou (disambiguation).
Andreas Georgiou
President of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).
In office
August 2, 2010 – August 2, 2015
Personal details
Alma materAmherst College (B.A.)
University of Michigan (Ph.D.)

Biography

Georgiou completed his secondary education in Athens College, and studied at Amherst College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) in Economics and in Political Science-Sociology. He went on to receive his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan with specialization in monetary theory and stabilisation policy as well as in International Trade and Finance.

From 1989 to July 2010 he was staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He has been head of missions, responsible for the preparation, negotiation, and monitoring of economic programs with IMF member countries. From March 2004 to July 2010 he was deputy division chief in the IMF Statistics Department. During that period, among other things, he led the work of the statistical program for the methodological development and dissemination of new indicators of stability of financial systems (Financial Soundness Indicators). He has taught economics at the University of Michigan and as a visiting professor at the University of Economics in Bratislava. In addition, he has conducted seminars and courses in statistical methodologies for IMF staff as well as state officials of more than 120 countries.

On 2 August 2010 he was appointed as President of the Hellenic Statistical Authority. On 2 August 2015, he surprisingly resigned from office with immediate effect.[3][4]

In June 2021, the European Parliament elected Mr Georgiou near-unanimously to one of the seats on the seven-member European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB).[5]

In July 2016, the Greek Supreme Court upheld charges against Georgiou for having harmed the "national interest",[6] with a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.[7][8]

In June 2018, the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece ('Areopagus') sentenced him to two years on probation for violation of duty for not submitting in November 2010 the revised 2009 deficit and debt statistics of Greece for approval before transmitting them to Eurostat.[9][10] On 18 September 2018, during a Special Meeting on National Statistical Offices’ Professional Independence: Threats and Responses immediately prior to the XVI International Association for Official Statistics Conference in Paris, a special Commendation was awarded to Mr. Georgiou by six major international statistical organizations. This Commendation was given to "acknowledge Andreas Georgiou‘s upholding of the highest professional standards in his public service in the pursuit of integrity of statistical systems".[11]

Georgiou's prosecution has been denounced as a violation of scientific freedom and human rights by the American Statistical Association's Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights[12] and the editorial board of The Economist.[13] The Financial Times reported, "The case has sparked outrage from economists and statisticians worldwide who believe Mr. Georgiou has become a scapegoat for Greece's political class."[14]

See also

References
  1. Bio of Georgiou from the Hellenic Statistical Authority site, archived 2011
  2. Former ELSTAT chief elected member of European Statistical Governance Advisory Board
  3. sueddeutsche.de 3. August 2015: Athener Börse öffnet wieder - und stürzt ab
  4. Kathimerini 2. August 2015: Αποχωρεί από την ΕΛΣΤΑΤ μετά τη λήξη της θητείας του ο Ανδρέας Γεωργίου
  5. Xafa, Miranda (September 2021). "The Case of Andreas Georgiou: A Travesty of Justice". World Economic Journal. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  6. 1331/2016 (Supreme Court refers Andreas Georgiou with felony charges (2 August 2016))
  7. ft.com: Greece to press ahead with criminal trial for ex-statistics chief
  8. FAZ.net 3 August 2016: Defizit zu hoch? Statistiker verklagen! (translated: deficit too high ? Bring the statistician to trial!)
  9. www.ekathimerini.com: Top court upholds suspended prison sentence for former statistician
  10. "80 Former Chief Statisticians Condemn Prosecution of Andreas Georgiou". Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  11. "Commendation of Andreas Georgiou" (PDF). www.isi-web.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  12. "ASA, International Community Continue to Decry Georgiou Persecution". AmStat News. American Statistical Association. 1 May 2021.
  13. "Called to account: The disturbing prosecution of Greece's chief statistician". The Economist. 3 September 2016.
  14. "Greek statistician Andreas Georgiou hits back at criminal charges". Financial Times. 14 August 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.