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About the Author of
the Work Plan Biography Dan
Ben-David, a macro-economist specializing in economic growth, international
trade and public policy, completed his doctorate in economics at the University
of Chicago under the supervision of Nobel laureate in economics, Robert Lucas. As
a researcher, Ben-David was recently ranked among the 10 most cited (in
academic journals) Israeli economists during the years 1990-2000 and is one of
a small group of Israeli academic economists who has held the position of Research
Fellow concurrently at two of the leading research institutes in Europe and the
United States: the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London, and
the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in Cambridge, MA. As
a teacher, Dan Ben-David was the recipient of Tel-Aviv University's
"Outstanding Teacher Award" for Social Sciences in 2004. Alongside
his academic work, Ben-David has a regular column on the editorial page of the
Haaretz newspaper and has extensive policy-related experience. He served as an
advisor to the World Bank and to the Director-General's office of the World
Trade Organization on issues of economic growth and international trade. His
research in these areas served as a basis for courses given by the World Bank
to policy makers from developing countries and was cited in a British
government budget proposal a few years ago. Dan
Ben-David is married with three children. The change in his professional focus
occurred in 1999, when he internalized the implications of Israel’s long-term
trends and the existential danger that they’ll pose in another generation or
two. Since then he has been conducting research on the socio-economic paths and
has presented various perspectives of this work before the country's prime
ministers and the directors-general of their offices, as well as before cabinet
ministers, Knesset members, Knesset committees, current and past Israeli
National Security Advisors, and many others serving in high-ranking
policy-making capacity. Ben-David
headed an interdisciplinary academic team comprising both economists and
sociologists which in March 2004 prepared a report titled “A Blueprint for
Improving the Employment Situation in Israel”. The report was presented before
the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee and before many other forums, and
gained support from both ends of the labor-related public spectrum: the
employers’ representatives and the workers’ representatives. Dan Ben-David was
a member of the independent ELA committee which prepared the report “A Proposal
for Structural Reform of Israel’s Education System”. The report was presented to the Education
Minister and to the Knesset Education Committee in November 2003. The ELA committee’s proposals comprise the
main bulk of recommendations made by the subsequent Dovrat Education Task Force
set up by Prime Minister Sharon. In
2000, Ben-David was a member of a blue-ribbon academic team brought together by
Prime Minister Ehud Barak and headed by former Tel-Aviv University president
Haim Ben-Shahar. The team presented its
proposals for new national socio-economic priorities before Barak in April 2000
and before a specially-convened cabinet meeting devoted to this issue in May
2000. In
this manner, the Work Plan began to take shape, step by step, one topic after
another. Its content is based on Ben David’s works – both his own and in
conjunction with colleagues – and is intended to ensure the future of his
children and of their generation.
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