Bill Martin

What he does outside the Panel

Bill is an experienced macroeconomist, and is currently a Senior Research Associate of the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge. 

Positions held in the past

With an early career with the Government Economic Service, Bill was a special adviser in the Central Policy Review Staff between 1981 and 1983.  Between 1983 and 1998, he held various senior roles, including that of Chief UK Economist, at the investment-banking arm of the Swiss bank UBS (formerly Phillips & Drew).  He was then appointed as Chief Economist of the fund management arm of UBS until 2004.  In addition, he has been a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee and Visiting Professor of London Guildhall University.

Reasons for joining the panel

The Panel was looking for an economist to complement the experience of its other members, a role that Bill was very pleased to take on. He believes the Panel’s work has become even more important following the near collapse of the global banking system. He aims to assist the Panel’s promotion of effective consumer-focused regulation by analysing the wider consequences of market and regulatory weaknesses.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Bill has two particular interests. First, the consequences of the banking sector bailouts: moral hazard may now exist on an epic scale, and there is increased danger of anticompetitive practice. Both types of misbehaviour would be detrimental. Second, he is concerned by the high cost for consumers of supposedly active fund management, a topic that has a close bearing on the well-known problems of pension provision.

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