Danny Quah

Danny Quah is Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science and is currently the Head of Department of Economics at the same school.

Quah is a free market ideologue and is an apologist for redistribution of wealth from poor to rich and increasing inequality - dubbed the 'superstar effect' of the 'weightless economy'.

"Weightless" products like CDs, computer games, TV shows and financial services can be sent all around the world for little or no extra cost - so in theory there is no limit to the amount of profit that can be made. The result is superstar incomes for those who design and market a few globally successful products - but little for those whose products don't quite make it...

Danny Quah is a professor at the London School of Economics and expert on the "weightless economy." He approves of the "Superstar" effect because everyone benefits from the advances in society that the top one per cent of earners create. He told Panorama:

We get better pharmaceutical products, we get better music, we get better video entertainment, we get better science, we get better computer software. It benefits all of us.Take the Olympics. Every four years Olympic records fall. Every four years we have a performer like Kelly Holmes that all of us can take collective national pride in. Athletic performances improve from competing for the same prize.

"When all of us are already benefiting from advances in technology, advances in the state of science and knowledge that are being pushed forward by this top one per cent, it is to the benefit of all of us," he said. "They advance the state of technology in society, they push economic growth, and we all draw benefit from that." And Professor Quah disagrees that it's unfair to let a few winners become high-earning superstars.

Quah has also been active in the world of neoliberal think tanks, co-authoring a report for the Work Foundation along with Diane Coyle (former economics correspondent for the Independent and British American Project alumnus.. the report was part of the Work foundation's 'iSociety project, sponsored by Microsoft and PricewaterhouseCoopers'.

Quah's LSE biography notes:

Quah obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University and his A.B. from Princeton University. He joined LSE in 1991 after having taught as an assistant professor in MIT's Economics Department. In the UK, he has served on the Academic Panels of H.M.Treasury and the Office for National Statistics. Quah is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London and a Governor of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

...Both Quah's sons, with Kathleen Tyson-Quah, were born in London. Kathleen is President Granularity Ltd and Founder and Principal, KTQ Consulting Ltd. For other than academic work and presentations, Quah is represented exclusively by Celebrity Speakers Limited.

Publications

Danny Quah and Diane Coyle 'Getting the Measure of the New Economy' published by the Work Foundation June 2002.