Elena Panaritis
 Elena Panaritis | |
| Born | Greece |
|---|---|
Elena Panaritis (Greek: Έλενα Παναρίτη) is a Greek amateur economist, social entrepreneur and a policy innovator. She has worked at the World Bank and has been a Member of the Greek Parliament from 2009 until 2012 (PASOK). Today she is spearheading change in crisis-stricken Europe and Greece through her Foundation "Thought for Action" that promotes improved governance and appropriate institutional reforms -also known as "structural" reforms.
Life and career
Panaritis is an amateur economist, property rights expert, and social entrepreneur. In more than a decade as an economist at the World Bank, Panaritis spearheaded several institutional reforms, particularly property rights reform in Peru that after these reforms fell into default. Her book Prosperity Unbound: Building Property Markets with Trust (Palgrave Macmillan) recounts her experience and expounds on her methodology Elena Panaritis “Reality Check Analysis”.
She is the founder of Panel Group, a triple-bottom-line advisory group that invests in undervalued property and provides counsel to governments and private sector participants on transforming illiquid real estate and related public policy. She has served as an MP and a special advisor to the Papandreou government in Greece on efforts for public sector reform and reduction in informality. She was elected President of COMSUD (the Commission of Parliamentarians of the Mediterranean countries) in late 2009. Panaritis has taught economic development, housing finance and property markets reform courses at the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, INSEAD, and the Johns Hopkins University Elena Panaritis School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is fluent in Spanish, English, French, Italian, and has basic knowledge of German.
In early 2012 Panaritis said she was "confused" and argued fervently against the unreasonable austerity measures included in the second IMF Memorandum for the Greek economic crisis.[1] When she later signed that Memorandum, it was argued that such sudden change in faith was one of the causes of confusion and shock in the Greek people's minds at the time.[2]
Work
Elena Panaritis is the author of "Prosperity Unbound: Building Property Markets with Trust" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007). She engaged actively in Greek politics regarding public sector reform and reduction of informality. Panaritis, along the lines of “triple-bottom-line” model of social entrepreneurship, founded Panel Group, a specialized advisory group that provides counsel and technical expertise in transforming informality (illiquid real assets). The firm leverages Panaritis’ methodology and knowledge in creating stable property rights systems around the world, and applies reform techniques funded entirely through private investment.
Panaritis argues for a properly valued property system in the context of the economic crisis in Greece, the current global economic and financial crisis, and the ongoing efforts to restore growth by reforming illiquid/informal markets both in the developed and transition economies. Earlier she spent years convincing policymakers, development organizations, and local stakeholders in Peru that transformation of informal property rights is possible and that it carries sustainable economic, financial and social dividends. She has worked in numerous countries identifying informality and developed the methodology “Reality Check Analysis” as a diagnostic tool that may lead to the tailored solution of transforming informality to robust formal markets. Panaritis was awarded the International Best Practice and Innovation award.
Notes
External links
- The Official Prosperity Unbound website
- Land Market Study, Palestinian National Authority Land Administration Project published July, 2007
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