John Kay (economist)

Sir John Anderson Kay, (born 1948) is a British economist.

He was the first dean of Oxford’s Said Business School and has held chairs at the London School of Economics, the University of Oxford, and London Business School.

He has been a fellow of St John's College, Oxford, since 1970.

Born in Edinburgh, Kay was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh University, and Nuffield College, Oxford.

He lectured in economics at Oxford from 1971 to 1978.

In 1979, Kay became Research Director and the Director of the independent think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

In 1986 he became a professor at the London Business School and founded London Economics, a consultancy firm.

He is a regular editorial contributor to the Financial Times, where he has also had a weekly column since 1995.

He sits on the European Advisory Board of Princeton University Press.

He was the first director of Oxford's Said Business School from 1997 to 1999, and has written at some length as to why he chose to resign after only two years.

He has served as a director of Halifax plc and of several investment companies.

In 1997, Kay was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).

In 2003, Kay addressed non-economists, attempting to answer what Robert Lucas has called the most exciting economic question: across the globe, why are so few rich and so many poor?

Kay has also served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers to the First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2011.

In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).

Kay received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2009

In 2012 he presented a substantial report to the British government on reform of the equity market, which suggested that "the stockmarket exists to provide companies with equity capital and to give savers a stake in economic growth. Over time that simple truth has been forgotten".

Kay suggested a series of reforms which he hoped would correct some problems with stock markets; some critics suggested his analysis of the problem was better than his proposed solution.

Five months before the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Kay said it was a "mistake" for voters to think claims of an independent Scotland being one of the world's wealthiest nations would mean more cash in their pockets.

Kay warned that using GDP as a measure fails to reveal how much money bypasses locals by going straight to foreign companies and drew comparisons with Ireland, which appeared "better off" than it actually was before economic meltdown.

Kay was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to economics and was knighted in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to economics, finance and business.

Some of Kay's many columns on economics and business topics, published in the Financial Times, are reprinted in:

Other books include:

He also spoke as part of Asian Institute of Finance's Distinguished Speaker Series in 2016 entitled "Other People’s Money: Masters of the Universe or Servants of the People?"

in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In 2016, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).