Jim O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Gatley
Terence James O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Gatley (born 17 March 1957)[1] is a British economist best known for coining BRIC, the acronym that stands for Brazil, Russia, India, and China—the four once rapidly developing countries that were thought to challenge the global economic power of the developed G7 economies.[2] He is also a former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and former Conservative government minister.
The Lord O'Neill of Gatley | |
|---|---|
O'Neill in 2020 | |
| Commercial Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 14 May 2015 – 23 September 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May |
| Chancellor | George Osborne Philip Hammond |
| Preceded by | The Lord Deighton |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Neville-Rolfe |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 28 May 2015 Life Peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Terence James O'Neill 17 March 1957[1] Manchester, England |
| Political party | None (Crossbencher) (since 2017) |
| Other political affiliations | Non-affiliated (2016–2017) Conservative (2015–2016) |
| Spouse | Married |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Sheffield University of Surrey |
| Known for | BRIC economic theory |
O'Neill was Commercial Secretary to the Treasury in the Second Cameron Ministry from May 2015 to September 2016. He chaired the UK's Independent Review into Antimicrobial Resistance from 2014 to 2016.[3] He was the chairman of the Council of Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs from 2018 to 2021.
Education edit
O'Neill grew up in Gatley and attended Burnage Comprehensive.[4] He obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1977 and a Master of Arts (MA) degree in economics from Sheffield University in 1978.[5][6] He earned his PhD degree in economics from the University of Surrey in 1982, with a thesis titled An empirical investigation into the OPEC surplus and its disposal. On the 16th of January 2024, O’Neill graduated was granted a Doctorate of Letters from the University of Hull.
Career edit
Early in his career, O'Neill worked at Bank of America and Marine Midland Bank. In 1988, he joined Swiss Bank Corporation where he became SBC's chief of global research.[7] He joined Goldman Sachs in 1997 and he was appointed as the head of global economics research in 2001.
Goldman Sachs edit
In 2010, he headed Goldman Sachs's Division of Asset Management where O'Neill managed over $800 billion in assets.[8] His new appointment was regarded as a symbol of Goldman's "efforts to reposition itself for Wall Street's post-crisis era",[9] one in which Goldman Sachs is "bullish" about the fact that emerging markets are "the future".[8] In 2011, he was included in the 50 Most Influential ranking of Bloomberg Markets magazine.
O'Neill coined the term "BRIC" in 2001 in "The World Needs Better Economic BRICs" in a Goldman Sachs's "Global Economic Paper" series, on the four emerging "BRIC" economies Brazil, Russia, India, and China.[10] He later used the term "The Next Eleven" for Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam, arguing they would be among the world's largest economies in the 21st century.[11][12] He later used the term MIKT for Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey,[13][14] and MINT for Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey.[15]
Other edit
He retired from the firm in 2013.[16][17] He is on the International Advisory Board of the Centre for Rising Powers at the University of Cambridge,[18] the QFINANCE Strategic Advisory Board, and board of Bruegel.[19] On 2 July 2014, he was appointed by UK Prime Minister David Cameron to head an international commission to investigate global antimicrobial resistance.[20] In 2018, Lord O'Neill published the book Superbugs: an Arms Race Against Bacteria co-written with Anthony McDonnell and Will Hall.[21]
House of Lords edit
In 2015, he was created a Life Peer as Baron O'Neill of Gatley, of Gatley in the County of Greater Manchester,[22] and took up an unpaid post in HM Government as the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury.[23][24] In this role O'Neill's primary role was to work on the Northern Powerhouse project and to help reinvigorate trade with China. Following the resignation of David Cameron as Prime Minister his successor, Theresa May, kept O'Neill in post. In 2016, O'Neill resigned over concerns that May was not committed to the Northern Powerhouse project, making him the first member of May's ministry to resign.[25]
O'Neill sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative life peer from 28 May 2015 to 23 September 2016. After leaving the Conservatives, he then sat as a non-affiliated member of the House of Lords 23 September 2016 to 9 October 2017, and he has sat as a member of the crossbenchers since 9 October 2017.[26]
Personal life edit
O'Neill is an enthusiastic football fan and played for the Bank of America's first team in London. He is a lifelong follower of Manchester United F.C. and served as a non-executive director from 2004 to 2005, before the club was returned to private ownership.[27] On 2 March 2010, the Red Knights, a group of wealthy Manchester United fans believed to include O'Neill, confirmed interest in a possible takeover of the club.[28]
In 2014, O'Neill was awarded an Honorary Litt.D. degree by the University of Sheffiel.[29] He has honorary degrees from the Institute of Education of the University of London and from City University London.[5]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Jim O'Neill, Esq". Debrett's. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ Kowitt, Beth (17 June 2009). "For Mr. BRIC, nations meeting a milestone". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
- ^ "Independent Review into Antimicrobial Resistance".
- ^ Fletcher, Richard (2 March 2010). "Jim O'Neill: Profile of Manchester United's Red Knight". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ a b Lord O’Neill of Gatley - website gov.uk
- ^ Jim O'Neill Bio - website of Goldman Sachs
- ^ "Bio: Who Is Jim O'Neill?". Bloomberg Businessweek. 7 March 2005. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
- ^ a b Noble, Josh (10 September 2010). "Bric Godfather O'Neill gets keys to Goldman's fund chest". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
- ^ Johnson, Miles; Justin Baer (11 September 2011). "O'Neill heads Goldman division". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
- ^ O'Neill, Jim (30 November 2001). "Building Better Global Economic BRICs" (PDF). Global Economics Paper No. 66 (66). Goldman Sachs & Co. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Goldman Sachs's MIST Topping BRICs as Smaller Markets Outperform". Bloomberg.com. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ Spence, Peter (13 October 2014). "Beyond the BRICs: the guide to every emerging market acronym". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "'Bric' creator adds newcomers to list". Financial Times.
- ^ Ernesto Gallo; Giovanni Biava (3 April 2013). "After the BRICS, is now time for the MIKT?". Retrieved 21 September 2017.
- ^ Matthew Boesler (13 November 2013). "The Economist Who Invented The BRICs Just Invented A Whole New Group of Countries: The MINTs". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
- ^ Blankfein, Lloyd C.; Cohn, Gary D. (5 February 2013). (Press release). Goldman Sachs. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
- ^ "IBA - Webcast interview with Jim O'Neill, Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management - transcript".
- ^ "International Advisory Board". cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
- ^ "Jim O'Neill: Member of the board". Bruegel. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
- ^ "Internationally focused commission on antimicrobial resistance announced by PM". wellcome.ac.uk. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ "Superbugs – William Hall, Anthony McDonnell, Jim O'Neill - Harvard University Press". hup.harvard.edu.
- ^ "No. 61246". The London Gazette. 3 June 2015. p. 10180.
- ^ "Jim O'Neill gains peerage and ministerial role in treasury team". Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- ^ "Her Majesty's Government". Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- ^ Rob Merrick (23 September 2016). "Treasury minister quits over Northern Powerhouse and China ties". Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
- ^ "Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Parliamentary career". MPs and Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ . European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
- ^ "Red Knights confirm United takeover plan". RTÉ News. 2 March 2010.
- ^ World-renowned economist among University's honorary degree recipients – website of the University of Sheffield