Charles Kenny

Charles Kenny is a development economist and author whose work examines global progress and poverty. Kenny spent 15 years at the World Bank and is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. His research focuses on global economic prospects, gender and development, and development finance. He has contributed to policy reforms in global health, United Nations peacekeeping, and efforts to combat international financial corruption.

At the World Bank, Kenny coordinated governance and anticorruption initiatives in infrastructure and natural resources, and managed investment and technical assistance projects in telecommunications and the Internet. He researches and advocates for policies on investment, trade, technology, and migration to benefit both developing and industrialized countries. Kenny has published widely on topics such as the causes of economic growth, the relationship between economic growth and broader development, improvements in global health, the connection between economic growth and happiness, and progress toward the Millennium Development Goals.

Kenny is the author of books including "Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding and How We Can Improve the World Even More," "The Upside of Down: Why the Rise of the Rest Is Great for the West," and "The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease." In "Getting Better," Kenny presents evidence of widespread improvements in health, education, peace, liberty, and happiness. He has co-authored "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Utility: Happiness in Philosophical and Economic Thought" and written "Your World, Better," a book for middle school students that explores changes in America and the world across generations.

Kenny has served as a contributing editor at Foreign Policy and a columnist for Bloomberg Business. His work has appeared in outlets including Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Washington Post, Atlantic, Time, Guardian, Salon, and CNN. He has presented at the World Economic Forum, Aspen Institute, and Legatum Institute, spoken at universities internationally, and appeared on PBS, Al Jazeera, NPR, BBC, Bloomberg TV, and various podcasts. Kenny holds a history degree from Cambridge, master's degrees from the School of Oriental and African Studies and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a PhD in Development Studies from Cambridge.