David E. Bloom

David E. Bloom is the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. An economist and demographer by training, Bloom's research applies microeconomic theory to labor, population health, development, and environmental issues, with a focus on international health and demography.

Bloom's academic career includes faculty positions at Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, and Columbia University, where he served as Professor of Economics and Department Chairman. After his tenure at Columbia, Bloom joined the Harvard School of Public Health as Professor of Population and Health Economics before being named the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography. He also served as Chairman of the Department of Global Health and Population for a decade.

Bloom is known for pioneering the concept of the demographic dividend, which Time magazine identified as first among "Ten Ideas That Will Change the World." This concept, further explored in his co-authored book "The Demographic Dividend: A New Perspective on the Economic Consequences of Population Change," examines how shifts in a population's age structure can drive economic growth. His work focuses on the interplay of health, demographics—including population growth and changes in age structure—economic growth, and the value of health interventions. Bloom also co-authored "Automation and Its Macroeconomic Consequences: Theory, Evidence, and Social Impacts," analyzing the future of work and technology. He serves as Director of Harvard's Value of Vaccination Research Network.

Bloom has worked and taught extensively in labor, population, health, and development economics, publishing more than 600 articles, book chapters, and books. He is co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of the Economics of Ageing, and has contributed as a contributing editor to American Demographics and as an associate editor of the Review of Economics and Statistics. Bloom has served as a referee for more than 50 academic journals.

Bloom's achievements include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recognition as a Carnegie Corporation of New York Andrew Carnegie Fellow, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and the J.K. Galbraith Prize for excellence in teaching. He has chaired the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Ageing and Society and served as chair of the Forum's Global Agenda Council on Population Growth, contributing to global policy on demographic and public health challenges.