Menu

Search

Usman W. Chohan

Usman W. Chohan

Usman W. Chohan (b. Manhattan, NY) has previously been a Consultant with the World Bank Institute in their department of Social Accountability, working on issues of fiscal governance reform, and specifically, the implementation of Parliamentary Budget Offices (PBOs) to help bring impartial and nonpartisan financial expertise into governance institutions. His work with the World Bank led him to collaborate with and inform experts as far apart as Sydney, Washington DC, Vienna, Kampala, Ouagadougou, Abuja, Ottawa, and Canberra [1].

His budget reform work has been used to challenge and contextualize the laws underpinning legislative budget institutions in even the strongest democracies [2], such as in Canada, where his work was used to inform the landmark parliamentary debate on amending the Parliamentary Budget Office Act (C-476, 2013).

Prior to this he was the Special Situations Analyst in the Global Equities Team at Natcan Investment Management, the investment arm of the National Bank of Canada. The Global Equities team had six investment professionals including Usman and $3 billion dollars in Assets under Management (AuM).

Usman has an MBA in Strategy and Leadership from McGill University [3]; he has done Masters coursework at MIT-Tsinghua [4]. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Economics on a full scholarship from UNSW (Australia) [5], where he is exploring the Fiscal Policy implications of Legislative Budget Offices.

Given his rich 'tri-sector experience' that encompasses private sector, public sector and academia [6], Usman enjoys consulting, research, and teaching in equal measure. He delivered the 2015 Foreign Affairs Lecture in the Global Leadership Program (GLP) at Macquarie University in Sydney [7], and has been a guest lecturer in several courses at McGill University in Montreal since 2013. He is also a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum in their Canberra Hub (2016).

Usman was nominated the Chief Administrator of Urdu Wikipedia in 2005 [8], which he had helped grow, build and code in its embryonic stages, by a 7-2 administrator vote. Usman is also a respected sitar player who, as a leading proponent in a new generation of sitarists [9], has performed live in more than 5 countries on 3 continents, including at the prestigious Borges Center for the Performing Arts in Buenos Aires (2012) [10]. With his voracious appetite for reading, Usman has completed the Goodreads Challenge of reading 100 new books every year successfully since 2012 [11].

Usman is fluent in eight languages [12], and speaks 5 out of the 7 Official languages of the World Bank. These include English, Mandarin [13], French [14], and Spanish [15], among others. Given that his last four residences were Montreal, Buenos Aires, Canberra, and Beijing, you will likely find him roaming somewhere between these four coordinates at the ends of the earth.

REFERENCES:
[1] http://www.revparl.ca/36/3/36n3e_13_chohan.pdf
[2] http://www.parl.gc.ca/legisinfo/BillDetails.aspx?billId=5997160&Language=E&Mode=1&View=10
[3] https://www.mcgill.ca/desautels/programs/mba-programs/meet-our-community/meet-our-students/usman-waqqas-chohan
[4] http://usmanchohan.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/my-tsinghua-grades.html
[5] https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/our-people/mr-usman-chohan
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anmWMFN4_aI
[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiikCBP5u48
[8] https://www.ur.wikipedia.org
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ECAyLcTtjA&list=UU5LIjx6HsLEK2QuRUb03kYA&index=2
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4lO7kUaZUM
[11] https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13959169.Usman_W_Chohan
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anmWMFN4_aI
[13] Ibid
[14] http://www.revparl.ca/36/3/36n3f_13_chohan.pdf
[15] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ECAyLcTtjA&list=UU5LIjx6HsLEK2QuRUb03kYA&index=2

Tax reform might happen if we could see everyone's tax return

May 09, 2016 12:41 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

It might sound odd to us in Australia, but Norwegians have been able to see how much their fellow citizens earn, and how much tax they pay, for the past 200 years. Every October, Norwegian citizens have their income tax...

Emerging Market Crisis Series

From emerging to submerging: the debt burden killing off the age of the BRICS

Mar 15, 2016 00:04 am UTC| Insights & Views

Over the past three decades, global interest in emerging markets has soared, and when the financial crisis of 2008 hit, emerging markets were largely thought to be the next engine of global growth. Insofar as they have...

When ‘innovation’ fails to fix our finances

Feb 26, 2016 05:14 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology Digital Currency

One of the most unassailable buzzwords of our time is innovation. We are repeatedly told that our economies arent working properly simply because we arent getting enough innovation these days. However, what our singular...

Ex machina: are computers to blame for market jitters?

Jan 28, 2016 02:51 am UTC| Technology

Recent turbulence in the share markets has caused some experts to point the finger of culpability at computerised High-Frequency Trading (HFT). There are few complaints about HFT when computers push share markets up, but...

1 

Economy

Why China’s economy has hit a wall

Chinas annual parliamentary meetings in Beijing came to a close on March 11. They were conducted under great pressure: a weak economy and high expectations from both the domestic public and international observers as to...

Vladimir Putin’s gold strategy explains why sanctions against Russia have failed

There are more than 16,000 sanctions imposed against Russia. Yet the Russian economy and war machine grew by 3.6 per cent in 2023 and is projected to grow another 2.6 in 2024. Nearly six per cent of Russias gross...

Mentorship is key to improving social and economic outcomes for Black youth

Black youth in Canada experience poorer educational achievement than other children and youth, which leads to subsequent poor economic outcomes. A series of problems and barriers contribute to poor educational outcomes....

There’s an extra $1 billion on the table for NT schools. This could change lives if spent well

The federal and Northern Territory governments have just made a historic funding announcement of about A$1 billion for schools in the territory. This includes an extra $737.7 million from the federal government and an...

Undersea cables for Africa’s internet retrace history and leave digital gaps as they connect continents

Large parts of west and central Africa, as well as some countries in the south of the continent, were left without internet services on 14 March because of failures on four of the fibre optic cables that run below the...

Politics

China's Commerce Minister to Advocate EV Sector in Europe Amid Subsidy, Tariff Probe

Chinas Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is set to visit Europe in April to address concerns and advocate for the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) industry amid a European Commission investigation into alleged unfair...

Chinese Hackers Target US Officials and Dissidents in Cyber Espionage Scheme

Seven nationals of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) face charges for a long-term cyber espionage campaign targeting political dissidents and officials in the US, marking a significant escalation in international cyber...

SpaceX Builds Spy Satellites for US; Russia Warns of Military Response

Russia has issued a stark warning to the United States, stating that the use of SpaceXs satellites for espionage could render them targets for military action. This follows revelations that SpaceX is constructing a spy...

Deepfakes are still new, but 2024 could be the year they have an impact on elections

Disinformation caught many people off guard during the 2016 Brexit referendum and US presidential election. Since then, a mini-industry has developed to analyse and counter it. Yet despite that, we have entered 2024 a...

Science

How do airplanes fly? An aerospace engineer explains the physics of flight

Airplane flight is one of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century. The invention of the airplane allows people to travel from one side of the planet to the other in less than a day, compared...

The mystery of consciousness shows there may be a limit to what science alone can achieve

The progress of science in the last 400 years is mind-blowing. Who would have thought wed be able to trace the history of our universe to its origins 14 billion years ago? Science has increased the length and the quality...

What is minoxidil, the anti-balding hair growth treatment? Here’s what the science says

Hair loss (also known as alopecia) often affects the scalp but can occur anywhere on the body. Its very common and usually nothing to worry about; about half of Australian men show signs of visible baldness at age 50 and...

Our survey of the sky is uncovering the secrets of how planets are born

When we look out to the stars, it is typically not a yearning for the distant depths of outer space that drives us. When we are looking out there, we are truly looking back at ourselves. We try to understand our place in...

Archeoastronomy uses the rare times and places of previous total solar eclipses to help us measure history

Total solar eclipses have fascinated and terrified people for centuries. Today, we know that total solar eclipses like the upcoming eclipse on April 8 are caused by a cosmic coincidence when the moon comes between the...

Technology

Porsche Recalls 1,000 Taycan EVs Over Battery Issue

Porsche Cars North America Inc. released a recall notice for its Taycan electric car units. Based on the reports, the company issued the recall due to the risk of a short circuit caused by the battery. Porsche recalls...

Shiba Inu Community, Binance Stir Crypto World; Token Burns Fuel Market Surge

In a striking turn of events, the Shiba Inu community has reacted to Binances provocative statement declaring everyone an NFT amidst a significant uptick in SHIB token burns that spurred its market value. The meme coins...

Amazon One App Launches Palm-Scanning Sign Up; Palm Pay Available at Whole Foods, Panera

Amazon now allows users to set up palm recognition for seamless payments at Whole Foods, Panera, and other locations directly from their smartphones. Amazon One Expands with Mobile App for Easy Palm Recognition...

Crypto ATM Installations Set to Skyrocket, Driven by Bitcoin FOMO, CEO Predicts

As the crypto industry anticipates a surge in Bitcoin interest post-halving, Bitcoin Depot CEO Brandon Mintz predicts a significant resurgence in crypto ATM installations worldwide. This optimism follows a decline in 2023...
  • Market Data
Close

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.