New Issues in Islamic Finance and Economics

PROF. HOSSEIN ASKARI received a B.S. in CivilEngineering, Ph.D. in Economics and attendedthe Sloan School of Management at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Hewas an instructor of Economics at MIT, AssistantProfessor of Economics at Tufts University,Associate Professor of Economics at Wayne State University, Associate Professor and Professor of International Business and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and is now the Iran Professor of International Business and Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University. He served for two and a half years on the Executive Board of the IMF and was Special Advisor to the Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia. In the mid-1980s he was the director of a multinational team that developed the first energy plan and energy planning models for Saudi Arabia. He has written extensively on economic development in the Middle East, international trade and finance, agricultural economics, oil economics, and on economic sanctions. He has been an advisor to a number of governments,institutions and corporations. DR. ZAMIR IQBAL works as Lead Investment Officer with the Quantitative Strategies, Risk and Analytics department in the Treasury of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He earned his Ph. D.in international finance from the George Washington University, where he also serves as adjunct faculty of international finance. He has published several articles on Islamic finance in journals of repute and has presented papers at international forums. He has extensive experience with capital markets, structured products, risk management, financial sector development, and financial modeling.His research interests include Islamic Finance, Financial Engineering,Structured Finance and International Banking. He is co-author of Introduction to Islamic Finance: Theory and Practice (2007) and Risk Analysis for Islamic Banks (2007). DR. ABBAS MIRAKHOR, born in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, attended Kansas State University, where he received his Ph. D. in economics in 1969. From 1969 to 1984, he taught in various universities in the U.S. and Iran. From1984 until 1990, he served on the staff of thief, and from 1990 to 2008, he served as the Executive Director for Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia on the Executive Board of the IMF. Dr. Mirakhor is the co-author of Essays on Iqtisad: Islamic Approach to Economic Problems (1989), Theoretical Studies in Islamic Banking and Finance (1987), and Introduction to Islamic Finance: Theory and Practice (2007). He has received several awards including 220;Order of Companion of Volta221; for service to Ghana, conferred by the President of Ghana in 2005; Islamic Development Bank Annual Prize for Research in Islamic Economics, shared with Mushin Khan in2003, and 220;Quaid-e Azam221; star for service to Pakistan, conferred by the President of Pakistan in 1997.