Philippe Martin 1966 - 2023

CEPR is extremely sad to announce that Philippe Martin has died following a brief illness.

Philippe was a true CEPR hero: he was CEPR’s Vice President for Europe, in which capacity he was enormously influential in facilitating CEPR’s move to Paris. He was also a Research Fellow in CEPR’s International Macroeconomics and Finance, International Trade and Regional Economics and Macroeconomics and Growth programmes, and a member of four Research and Policy Networks, which gives an indication of the depth and breadth of his research. He was the author of 41 CEPR Discussion Papers, 34 VoxEU columns, four Policy Insights and 19 chapters in CEPR books and reports.

Philippe was Dean of the School of Public Affairs at SciencesPo and a former chair of the Conseil d’analyse économique.

We will all miss his wise advice and counsel. This is a huge loss to CEPR, to both academic economics and economic policymaking more widely, and a deep personal loss to all who knew him.

A page collecting tributes to Philippe has been opened here. Details for submitting contributions are included on the page.

A short tribute to Philippe by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas and Hélène Rey

We will miss Philippe Martin enormously for so many reasons.

Philippe was a genuinely generous and kind person, a formidable friend. He was a brilliant, extremely well-rounded economist and yet very humble. His academic work on trade and wars, economic geography and public policies, globalisation and financial crises, European policies, exchange rates and trade, … is extremely creative and influential.

He could bring wisdom, rigour, and intelligence to any discussion. We were lucky to be his co-authors. Working with Philippe was a learning experience, a friendly adventure, a joyful intellectual quest on subjects which mattered, for the social good. The subtlety and power of Philippe’s mind were a shining light. In a world where we so often lose sight of what is important, of how we can engage and solve problems for the public good, Philippe found the right angle to make things move forward. He was measured in his words but always the most pertinent. Highly cultured, empathetic, engaged, he was a humanist tirelessly working for the common good anywhere he was. He had a deep European engagement; he participated in many policy reports to improve the Euro Area and the EU and he co-chaired the Franco German Council of Economic Experts. A superb Vice-President of the CEPR, he was the central Architect of the CEPR Paris new home.

Philippe, there were so many great things left for you to do in the world. Your compass was a guide to many; your generosity changed lives; you were an incredible friend. Our loss is immense and it is up to all of us now to carry forward the values of kindness, integrity and rigour you cared so much about.

December 18 2023