Miriam Altman

Dr Miriam Altman is Professor of 4IR Practice, School of Economics, University of Johannesburg and also an Adjunct Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town. She is a part-time Commissioner on the National Planning Commission (NPC) in the Office of the South African Presidency and was a significant contributor to the writing of SA’s first National Development Plan. As Head of Strategy for the Telkom Group from 2013 until 2016, she coordinated Telkom's strategic repositioning and turnaround, as well as Regulatory Affairs and Government Relations. From 2002 to 2010, she served as Executive Director at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). She is recognised as a leading economist, strategist and thought leader who has played a role in shaping employment policy and dialogue in South Africa. She has a BA in Economics from McGill University, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester. Dr Altman has produced more than 100 publications, guest edited four special edition journals and been the commissioning editor of approximately 400 policy papers in her division at HSRC..

In response to the current crisis in 2020, she convenes the Covid-19 Economists Group to identify solutions aimed at mitigating social and economic effects of the pandemic. This involves improving an understanding of these impacts and more importantly identifying concrete policy approaches. We are working closely with the SA government. This work can be found at a new group website: www.covid19economicideas.org.