Michael Donnelly
Chief Economist
IBM

Michael Donnelly is Chief Economist of IBM where is responsible for risk mitigation by updating senior management to potential revenue loss, including quarterly economic updates to the CFO to prepare for earnings calls. Second, develop and deploy analytics to improve risk metrics, market opportunities and pricing solutions of our worldwide businesses. This includes forecasts of economic activity across 170 countries including GDP, wages, inflation, market opportunity indicators, and a Foreign Exchange forecast. Additionally, provides scenario analysis and custom research to our CFO and CEO. Finally, Mike supports IBM sales operations with focused presentations at customer events and peer to peer meetings.Projects: internal tax and tariff scenario modeling, and inflation scenarios. Worked with Arvind Krishna while modeling and writing pages 188-193 in the 2018 IMF document “Digital Revolutions in Public Finance” (external link)

Prior to IBM, Michael had worked in a statistical group within the IRS, to provide analytics on tax data to aid in the analysts of changes to tax law from proposed Congressional legislation.

Further back, he had been Principal within the US Regional Group at S&P Global/IHS/Markit/Global Insight/WEFA. Consulting projects included a three-year relationship with the National Urban League where Mike created their equality index which he presented to the UN in Geneva. Prior to the merger Michael had been a Principal in the US Macro Department responsible for managing the quarterly U.S. long term macro model. Also had also been the Director responsible for managing WEFA’s quarterly U.S. short term macro model and was the resident Labor Economist.

Prior experience includes Nippon Life Insurance Research Institute, as the US Economist. Mike was responsible for the current quarter model based on Professor Klein’s macroeconomic theory and was pleased to work with Professor Klein on a weekly basis for many years at NLIRI and at WEFA. Mike was cited in a NLIRI Japanese book publication “The Technology Sector on Productivity”. Before joining NLIRI, Michael was with J & W Seligman & Co. Inc., as a Research Assistant.

Michael has been quoted in various news services and newspapers including the Wall Street Journal for his work in assessing the economic impact of the various presidential candidates’ formal budgets and for his predictions most notably in the 2000 and 2016 elections. Education includes a B.S. in Finance from the University of Steubenville, Ohio, and an M.B.A. in Economics & Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.