Prior to 1996 Goldin was principal economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, and program director at the OECD in Paris, where he directed the Development Centre's Programs on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development. From 1996 to 2001, Goldin was chief executive and managing director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and at that time also served as an adviser to President Nelson Mandela. He succeeded in transforming the Bank from an apartheid-era institution to become the leading agent of development in the 14 countries of Southern Africa. During this period, Goldin served on several government committees and boards, and was finance director for South Africa's Olympic Games bid. Goldin was director of development policy at the World Bank and then vice president of the World Bank. He served on the Bank's senior management team, and was directly responsible for its relationship with the UK and all other European, North American and developed countries. Goldin led the Bank's collaboration with the United Nations and other partners. As Director of Development Policy, Goldin played a central role in the research and strategy agenda of the Bank, working closely with the Chief Economist, Lord Nicholas Stern, under the leadership of James Wolfensohn. During this period, Goldin was special representative at the United Nations and served on the chief executive board of the UN and the UN Reform Task Force. In 2006, Goldin became founding director of the Oxford Martin School. Under his leadership, the school established 45 programmes of research, bringing together more than 500 academics from over 100 disciplines, and becoming the world's leading centre for interdisciplinary research into critical global challenges. He remained the School's director until September 2016 when Achim Steiner followed him in this position. Goldin initiated and was vice-chair of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, which brought together international leaders from government, business, academia, media and civil society to address the growing short-term preoccupations of modern politics and business, and identify ways of overcoming today's gridlock in key international negotiations. Chaired by Pascal Lamy, the Commission published its findings in October 2013.
Other activities
In addition to his Oxford appointments, Goldin is distinguished visiting professor at Sciences Po, Paris and serves on the Advisory Committee of ETH-Zurich and IDDRI, Paris. He is an honorary trustee of Comic Relief and is chair of the trustees of the initiative to reform the economics curriculum and the teaching of economics. He is the writer and presenter of the BBC Series '' and documentary: Goldin has been engaged with governments and with other policy actors on development in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the European Union, US, and Japan. As a visiting lecturer, he has given lectures, workshops and seminars at the Universities of Oxford, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley, LSE, Sussex, Sorbonne, SciencesPo., Toulouse, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Tokyo, Cape Town, Witwatersrand, Dar es Salaam, Accra, Beijing, Tsinghua, Shanghai, Singapore, Thailand, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Fe, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Managua, Mexico DF, and to numerous foundations, think tanks and others. He has initiated and directed a wide range of collaborative research programs including OECD/CEPR/Rockefeller Programs on “The Economics of Sustainable Development” and “Economic Reform, Trade and Development”. He is an acclaimed author and has published 21 books and over 50 journal articles.
Awards
Goldin has received wide recognition for his contributions to development and research. His awards include:
France: “Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite”..
National Productivity Institute: Gold Award..
World Economic Forum: Global Leader for Tomorrow..
Publications
Goldin has published 21 books and over 50 articles, including:
Oxford Martin Programme on Technological and Economic Change, 2019
, Citi GPS: Global Perspectives and Solutions, 2018
“Globalization for Development: Trade, Finance, Aid, Migration, and Policy”,, World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan, Washington and Basingstoke, 2006, reprinted in 2007.