Konstantin Sonin

Konstantin Sonin is a Russian economist. He is a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London, and an associate research fellow at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics. In recognition for his outstanding research in the field of political economy, in December 2015, he was named the John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor of the University of Chicago. Sonin is the co-founder of the joint HSE-NES Bachelor of Arts Program. Until December 2014, Sonin was Vice Rector at the Higher School of Economics, but was forced to resign for political reasons. Until August 2013, he was Professor of Economics and Vice Rector at the New Economic School. His primary research interests are in political economics, development economics, conflict, and economic theory. Sonin has been published in leading academic journals in economics and political science, such as American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, American Journal of Political Science, Quarterly Journal of Political Science and others. Sonin has been a columnist for Vedomosti (in Russian) in 2004-2020 and The Moscow Times in 2004-2017. He contributes to major international and Russian media outlets. He is the author of "Sonin.ru: Lessons of Economics" (in Russian), a book aimed to a wide audience. In 2019, a new edition of the book was published, titled "When the Oil Runs Out and Other Economics Lessons" (in Russian). In 2023, Sonin was placed on the Federal Wanted list in Russia (Sonin lives in Chicago); the criminal case against him is based on information that he published in 2022 about the Bucha massacre and the Siege of Mariupol. An arrest warrant was issued for Sonin in February 2024.