Priority One of Geoffrey Ferster, Ph. D. is to share his broad  spectrum of economics and understanding of ways to solve current and  future real world issues for decision makers and managers in business  and government. Dr. Ferster's career continues to be directed towards  this pursuit. He has lived in countries worldwide and successfully  addressed highly complex problems and designed robust models that have  produced solid and profitable results for many years. Dr. Ferster is an  agent of continuous change; his antennas are used to see the road ahead  more clearly as he works with senior decision makers worldwide to  provide solutions to their problems/issues.

Geoffrey Ferster's earliest memories include his strong interest  in economics and how the world works. This emphasis evolved into his  passion for applied economics that has dominated his career.

• During his undergraduate years, Geoffrey had the  opportunity to spend a year at the London School of Economics and  Political Science. This provided Geoffrey a worldwide breadth; and he  also took the 'rucksack' Grand European Tour.
• Thereafter, he completed a B.A. in Economics at the University of  Minnesota. He was one of the first urban-based students to complete an  M.S. in Agricultural Economics (currently Agricultural and Applied  Economics), also at the University of Minnesota, with an emphasis in  Land Economics.
• Dr. Ferster completed his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics,  majoring in Land Economics/Regional Economic Development at Cornell  University.

After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Ferster worked at the University  of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for two years - focusing on regional  agricultural development in several areas of the country and training  students in field analysis techniques.

• The next appointment was at the University of Exeter,  United Kingdom where Dr. Ferster became Senior Lecturer, specializing on  health economics, policy and management in the British National Health  Service (NHS) for six years.
• After completing quantitative studies in public health policies,  preventive and medical care, and the financing of the NHS established  his foundation to make significant contributions in the developing and  more developed countries health cares systems. Dr. Ferster published  thirty-five papers, many in refereed journals.
• Dr. Ferster as Team Leader, health economist and planner for the  World Health Organization worked in the Indonesian Ministry of Health,  Planning Unit, for five years. Dr. Ferster focused on health economics  including Primary Health Care, policy reforms, program resource  allocations, public/private financing options - all within the  social-cultural context of economic development that directly impacts  people and their communities.
• Participating in these complex systems provided Dr. Ferster  pragmatic models to define; then address and provide solutions to  problems and Best Practices on a wide variety of applied economic and  management issues faced in most sectors and many countries/locales  worldwide.

For 34 years, Dr. Ferster has been the owner/principal of a  consulting and advisory service, with the focus applying economics to  business decisions.

• He has been privileged to work on repeated assignments  with senior colleagues at The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID,  University of Michigan, Harvard University of International Development  and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) on four  continents, in Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Nepal, New Zealand, the  Palestinian Authority, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, and Turkey. He serves as  a Chief Economic Advisor to several USA businesses.
• Projects and assignments included: assess global and  macroeconomic trends likely to impact businesses and agencies, strategic  planning linked to operations at field level with transparent private  and public financing, design/conduct monitoring and evaluation, and lead  teams in multicultural settings for $50 million - $6 billion projects.
• See the Client & Case Studies page for distilled description of projects, lesson learned and benefits for businesses, government agencies and organizations.

Dr. Ferster has gained premier international experience and  applied excellent problem solving and communication skills with  significant success. Given dynamic economic environments, Dr. Ferster  seeks to impact businesses, organizations and the world through applied economics.

• Dr. Ferster's approach is to apply thought processes to  clearly frame the issues; then design robust models, using business  economic intelligence to address the causes of problems/issues. This  includes the assessment and management of risks that provide significant  and sustained opportunities to decision makers and senior managers.
• Dr. Ferster looks forward to future challenges and opportunities  in the globalize world with balanced trade initiatives. Among others,  these include: designing commercialization strategies and strengthen  operational management for specific bio-agricultural, bio-medical and  medical device advances, with financing and trade policies that - will  constructively impact business, sustain environmental development,  governments and people worldwide.
•  Some years ago was clear to me that my greatest contribution to concerned citizens, students, half the world’s population (3.5 Billion people) and people working in the Development Industry was to take a hiatus from working on a variety of international projects and write a book, The Sincere Veneer: What Drives the Development Industry Off the Rails and How to Get It Back on Track – on why the development industry has not and will not delivered promised rewards. But by changing the architecture and operating system with key institutional changes among the supplier of funds and within countries could provide durable and high value results for the country and its poorest citizens. The book’s framework, analyses an example becomes a manual to design, implement, manage existing and new projects. It helps people interested in poverty alleviation, economic development and international affairs see through the mists and self-serving sensationalism that so often engulf the reporting of current events. Discover the tools to focus on core issues and investigate them productively.  www.sincereveneer.com 

• Contact    Dr. Ferster to talk about the possibilities that could strengthen your current initiatives and reforms to enhance the future direction of your organization. Dr. Ferster can work with your teams to significantly improve the performance, effectiveness and impact of your current portfolio of projects and new projects. 

  Also See: Travels