Dr. Miriam Altman is a recognised thought leader, strategist and economist.  She has deep experience in economic policy research, and, unusually, also at the coal face of major transformation initiatives. Her current work focuses on strategy to revitalise the economy in a context of Covid-19. This is done under the hat of being an NPC Commissioner and also through private channels. As a Commissioner in the National Planning Commission, she was a contributor to the National Development Plan and now leads work on the economy, digital readiness, infrastructure, SOE performance and education. 

As convenor of the Covid-19 Economists Group, a “thuma mina” initiative, she provides rapid, constructive and implementable solutions to the design of economic response during Covid-19. This group includes policy and financial economists. To date, proposals have been released on areas ranging from macro-fiscal strategy, bond raising, loan guarantees, wage support, employment priorities and a sovereign social bond. The work is at: www.covid19economicideas.org 

As an Executive Director at the HSRC from 2002 – 2013 her work focused on economic and employment strategy. For over 5 years, she convened top leaders from business, labour, government and academia to engage in the HSRC Evidence Based Employment Scenarios.