# John W. Salevurakis

John W. Salevurakis is a tenured associate professor of economics at the American University in Cairo and the author of several academic articles, monographs, book chapters, and popular press articles focusing upon the political economy of food security, environmental conservation, and economic development. He is also a research analyst for a non-profit think tank in Salt lake City, Utah. The Utah Foundation formulates non-partisan policy research with an eye toward enlightening and empowering the electorate with respect to a diverse set of issues. These might include spheres such as urban planning, open space preservation and expansion, housing affordability, food security, and the economic impact or sectoral stability associated with various industries.

## Biography and education

John Salevurakis was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1971. He was raised and educated in Salt Lake City, Utah, and currently resides in both Cairo, Egypt and Salt Lake City, Utah. Salevurakis studied economics at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, earning a B.A. in economics in 1993 (cum laude) and an M.B.A. in 1996. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Utah, where he had studied labor economics, political economy, and the history of economic thought under Drs. Garth Mangum, E.K. Hunt, and Allen Sievers. As a student in the heterodox economics department at the University of Utah, Salevurakis became interested in a variety of ideologies used to explain labor market failures and the poverty issues that might follow those failures. This methodological polytheism has been a common thread in his past research and still helps to inform Salevurakis' work in more abstract economic realms as well as his more concrete policy prescriptions.

## Work

When residing in Cairo, Dr. Salevurakis teaches economics at the American University in Cairo where he is an associate professor. He has also served on numerous department, school, and university level committees while serving as the chair of the economics department at The American University in 2020 and 2021. Simultaneously, he has been a vocal advocate of faculty unionization at his institution. He regularly teaches courses in the history of economic thought as well as many courses relating to economic development, middle east economic history, macroeconomic theory, and research methods. Concerned primarily with issues of poverty and food security in the developing world, Salevurakis is also presently researching the ability that markets may have to ensure environmental conservation. He has also published critical essays relating to Egyptian and American political economy and has recently explored the degree to which Islamic finance principles might provide a degree of "useful friction" for modern financial markets. Further, Dr. Salevurakis has been active as a public intellectual exploring economic, financial, and political issues in popular press outlets based in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and America.

## Publications

Refereed journals – articles
Salevurakis, John William, Tamer ElGindi, and Mona Said. “Islamic Alternatives to Purely Capitalist Modes of Finance: A Study of Malaysian Banks from 1999 to 2006”, in Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. 41, No. 4, (2009).
Salevurakis, John William and Sahar Mohamed Abdel-Haleim. “Bread Subsidies in Egypt: Choosing Social Stability or Fiscal Responsibility”, in Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. 40, No. 1, 35-49, (2008).
Refereed Journals – Book Reviews
Salevurakis, John William. Review of John Weiss and Haider A Khan. “Poverty Strategies in Asia: A Growth Plus Approach”, in The Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 38, No. 4, 648-673, (2008).
Salevurakis, John William. Review of Sujian Guo. “The Political Economy of Asian Transition Economies”, in The Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 38, No. 2, 330-352, (2008).
Salevurakis, John William. Review of Anna M. Agathangelou's “The Political Economy of Sex”, in Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. 40, No. 3, 408-410, (2008).
Books/Monographs
Salevurakis, John William and Garth Mangum. Toward a Second Chance for the Disadvantaged Among Utah's Workforce: A Response to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Salt Lake City: Consortium on Employment Development, November 2000.
Salevurakis, John William and Garth Mangum. Welfare Reform Initiative: The Impact of Welfare Reform on the Charitable Efforts of the Salt Lake Valley Faith Community, University of Utah, Center for Public Policy and Administration, October 2000.
Book Chapters
Salevurakis, John William. “Wildlife Conservation : A Case Study of Endangered Species in Egypt”, in Egypt, Energy and the Environment: Critical Sustainability Perspectives, Tarek Selim ed., Great Britain: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd, pp. 173–186, July 2009
Publications in Edited Outlets
Salevurakis, John William. “The ‘China Syndrome’: An Apology for Economic Injustice”, Monthly Review, May 13, 2008.
Salevurakis, John William. “Aish Baladi vs. Pizza Hut”, Monthly Review, April 6, 2008.
Salevurakis, John William. “Bush Revives Pan-Arabism…by Accident or Design?”, Monthly Review, July 23, 2006.
Salevurakis, John William. “Darkness on the Edge of Cairo”, Monthly Review, July 8, 2006.
Conference Proceedings
Salevurakis, John William, Abigail Johnson and Karl Rich. “Coasian Bargaining and the Sustainable Management of Endangered Species: Case Studies and Broader Lessons for Livestock Disease Management”, International Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, 2009.
Salevurakis, John William, Mona Said and Jackline Wahba. “Employment, Job Quality, and Wages in Egypt and Morocco: As Determined by Openness to International Trade and Educational Attainment”, FEMISE, 2009.

## Media exposure

* Reuters interview about food security
* The Guardian interview about food security
* German television interview
* A Norwegian news agency interview
* The Daily News Egypt interview about illegal immigration
* The Daily News Egypt interview about environmental conservation
* Daily News Egypt interview about subsidies