Sir Vito Antonio Muscatelli FRSA FRSE FAcSS (born 1 January 1962) is the Principal of the University of Glasgow and one of the United Kingdom's top economists.
[5] Muscatelli has been a consultant to the World Bank and the European Commission, and was a member of the Panel of Economic Advisers of the Secretary of State for Scotland from 1998 to 2000.
From 2007–2010, he was an adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee on monetary policy, and in 2008 he was appointed to chair an independent expert group for the Calman Commission on Devolution, set up by the Scottish Parliament and UK Government and led by the chancellor of the University of Glasgow, Sir Kenneth Calman.
The Muscatelli expert group set out a number of principles which funding of devolved government in Scotland should follow.
Muscatelli argued for the need to compromise between the Scottish and UK Government positions on how block grant adjustment should be formulated.
[9] During the period as Chair of the First Minister's Standing Council on Europe, which was created to advise Scottish Government on Brexit he argued strongly that the UK should seek to maintain a strong relationship with Europe, including maintaining membership of the Single Market through EFTA/EEA membership.
[10] In October 2018 at a Summit hosted by Glasgow City Council he warned about the economic damage of Brexit and called the UK's exit from the EU as “the most unhinged example of national self-sabotage in living memory.”[11] In 2017 he outlined the potential impact on the UK from Brexit in a Policy Scotland Lecture.
Between 2012-13 he co-chaired a review with Richard Lambert which led to the establishment of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB).
[26] Muscatelli succeeded Sir Muir Russell as principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow in October 2009.
[25] One of his first actions was creation of a post of senior vice-principal, with responsibility for internationalisation, a key aspect of his strategy for the university.
[33] Anton Muscatelli's research work has focused on different areas of monetary economics and central bank independence, macroeconomics, and applied econometrics.
In empirical work with Alex Cukierman he showed that central banks may exhibit asymmetric control over inflation and output, and particularly that during the Greenspan era there was evidence that the United States Federal Reserve tried to protect the economy against downward swings in economic activity.
[42] Another strand of Muscatelli's work has focused on the design of fiscal policy when government decisions interface with independent central banks,[43] and why political instability might result in lower than optimal public investment.
[47] In a recent book chapter, Muscatelli provides a survey of how economists have analyzed the relationship between economic forces and constitutional norms, including the role of political processes.
[48] Muscatelli also co-authored a textbook, Macroeconomic Theory and Stabilization Policy (with Andrew Stevenson and Mary Gregory) which was used extensively in advanced undergraduate and graduate economics programmes, and two edited volumes.