Ben Cormier

Ben Cormier is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) and Chancellor’s Fellow in the Department of Government and Public Policy at the University of Strathclyde. His research focuses on the international political economy of finance and development, emphasizing sovereign debt, financial markets, capital flows, and governance in developing countries. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto (2019), an MSc from the University of Glasgow (2012), and a BSc from Cornell University (2010).

His book How Governments Borrow (Oxford University Press) examines the politics of sovereign borrowing decisions in developing countries. Key research outputs include studies on partisan borrowing, World Bank conditionality, and the role of transparency in debt management. Cormier has collaborated with organizations like the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), and the International Budget Partnership (IBP).

His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to economic development, governance, and poverty reduction. Current projects include investigations into local currency bond markets in Colombia and Mexico (funded by the Carnegie Trust) and the influence of bond indexes on market access. He teaches graduate courses on political economy and development.

Collaborations and grants include the Carnegie Trust-funded POLBOND project (2024–2025) and an internally funded project on bond indexes’ subjective power (2023–2025). He advises on debt governance and has published in top journals like the British Journal of Political Science and International Organization.