IAS Policy & Enterprise Fellow at University College, Durham University (January – March 2013)
Dr Wilf Wilde is an economist who first studied Economics and Sociology at Hatfield College, Durham University. He undertook a varied career in the oil industry, in the City and latterly as marketing director at the energy regulator, Ofgem. Since leaving the City and Ofgem he has also written two major inter disciplinary books on oil, geo-politics and biblical theology. His first book ‘Crossing the River of Fire; Mark’s Gospel and Global Capitalism’ was a critique of the over optimistic assumptions of the Make Poverty History Campaign. His second book is entitled ‘Nowhere to Lay Our Head; The Empire of Oil, Client Rulers and the Anarchy of Jesus.’ He is presently half way through two additonal books: ‘Coalitions for Capital’ (forthcoming 2014) on English political history and a second provisionally called ‘After Liberation Square’ about the geo-politics of energy. Besides consultancy work in Russia, Wilf has lectured extensively in the USA and UK on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
As an IAS Policy and Enterprise Fellow Wilf will commence a collaborative interdisciplinary project on UK energy security with the Durham Energy Institute. His work at the IAS and DEI will be to recommend policy directions for UK energy security. He will consider trends in oil and gas prices in the medium and long term, especially the links to what he calls the ‘elusive revolutions’ of the ‘Arab Spring’.