{"bio": {"type": "/type/text", "value": "Costas Lapavitsas (Greek: K\u03ce\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2 \u039b\u03b1\u03c0\u03b1\u03b2\u03af\u03c4\u03c3\u03b1\u03c2) is a professor of economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and was elected as a member of the Hellenic Parliament for the left-wing Syriza party in the January 2015 general election. He subsequently defected to the Popular Unity in August 2015.\r\n\r\nIn 1982, he obtained a master's degree at the London School of Economics, followed in 1986 by a PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London. Since 1999 he has taught Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, first as a lecturer, and since 2008 as a professor.\r\n\r\nCostas Lapavitsas is known for his criticism of the modern Western financial system, particularly the Greek government-debt crisis, the European debt crisis and the European Union. He is also a columnist for the British newspaper *The Guardian*. In 2007 he founded *Research on Money and Finance* (RMF) an international network of political economists focusing on money, finance and the evolution of contemporary capitalism.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n**Source**: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costas_Lapavitsas\">Costas Lapavitsas</a> on Wikipedia (Wikipedia contributors, <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>)."}, "personal_name": "Costas Lapavitsas", "photos": [8063738], "last_modified": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2017-09-14T18:19:16.862001"}, "latest_revision": 4, "key": "/authors/OL1516780A", "name": "Costas Lapavitsas", "created": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2008-04-01T03:28:50.625462"}, "birth_date": "20 Jan 1961", "type": {"key": "/type/author"}, "revision": 4}