Dr. Orphe Divounguy is the chief economist at the Illinois Policy Institute in Chicago.
Divounguy’s work has been published in CNN Business, USA Today, the Washington Examiner, the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, The Wall Street Journal and Newsday. Divounguy has also appeared on ABC 7 Chicago, the city’s top TV news station, and numerous radio outlets across the nation.
Divounguy earned a doctorate in economics from England’s University of Southampton.
Before his time in higher education, Divounguy interned at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York, and Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. His work at the United Nations focused on financing for development and poverty eradication.
Even prior to the pandemic, Illinois under Gov. J.B. Pritzker experienced a wider economic gap between Black and white residents when compared with neighboring states and the rest of the country.
The state could do more to help those who suffered most during the pandemic if it had its priorities straight.
Increased ballot access is meaningless unless Illinoisans have choice in contested elections.