Erik Steenfeldt Reinert (born 12 September 1949) is a Norwegian entrepreneur and heterodox economist.

Reinert was born in Oslo, attended the Hochschule St. Gallen in Switzerland (graduate in economics), Harvard University (MBA), and Cornell University (Ph.D.). Already during his studies, he spent several years in Latin America, working with community development projects in the Peruvian Andes, as well as in private industry and as a consultant. He then took over the management of a small business (color coding) in Bergamo, Italy, which as a genuine entrepreneur he developed into the leading European firm of its kind.

Retiring after selling the firm in order to pursue his scholarly and policy interests, Reinert became Director of Research of the Norsk Investorforum, a lobby group set up by large Norwegian corporations; he also held a part-time position at The Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) , which is a research institution established by the University of Oslo. Leaving this position in 2000, he became the Executive Chairman of The Other Canon Foundation, an endowed small center and network which has been credited, due to his personal efforts and publications, as a key centers of heterodox economics research. Since 2004, he is also Professor of Technology Governance and Development Strategies at the Tallinn University of Technology in Tallinn, Estonia.

As a consultant, Reinert's emphasis is on economic policy, the preconditions and management of innovations, and the relations between financial and production capital.

External links

• bibliography
• website from where to download some of Reinert's articles
• videotaped lecture by Reinert as .ram file for RealPlayer