George Papaconstantinou studied economics in the UK and the US, obtaining a PhD from the London School of Economics. After working for ten years at the OECD in Paris, he returned to Greece to serve in a policy advisory role for the Greek government. In 2007, he was elected to the Greek Parliament, and in 2009 to the European Parliament. In October 2009 he was appointed Finance Minister in the newly formed government of George Papandreou and in that position he played a key role in the Greek debt crisis, negotiating the first bailout with the EU and the IMF.