“What are the Major Challenges to High Growth in China?” by Wing Thye Woo on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.

Reception:5:00-5:45 p.m.

Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Patio 1517, UCI

Lecture：6:00-7:30 pm.

Social and Behavioral Science Gateway, Room 1517, UCI

Please RSVP to Sandra Cushman, scushman@uci.edu or 949-824-2344

          Wing Thye Woo

Wing Thye Woo received his bachelor’s degree in engineering and economics from Swarthmore College; his master’s in economics from Yale; and his master’s and doctorate in economics from Harvard.. Currently, he serves as a professor of economics at UC Davis; Chang Jiang（Yangtze Rive）Scholar at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing; and director of the East Asia Program within the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Woo has published more than 130 articles in professional economic journals and books. In 2000, the Journal of International Economics identified his article, “The Monetary Approach to Exchange Rate Determination under Rational Expectations：The Dollar-Deutschemark Case,” as one of the 25 most cited articles in its 30-year history. Dr. Woo has been an advisor to a number of governments and macroeconomic and exchange rate management, state enterprise restructuring, trade issues, and financial sector development. In 2004, UC Davis recognized him with the Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award, and in 2009, the Governor of Penang, Malaysia, conferred on him the chivalry order of Darjah Setia Pengkuan Negeri（DSPN）which bestows the title of Dato.

“Where are the Major Challenges to High Growth in China?”
Woo’s lecture will draw from his paper. “The Challenges of Governance Structure, Trade Disputes and Natural Environment to China’s Growth,” in which he compares the Chinese economy to a speeding car, e.g. China’s GDP has just overtaken Japan’s in 2010. A car crash could occur from any one of the following three types of failure：hardware（the breakdown of an economic mechanism, e.g. a banking crisis）; software（a flaw in governance that creates social disorders, e.g. a legitimacy crisis）; and/or power supply（a shock that is mostly beyond the control of China, e.g. an environmental catastrophe and/or international sanctions）. He finds that as the Chinese Communist Party（CCP）has identified its primary task as building a “Harmonious Society,” failure is likely the  biggest challenge to its continued rule. Woo agrees only partly with the diagnosis of the CCP. In his view, enlightened self-interest would require that China develop a global view of its responsibilities, and help more actively in building a harmonious world.