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Published On: Mar 16, 2007 11:12 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Mar 16, 2007 11:12 AM
An Economist and a Gentleman
"China Names Economist as Central Bank Adviser,"
by Rick Carew. The Wall
Street Journal, Beijing, August
14, 2006
I had the rare and humbling honor of sharing a
podium with Professor Fan Gang, head of the National Economic Research
Institute, at a Singapore confab for Strategic Intelligence about six years ago.
He is every bit (and more) the worldly and sophisticated an economist as Steve
Green at Standard Chartered gives him credit for being, but he is also extremely
engaging, easy to talk to, and as comfortable in a salon full of western
businessmen as he is in a hall filled with party cadres.
It is this combination of intellect and social ambidexterity that makes him such a positive addition to the monetary policy committee at the People's Bank of China. I can only hope this is a stepping stone to a more official position.
If nothing else, China could use his talents to mange the fairly hawkish rhetoric coming out of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's office. After Snow had backed down a bit, Paulson's debut in office has been marked by increase demands to adjust the yuan. I think Fan Gang is the kind of economist that can help PBOC and Treasury build a clearer mutual understanding based on the economics rather than the rhetoric, both because he fundamentally agrees with some adjustment, but also because he can clearly and intelligently articulate (in terms U.S. economists would get) why it can't go any faster.
It is this combination of intellect and social ambidexterity that makes him such a positive addition to the monetary policy committee at the People's Bank of China. I can only hope this is a stepping stone to a more official position.
If nothing else, China could use his talents to mange the fairly hawkish rhetoric coming out of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's office. After Snow had backed down a bit, Paulson's debut in office has been marked by increase demands to adjust the yuan. I think Fan Gang is the kind of economist that can help PBOC and Treasury build a clearer mutual understanding based on the economics rather than the rhetoric, both because he fundamentally agrees with some adjustment, but also because he can clearly and intelligently articulate (in terms U.S. economists would get) why it can't go any faster.
Posted: Mon - August 14, 2006 at 02:47 PM