Ha-Joon Chang
Ha-Joon Chang (academic, economist, professor) | |
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Born | 7 October 1963 Seoul, South Korea |
Alma mater | Seoul National University, University of Cambridge |
Ha-Joon Chang is a South Korean institutional economist who taught economics at Cambridge University for more than 30 years before taking up a professorship at SOAS University of London in the Summer of 2022. He is the author of many books, the latest being "Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World".
In 2013, Prospect magazine ranked Ha-Joon Chang as one of the top 20 World Thinkers. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, as well as to Oxfam and various United Nations agencies. He is also a fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. In addition, Professor Chang serves on the advisory board of Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP).
Background
Ha-Joon Chang, who grew up in South Korea, came to global prominence after the financial crash of 2007-8 with two bestselling books that picked over the bones of the carnage wrought by the banks: "Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism" and the shorter, wittier, brilliantly persuasive "23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism".
(Here’s a couple of those things: “The best way to boost the economy is to redistribute wealth downward, as poorer people tend to spend a higher proportion of their income.” And: “Economics, as it has been practised for the last 30 years has been harmful for most people.”)
The philosopher and author John Gray – another master of the telling aphorism – writing in The Guardian, suggested that Chang was not only the most trenchant critic of disastrous neoliberal orthodoxies, but also that his book was required reading for any political party serious about finding solutions.
Nearly 15 years on from the Global Financial Crisis, Professor Chang is witness to a world that not only did not learn any of those lessons, but which seems determined to repeat the failed ideology to economic and environmental destruction.[1]
Book of the Week
BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week (17-21 October 2022) was Ha-Joon Chang's "Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World".
Over five episodes Professor Chang zooms in on garlic, bananas, okra, rye and chocolate, using the histories behind familiar foods - where they come from, how they are cooked and consumed, what they mean to different cultures - to explore economic theories. Witty and thought-provoking, Prof. Chang sets out to challenge ideas about the free-market economy which he believes have been too easily accepted for decades.[2]:
- Edible Economics 1: Garlic
- Edible Economics 2: The Banana
- Edible Economics 3: Okra
- Edible Economics 4: Rye
- Edible Economics 5: Chocolate
Earlier books
- The Political Economy of Industrial Policy (St. Martin's Press; 1994)
- The Transformation of the Communist Economies: Against the Mainstream (Palgrave Macmillan; 1995) ISBN 978-0-33359-709-5
- Financial Liberalization and the Asian Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan; 2001)
- Joseph Stiglitz and the World Bank: The Rebel Within (collection of Stiglitz speeches) (Anthem; 2001) ISBN 978-1-89885-553-8
- Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (Anthem; 2002) ISBN 978-1-84331-027-3
- Globalization, Economic Development, and the Role of the State (essay collection) (Zed Books; 2002) ISBN 978-1-84277-143-3
- Restructuring Korea Inc. (with Jang-Sup Shin) (Routledge; 2003) ISBN 978-0-415-27865-2
- Reclaiming Development: An Alternative Economic Policy Manual (with Ilene Grabel) (Zed; 2004) ISBN 978-1-84277-201-0
- The Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy in Africa: Forced Consensus (edited with Charles Chukwuma Soludo & Osita Ogbu) (Africa World Press; 2004) ISBN 978-1592211654
- Gae-Hyuck Ui Dut (The Reform Trap), Bookie, Seoul, 2004 (collection of essays in Korean)
- Kwe-Do Nan-Ma Hankook-Kyungje (Cutting the Gordian Knot – An Analysis of the Korean Economy) Bookie, Seoul, 2005 (in Korean) (co-author: Seung-il Jeong) ISBN 978-89-85989-83-1
- The East Asian Development Experience: The Miracle, the Crisis and the Future (Zed; 2007) ISBN 978-1-84277-141-9
- Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (Bloomsbury; 2008) ISBN 978-1-59691-598-5
- 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (Penguin Books Ltd; 2010) ISBN 978-1-60819-166-6
- Economics: The User's Guide (Pelican Books; 2014) ISBN 978-0718197032
A Document by Ha-Joon Chang
Title | Document type | Publication date | Subject(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:Uniting Behind A People’s Vaccine Against COVID-19 | open letter | 14 May 2020 | "COVID-19/Vaccine" | A number of deep state operatives, including 14 Bilderbergers, calling for the creation of infrastructure to rapidly jab everyone in the world. |
References
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