Jong-Wha Lee

Dates of Residency: Feb. 13-24, 2023

Public Talk

Is This the Asian Century?
Feb. 15, 2023
We joined Pacific Leadership Fellow and professor at Korea University Jong-Wha Lee as he talked about the economic relationship between Asia and the West, focusing on the shift of economic power and the rise of the U.S.-China tensions in the world economy. He discussed major internal and external challenges for China and the Asian economy to achieve more inclusive and sustainable growth and enhance their global influence.

Biography

Jong-Wha Lee is currently dean of the College of Political Science and Economics and dean of the Graduate School of Policy Studies at Korea University. He is the president-elect of the Korea Economic Association for a term of 2022 and previously served as the president for the Korea International Economic Association. He served as a senior adviser for international economic affairs to former president Lee Myung-bak of South Korea. He was also previously Chief Economist and Director General of Economics and Research Department at the Asian Development Bank and an economist at the International Monetary Fund. He has taught at Australian National University, Harvard University, Columbia University and Peking University.

Lee has written and published extensively on topics relating to human capital, growth, financial crises and economic integration in leading academic journals. His most recent books include “Is this the Asian Century” (2017), “Crisis and Recovery: Learning from the Asian Experience” (2016), and “Education Matters: Global Schooling Gains from the 19th to the 21st Century” with Robert J. Barro (2015). He was awarded Cheongram Prize, Maekyung Economist Award, Dasan Economics Award and Inchon Award. He is a regular columnist for Project Syndicate and Korea JoongAng Daily.

A citizen of the Republic of Korea, Lee obtained his Ph.D. and master’s degree in Economics from Harvard University.