If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I am a fan of Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia. He is currently the president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. I have always found Kevin’s deep insights about China revealing and worth listening to.
With the current Covid 19 situation sweeping across the globe, I have been wondering about what it means for China, her people, economy, reform agenda and leadership in the world. Kevin and Daniel Rosen, founding partner of Rhodium Group, recently gave an excellent talk in New York “The Economic Impact of Coronavirus“. The talk was about 90 mins.
They try to bring “light rather than heat” into the discussion so that we can have a more “informed and rational view of what is going on.“
Dan gave an excellent overview of the objective, analytical framework behind the “China Dashboard – tracking China’s economic reforms.” “The Dashboard project has a simple design: gauge China’s implementation of its self-stated reform goals in the 10 policy domains it judges essential to long-term growth potential. We have just a few rules. First, our definition of reform goals and how to track them must be reasonable to all observers, not just westerners, so that this can be a basis for consensus not just scoring debate points. Second, indicators must reflect outcomes in the economy, not just pledges in the bureaucracy, no matter how high up. Intentions are important, and we examine those in each case, but results get top billing. And third, ensure accessibility: this must bring non-economists to the table, not just reach new heights in data gymnastics.” Dan and the Rhodium group went much further beyond superficial data sources.
Dan & Kevin also gave excellent insights about WHO, how they work and what they are trying to communicate with the world and with different governments.
In addition, Kevin warned against racism against Asians — especially Chinese nationals — in the wake of the coronavirus, and provides economic advice for U.S. President here.
I hope you enjoyed the talk as much as I do.
Chandler