SOAS CSEAS - Jomo Kwame Sundaram lecture

Did South East Asia Learn The Right Lessons From The 1997-98 Financial Crisis?

Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram (Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and distinguished Malaysian economist)

Date: 27 November 2009Time: 6:00 PM

Finishes: 27 November 2009Time: 7:30 PM

Venue: Brunei GalleryRoom: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre

Type of Event: Lecture

Introduced by Professor Graeme Barker, Fellow of the British Academy, with discussion chaired by Professor Anne Booth, SOAS.

Biography

Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram is a distinguished Malaysian economist and is currently Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was also a British Academy Visiting Professor and later Visiting Fellow at Cambridge (1987-88, 1991-92).

Abstract

As the world struggles to cope with the ongoing macro-financial crisis from 2008, this lecture will pose to reflect on the contemporary implications of drawing policy lessons from the 1997-1998 East Asian regional financial crisis. After considering the origins of the earlier regional crisis, different perspectives on the crisis and subsequent policy reforms are reviewed. While the IMF and its policy conditionalities and advice were subsequently viewed critically and the impetus for regional monetary cooperation began in the first few years after the 1997-98 crisis, this soon gave way to further financial liberalization at both the national and international levels. Thus, with some notable exceptions, Southeast Asia rejoined the trend towards greater international financial integration and the shared prosperity it seemed to offer, but is therefore also vulnerable to its unraveling with the global macro-financial crisis which has picked up steam in the second half of 2008.

All Welcome (the event is free and open to the public. No booking is required.) Admission is on a first come first serve basis.