School of Economics welcomes World Bank Chief Economist

It was an honour for the University of Cape Town that the Chief Economist of the World Bank Professor Justin Yifu Lin had chosen UCT as the venue to present his first academic lecture since taking office.

This was said by Professor Johann Fedderke, head of the School of Economics, in welcoming Professor Lin to campus this week. He added that Professor Lin, formerly of Peking University, was the first Chief Economist of the World Bank to come from a developing country.

In town for the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), jointly hosted by the National Treasury and the World Bank, Professor Lin used the opportunity to highlight how governments could make strategic choices to achieve academic growth in a bid to reduce poverty. Professor Lin said each country had comparative advantages which they could develop in order to become globally competitive.

“It is possible to achieve sustained, inclusive and equitable growth if a country has the right policies,” he said. To do this, governments should address at least three issues. First, provide education to the poor to facilitate their adaptability to job requirements. Second, invest in agricultural technology and rural infrastructure and third, reform social, economic and political institutions.

Students at the seminar questioned whether it was in governments’ interests to encourage change.

As the Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, was on the panel, he was in a position to respond and said that government welcomed new ideas, especially those borne of academic research.

Manuel said he was disturbed that there was a battle to persuade students into doctoral studies. “This has to worry us all,” he said. “What we want is a facilitating state, which needs a constant supply of new ideas from people who are passionate and considered in the advice they offer.”
Manuel said new ideas needed to be rooted in old values, and he attempted to speak in Chinese to put his point across. He made an attempt to pronounce some Chinese idioms, but his pronunciation clearly fell short of the mark, as the Chief Economist had to repeat the phrases in sounds that bore little relation to the Manuel versions.

“Shishiqinshi,” said Manuel, which means “Finding truth from facts”. He used this to illustrate how the Treasury had engaged with top economists from the Kennedy Harvard School of Business and the School of Economics at UCT (amongst others) to draft the Commission on Growth and Development.

Manuel also referred to the Chinese value of “Jiefungsi xing” which means “Liberating one’s mind from dogma”. A third saying “Yushijujing” was also appropriate to South Africa, as it could be translated as “Adapting to a changing environment”.

Manuel expressed his deep appreciation to students who had taken time out from studying to attend the lecture. “We need a constant supply of new ideas...We want to engage with you. We want you to feel motivated and passionate about the opportunities that South Africa presents,” he said.