'Making rich people richer doesn't make the rest of us richer' and 22 other Things They Don't Tell Y

LSE public lecture

Three years on since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, the world economy is struggling, with huge downward pressures on many people's living standards and sense of security. The predominant opinion is that, in order to get out of this mess, we have to cut taxes, cut welfare spending, and deregulate – so that the wealth creators can start investing and generating wealth again. But why should we so much trust in those very people, who, despite taking ever-larger share of national outputs in the last three decades, have so spectacularly failed to generate more wealth than before? If we are to overcome this crisis and build a better world, we need to part with this myth – that making rich people richer will make all of us richer – and 22 others on how we measure living standards, how we create wealth, how we pay people, how we ensure fairness, and ultimately how we cope with changes and change our future.

This event marks the publication of the paperback edition of Chang's latest book 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism.

Ha-Joon Chang is a professor in the faculty of politics and economics at Cambridge University where he has taught since 1990. In addition to numerous articles in journals and edited volumes, he has published seven authored books (three of them co-authored) and eight edited books (six of them co-edited). His most recent books include Bad Samaritans: Rich Nations, Poor Policies and the Threat to the Developing World (2007), Kicking Away the Ladder - Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (2002), which won the 2003 Myrdal Prize, Restructuring Korea Inc. (with Jang-Sup Shin, 2003), Globalization, Economic Development and The Role of the State (2003), and Reclaiming Development - An Alternative Economic Policy Manual (with Ilene Grabel, 2004). His writings have been translated into 13 languages.

Ha-Joon Chang has worked as a consultant for many international organisations, including various UN agencies such as UNDP (United Nations Development Program) and UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and a number of governments on development policies. He was awarded the 2005 Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.

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