Justin Lin - World Bank Chief Economist - It is official

After blogging about Justin in this and this entry, Prof. Justin Lin has now officially been appointed World Bank’s Chief Economist. See news from,

1. First Chinese for World Bank job - BBC
2. World Bank Appoints Chinese Academic as Top Economist - Bloomberg
3. China Wins Top Spot At World Bank - Forbes - Here is an excerpt (emphasis mine),
   • “World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick, praised Lin’s expertise in economic development, particularly agriculture, and said he looked forward to working closely with him “on a number of areas, including growth and investment in Africa, opportunities for South-South learning and bank instruments to better support countries hit by high energy and agriculture prices.”
     

     Lin’s appointment comes at a turning point for China in its involvement in world affairs. China became a top borrower from the World Bank in the last few decades after reversing its long-held disdain for such Western-dominated multinational agencies. Last year, it made its first donation to the World Bank, contributing to an assistance project to the world’s most impoverished countries.

     Lin, 55, is a specialist on China’s rural economy and development theory, and has frequently publicly voiced his views on a range of pressing economic issues. Last year, he called for narrowing China’s yawning wealth gap by reducing investment returns for the wealthy. He has also warned of the negative impact on China’s economy should the yuan be allowed to appreciate too rapidly against the U.S. dollar, predicting it would exacerbate the problem of excess production capacity, thin corporate profits and create deflationary pressures.“

4. Economist: China’s poverty reduction experience helpful - China Daily
5. W Bank economist set to make China’s influence felt - Guardian

After listening to Justin’s 90 minutes long 2007 Marshall Lectures (linked in this blog entry) very carefully (Justin’s English is bit hard to understand), I think his appointment to World Bank is good for the world. In particular, his experiences and insights may be good in the fight against poverty.

P.S. Some people like to think in nationalistic line — that Justin is the first “Chinese Economist …“, “China’s influence felt …“, etc. These views are rather simplistic. I personally hope he is simply a good economist for the world. If his teachers and friends/colleagues at University of Chicago had the right influence on Justin (which I think they had), then the appointment of Justin is a “good thing” for the world indeed. I am willing to “trust, but verify“.