Fudan, Saturday Sept. 20 - Economics conference | my lunch with a Nobel Laureate
On Saturday I attended an economics conference and then had lunch with Nobel laureate economist Sir James A. Mirrlees. This post is kind of long so there is a very brief summary at the bottom! And unfortunately, I only have two photos from the event.
I woke up Saturday morning at 7:30 after three hours of sleep to get ready for the 5th Biennial Transition and Economic Development Conference.
Pause -- How did I get to attend such an event? On my first night meeting my exchange partner Gigi, I mentioned to her that I was working on my economics thesis. After I described my topic to her, she said that she had done research last year for a PhD student named Bruce who was studying a similar topic. After a few emails back and fourth, he replied with a link to this conference, saying that I would probably learn more from these speakers than what could be taught in a classroom and as part of the organizing committee, he encouraged me to attend.
Back to the story -- That morning in the cafe attached to the lobby of our apartment complex, I paid 9 kuai for a quick espresso to try to stop my brain from protesting its fatigue. I stepped out into the drizzling rain and hailed a cab. Bemused by my out-of-it-ness, the cab driver started speaking to me in Chinese, asking if I was Japanese and why I chose to take a cab when I could have just taken the bus. But it was a "convenience? money is no object" mindset kind of day. Grateful to be on-time and mud-free.
I arrived at the conference just as it was about to begin and took my seat in one of the two rooms where working papers were being presented and critiqued. As expected, I relied less on the useless espresso and more on my fear of embarrassment and obligatory respect to the presenters to stay awake. After the first round of 平行学术研讨会 (here, a presentation of working papers and criticisms on a particular subject area), we took a tea break. So I had some breakfast: a couple of cookies they had laid out and a small cup of Nescafe.
Having stayed up late last night doing some other work, I didn't have time to research the speakers at this conference so I sat down at one of the tables away from the refreshments area where all the economists were gathered and frantically started reading bios. Because it's very embarrassing to talk to someone prominent and not know who they are or what they do. I read the bio of a man I recognized from the conference flyer and found out he was the director of research of Greater China at Standard Chartered Bank. Thank goodness I hadn't fallen asleep.
The next event was a round-table discussion titled 中国改革的新议程 (China's New Reform Agenda) in which several prominent economists and experts from the private sector, Fudan University, and other universities gave presentations on their predictions of the direction of future economic reform and then challenged each others views. The discussion was in both Chinese and English, with awesome translators in a side room live-translating both languages into a pair of headphones we were each given. It was a great debate and it was really wonderful to hear the arguments for which reforms are crucial, what the future of the state of Chinese economy holds, what magnitude of transition form manufacturing to service is necessary to keep economic growth at a steady level, etc.
After the round-table discussion, we headed to the Crown Plaza hotel across the street. My brain went back to zombie-autopilot after pulling myself together for the 3.5 hours so I still wasn't able to think very clearly about what the heck I was doing at this conference. I didn't feel confident enough to walk into this nice hotel's dining room by myself so I lingered behind a man and a woman who were walking pretty slowly toward the Crown Plaza and was relieved when they turned around and smiled at me. I introduced myself as a student from UC Berkeley and they smiled in acknowledgment. I am continuously grateful for the name recognition that Cal provides.
When we got to the dining area, I spotted Mr. Stephen Green, the China research head from Standard Chartered and I lingered in the buffet area to see where he would sit so I could join his table. As I lingered in the buffet area, a man came up next to me and peered at one of the dish's name card. "Bullfrog!" he said in surprise, and I turned and realized it was Nobel Laureate Sir James A. Mirrlees. I replied that I wasn't sure if it was actual bullfrog since the name card indicated chicken as well. "I see no reason why it wouldn't be!" I smiled. At the opposite side of the buffet area I ran into him again. I gazed down into the clean bowl of sautéed snow peas and noticed a strand of black hair. I pointed it out to the chef happily pointing to the various dishes available. He immediately pulled the bowl of snow peas and left for the stove area. Sir Mirrlees looked at the spot where the snow peas had been and raised his eyebrows. I explained that I had seen a hair and he faintly chuckled "oh!" in a very understanding, grandfatherly way.
After I had taken my plate of food, I approached Mr. Green's table and the female professor he was talking to gestured to the available seat across from him. As I began eating, the suitcase occupying the seat to my right was removed by its owner and down sat Sir James Mirrlees. It began to dawn on me that I did not belong at that table. This is the kind of judgment 3 hours of sleep gives you. I fumbled around pretending to look for chopsticks (there were none on the table) so I excused myself to get some in order to gain composure. (This is an ideal moment to laugh at me.)
When I came back, I sat eating in silence for a few minutes, awkwardly staring at my food as I tried to comprehend that I was having lunch -- indirectly, I suppose, because they were involved in their own conversations -- with these people. And then Sir Mirrlees started expressing his incredulity at the 50 percent unemployment statistic that was mentioned during the round-table discussion earlier. I looked up to hear more of what he was saying and he turned towards me just as he finished citing the national average of less than 5 percent unemployment. As I nodded at his point, I realized that I had just entered into their conversation.
We began talking about the "employability" gap between graduates' skills and employers' needs. I managed to contribute the simple observation of some of the differences between Berkeley and Fudan. While both schools provide outstanding liberal arts educations and are comparable in size, Berkeley provides a wider array of major specializations that do not seem to lead directly or obviously to a specific kind of job. For example, a student here informed me that she wasn't able to take courses in cinematography or anthropology until she studied abroad at UC Irvine. As I listed these examples, Sir Mirrlees smiled knowingly and contributing Gender Studies to the list.
I somehow found a segue from our conversation to begin discussing Ian Johnson's series in the Times on mass migration, which was part of the inspiration behind my thesis topic. Mr. Green and Prof. Li had finished their conversation joined into the one that had just begin, nodding their familiarity with the story. I pretty much described my broad thesis question but didn't tell them it was my thesis. They didn't have a direct answer to my question (thank goodness) so we then entered into a discussion about urbanization and migration. Stephen Green mentioned one of the actual policies that played a role in facilitating these movements called dynamic equilibrium. It was a very interesting conversation and it was great to hear and see the candid reactions from these people when such government policies are being discussed.
At the end of the meal, Sir Mirrlees, Mr. Green, and Prof. Li got desserts. I had barely finished my scant plate of food (a few tablespoons of rice, some sautéed peppers, and a few pieces of chicken/bullfrog) because I was too aware of who I was surrounded by. Upon their return, Sir Mirrlees sat down looked over at Prof. Li's large plate of dessert assortment. He commented on how good the little cakes looked and then gestured at his small bowl of chocolate ice cream. "I see the effect of the container," he smiled. "I chose a small one."
After some more conversation, the waiter brought over some coffees and Sir Mirrlees declined, saying he had to leave soon. As he got up to do so, Prof. Li, Stephen Green, and the other professor at the table got up. I realized they were showing him their respects and I quickly followed suit, managing to say, "It was an honor to meet you sir," before he left for his next engagement. We sat back down and continued talking.
The rest of the conference was great. The speakers presented a lot of information that was very relevant to my interests and research, which was incredible. In case any of you are interested, Dr. Wang Tongsan, Director of the Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, gave his rough estimate that growth will fall to 7 percent in five years.
I am so incredibly grateful for the chance to have attended such a conference and hear so many prominent economists express their views. I am still incredulous at my luck in getting to sit next to Sir James Mirrlees, Dr. Stephen Green, and Dr. Dan Li during lunch. It was an unusual and awesome way to help cure my homesickness for Berkeley.
After the conference was over, I headed home and then went out to Wujiaochang with Jia, Tong, and Adrien to finally try the Chinese Pizza Hut experience. We ordered four different personal pizzas and had a slice from each pie. Suffice it to say we appreciated the experience but will allow that memory to hold a monopoly for some time.
1) Attended the 5th Transition and Economic Development conference
2) Heard Chinese and European economists from academia and the private sector discuss the future of China's reform agenda
3) Sat next to Nobel Laureate Sir James Mirrlees during lunch at the Crown Plaza hotel.
4) Learned a lot that was relevant to my interests and my thesis research.
5) Pizza hut with hao pengyous (:
