China's Mixed Economy-Its Economic and Social Consequences

The Institute hosted its fourth Whitman Lecture June 14, 2006, with Assar Lindbeck of Stockholm University. Professor Lindbeck presented his views on "China's Mixed Economy-Its Economic and Social Consequences," a new analysis of economic reform and social developments in China that he prepared for the World Bank. Professor Xiaobo Zhang, Director of the China Program at the International Food Policy Research Institute and President of the Chinese Economists Society, led off the discussion with a few remarks on Professor Lindbeck's presentation. The topic is of course of great importance and I hope you can join us for this special event at the Institute.

Assar Lindbeck is Professor of International Economics at the Institute for International Economic Studies at Stockholm University, of which he was Director from 1971 to 1995. His research specialties include monetary economics, macroeconomics and unemployment, and the welfare state. He has been a member of a number of expert commissions both in Sweden and abroad, the latest being the Economics Commission (the "Lindbeck Commission") appointed by the Swedish Government in 1992, which he chaired. He was a member of the Committee for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences from 1969 to 1994 and served as its Chairman between 1980 and 1994. His numerous books include The Welfare State (1987), Unemployment and Macroeconomics (1993), and The Swedish Experiment (1997).

The Whitman Lecture series was created in 2001 by Robert and Marina von Neumann Whitman. Dr. Marina Whitman is professor of business administration and public policy at the University of Michigan. She formerly served as vice president and group executive for public affairs at General Motors, as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, and as distinguished public service professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a member of the Institute's board of directors for many years. Previous Whitman Lectures have been presented by Martin Wolf, Mario Monti, and Noboru Hatakeyama.