Global Conversation

It seems that the story of the 21st century will be one of a flatter global economic playing field.  The foundation for this was the unprecedented economic growth in the late 20th century in post-colonial nations.  Nowhere has this economic development been more apparent than in East Asia.

Austin Whittaker '14 and Noah Elbot '14 are currently studying abroad at the Chinese University of Hong Kong as part of the Brown Plus One program.  They are conducting a Global Independent Study Project under the supervision of Professor David Weil. This project is motivated by an interest in the historically unprecedented growth of Hong Kong and China in the 20th century.  We hope to approach this development from an economic and institutional standpoint, delving into the institutional origins of the growth and the resources which made it possible.  By observing the historical data and analysis from businesses, demographics, and global capital movements, we hope to explore the possible causes and results of the development.  We also want to discover the contrasts and paralells between the economic growth models that China and Hong Kong have been working within, and what the consequences of their respective development trajectories will be.

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