Ha-Joon Chang
South Korean-British · 1963–
South Korean-British economist, known for his critique of free-market orthodoxy and his advocacy for heterodox economic policies, including the role of industrial policy in development.
Wikipedia ↗“Virtually all of today's rich countries used protectionist policies and other forms of government intervention to develop their economies. Having climbed to the top, they then kicked away the ladder by which they had risen, preaching free trade and free markets to developing nations.”
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“There is no such thing as a free market. Every market has some rules and boundaries that restrict freedom of choice. A market looks free only because we so unconditionally accept its underlying restrictions that we fail to see them.”
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“People 'over-invest' in a college degree because the 'torture premium' in the labour market correctly penalizes them for not having what is, in effect, a very expensive signalling device.”
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“Making rich people richer doesn't make the rest of us richer. Despite the fact that we now have the richest people in history, the vast majority in the rich countries have seen their incomes stagnate.”
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“Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are — a simple upward redistribution of income, rather than a way to make us all richer.”
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“The free market doesn't exist. What we have are different degrees of regulation, different ways of organizing economic activity. The question is not whether to regulate, but how.”
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“Economics is a political argument. It is not — and can never be — a science; there are no objective truths in economics that can be established independently of political, and frequently moral, judgements.”
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