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Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) presented a public lecture today (5 December) on ‘Steps to Limit Future Global Economic Crises’ by Prof. Peter A. Diamond, 2010 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences. The lecture drew a full house of over 400 academics, students, members of the commercial, financial and political sectors, as well as the general public.

SHKP Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Chan said, ‘We are very pleased to have been sponsors of the Sun Hung Kai Properties Nobel Laureates Distinguished Lectures Series with the Chinese University since 2004. SHKP advocates “Building Homes with Heart” and will continue to embed promotion of education and life-long learning in our corporate culture as part of our commitment to good corporate citizenship. Our particular hope in staging this event is that young people will learn and broaden their horizons, and the scholars’ intellect will help inspire them to new heights.’

CUHK Vice-Chancellor Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung thanked SHKP for its support over the past seven years. He added, ‘The lecture series would not have been so successful without the unreserved support from SHKP, to which we are most grateful. Professor Diamond is a renowned American economist who has made fundamental contributions in many important areas of economic studies. I would like to express our utmost gratitude to Professor Diamond for coming all the way to visit CUHK and share with us his wisdom and scholarly insights.’

In his lecture, Professor Diamond reviewed factors that contributed to the global economic crisis and discussed some steps for addressing them as well as issues needing more research. Professor Diamond is an Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT where he taught from 1966 to 2011. He has written on public finance, social insurance, behavioral economics, uncertainty and search theories, and macroeconomics. His books include Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach (with Peter R. Orszag), Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices andPension Reform: A Short Guide (both with Nicholas Barr), and Behavioral Economics and Its Applications (edited with Hannu Vartiainen).

His recent papers include The Mirrlees Review chapter ‘The Tax Base’ (with James Banks), ‘Capital Income Taxes with Heterogeneous Discount Rates’ (with Johannes Spinnewijn, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy), ‘The Case for a Progressive Tax: From Basic Research to Policy Recommendations’ (with Emmanuel Saez, The Journal of Economic Perspectives) and ‘Unemployment, Vacancies, Wages’ (the Nobel Lecture in the American Economic Review). His recent report is Pension Reform in China: Issues, Options and Recommendations (with Nicholas Barr). He has been President of the American Economic Association, of the Econometric Society, and of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He was one of the three winners of the 2010 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

The lecture was shown live at local universities to reach a broader audience. A hyperlink to the webcast was also provided by Hong Kong Education City for online viewing by secondary school teachers and students. There was also a live feed to the Fudan, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Zhejiang, Nanjing and Sun Yat-sen Universities on the mainland.

The Sun Hung Kai Properties Nobel Laureates Distinguished Lectures were inaugurated in 2004 with The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The series brings Nobel Laureates to speak to a broad cross-section of the community, to promote the discovery and the dissemination of knowledge, encouraging life-long learning and innovation. After this 19th installment of the series, 26 Nobel Laureates or renowned scholars have lectured in Hong Kong.

For more photos, please visit:
https://www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/events_recap_detail.php?1=1&1=1&id=41&s=