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Jomo K. S.

Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Jomo K. S. has been Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) since January 2005. He was Professor in the Applied Economics Department, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya until November 2004, and was on the Board of the United Nations Research Institute on Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva (2002–4). He is Founder Chair of IDEAs, International Development Economics Associates (www.ideaswebsite.org) Jomo is married to Noelle Rodriguez and has three children, Nadia (born 1987), Emil (born 1989) and Leal (born 1990).

Born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1952, Jomo studied at the Penang Free School (PFS, 1964–6), Royal Military College (RMC, 1967–70), Yale (1970–3) and Harvard (1973–7). He has taught at Science University of Malaysia (USM, 1974), Harvard (1974–5), Yale (1977), National University of Malaysia (UKM, 1977–82), University of Malaya (since 1982), and Cornell (1993). He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (1987–8; 1991–2) and was Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (2004). IDEAs

Focus: Economy, Jobs, Trade, Malaysia, Asia

Related Resources:

• Rethinking Poverty Reduction (Briefings)
• Capital Management Techniques in Developing Countries (Policy Library)
• Malaysia's 1998 Controls: Background, Context, Impacts, Comparisons, Implications, Lessons (Policy Library)

Selected Publications:

"Deforesting Malaysia: The Political Economy and Social Ecology of Agricultural Expansion and Commercial Logging," with Y. T. Chang, K. J. Khoo, et al (London: Zed Books, 2004).

"Globalization, Liberalization and Equitable Development: Lessons from East Asia." Overarching Concerns Paper No. 3 (Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2003).

He has authored over 35 monographs, edited over 50 books and translated 11 volumes besides writing many academic papers and articles for the media. He is on the editorial boards of several learned journals. Some of his most recent book publications include:

Malaysia's Political Economy (with E. T. Gomez),

Tigers in Trouble, Rents, Rent-Seeking and Economic Development: Theory and the Asian Evidence (with Mushtaq Khan),

Malaysian Eclipse: Economic Crisis and Recovery,

Globalization Versus Development: Heterodox Perspectives,

Southeast Asia's Industrialization,

Ugly Malaysians? South-South Investments Abused,

Southeast Asian Paper Tigers? Behind Miracle and Debacle,

Manufacturing Competitiveness: How Internationally Competitive National Firms And Industries Developed In East Asia,

Ethnic Business? Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia (with Brian Folk),

Deforesting Malaysia: The Political Economy of Agricultural Expansion and Commercial Logging (with YT Chang and KJ Khoo),

M Way: Mahathir's Economic Policy Legacy and

After the Storm: Crisis, Recovery and Sustaining Development in East Asia.

Bail-Outs? Capital Controls, Restructuring & Recovery in Malaysia (with Wong Sook Ching and Chin Kok Fay),

Industrial Policy in Malaysia: The Chequered Record of Selective Investment Promotion,

Labour Market Segmentation In Malaysian Services (with H. L. Khong),

Law and the Malaysian Economy (with others),

Globalization Under Hegemony: The Changing World Economy During The Long Twentieth Century,

The Great Divergence: Hegemony, Uneven Development and Global Inequality during the Long Twentieth Century,

The New Development Economics (with Ben Fine),

The Origins of Development Economics (with Erik Reinert) and

Pioneers of Development Economics.

Specialization:

Political economy; Malaysian economy; Southeast Asian industrialization; East Asian crisis and recovery; Growth and equity

Language Fluency:

English

Last Updated: Sep 22, 2006