News Releases

Professor Ricardo Hausmann to deliver lecture at UWI

For Release Upon Receipt - July 13, 2010

St. Augustine


                  

An influential development economist is coming to The University of the West Indies (UWI) to speak on sustainable prosperity in Trinidad and Tobago. Professor Ricardo Hausmann, Director of Harvard University’s Center for International Development, will deliver a lecture on “Achieving Sustainable Prosperity in Trinidad and Tobago” at the Learning Resource Centre, The UWI St Augustine Campus, on Monday 19th July at 7:00 p.m.

The lecture is being held under the auspices of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social & Economic Studies (SALISES) and the UWI Open Lectures Committee. Professor Patrick Kent Watson, University Director, SALISES, and Professor Terence Seemungal, Chair, Open Lectures Committee, are both expected to deliver remarks, along with Mr Jeremy Callaghan, Campus Registrar, Dr. Hamid Ghany, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Dr. Ronald Ramkissoon, Economist, of Republic Bank Limited.

The topic of sustainable prosperity is particularly relevant to ongoing efforts to diversify the economy of Trinidad and Tobago away from its dependence on the energy sector. Professor Hausmann argues that sustainable prosperity is based on a broad accumulation of heterogeneous productive capabilities that support a set of products which becomes increasingly more heterogeneous and complex. But how can new products be made if the productive capabilities are not available? Why should people and organisations accumulate new productive capabilities that are not being demanded? To address this problem, Professor Hausmann argues, countries diversify into “nearby” goods where the problem is easier to address. He analyses Trinidad and Tobago's productive stance, reflects upon the road ahead and how to seize it.

Professor Ricardo Hausmann holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University and, in addition to being the Director of the Center for International Development, is also Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at Harvard University. He has served as the first Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank (1994-2000), where he created the Research Department. He served as Minister of Planning of Venezuela (1992-1993) and as a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Venezuela. He also served as Chair of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee. He was Professor of Economics at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion (1985-1991) in Caracas, where he founded the Center for Public Policy. He is a prolific writer, with research interests that include issues of growth, macroeconomic stability, international finance, and the social dimensions of development.

For more information on Professor Hausmann, click http://ricardohausmann.com/. For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

 

 

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

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