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| Seminars and Talks |
| Winter 2002 |
02/01/2002
Speaker: He, Lin (Biology)
Topic: The Tip of the Iceberg: A Look At the Human Genome Project
Abstract:
Rapid progress in genome science and its potential applications have spurred observers to suggest the 21st century as a century for biology. At the beginning of this century, we all witnessed a great triumph in science, the completion of the blueprint of the human genome, a 13-year international effort. It is probably a little bit overhyped to say that it revolutionized biomedical research, yet biology will never be the same. In this ChinaRains meeting, I would like to share with you some basic knowledge about genetics, a brief history of this field and an overview of the human genome project with its deep impacts. I would also like to touch upon a couple of related topics, cloning and stem cell research, and hopefully provide a forum for further discussion. Hope it'd be fun.
03/01/2002
Speaker: Zhang, Junfu (Fellow in Pubic Policy Institute of CA)
Topic: How the Theory of Evolution Has Influenced Economic Thinking since Charles Darwin
Abstract:
Darwin's theory of evolution had not only revolutionized biology, but also influenced theoretical thinking in social sciences. The idea of evolution has become a mode of reasoning for many social scientists. As the title suggests, I will present a comprehensive survey about the impact of the evolutionary theory on economics. The talk will be organized as six parts. Part 1, evolution in economics: the early years. I will talk about the evolutionary ingredients in classical economics; examples include Malthus, Marx, Marshall, Veblen, Commons, etc. Part 2: evolutionary game theory. I will give a brief introduction of game theory and then talk about how game theory has been enriched by the idea of evolution. Part 3: Nelson-Winter evolutionary economics. This part covers the branch of evolutionary economics developed by Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter, which is now widely used to study industry dynamics, R&D, competition through innovation, etc. Part 4: evolutionary economics of institutions. This part briefly surveys the institutional economics following Veblen and Commons. Part 5: agent-based computational economics. It covers the recently developed methodology that is used to study complex adaptive dynamical systems by computer simulation. Part 6: evolutionary economics: a unifying paradigm? I will speculate about the development of economics in the future.
03/14/2002
Speaker: Zhang, Xiaopu (Ph.D. APARC Research Fellow from the People's Bank of China)
Topic: Chinese Policies on International Capital Flows after Accession to the WTO
Abstract:
Capital controls have helped to insulate China's economy from external shocks in the past two decades. Currently, China's capital controls are moderately effective while foreign direct investment is almost completely convertible. Chinese entry into the WTO will potentially increase the difficulties of capital controls. Upon analyzing China's financial system and macroeconomic conditions, as well as the risks of short-term capital flow, this paper argues that China should continue to maintain capital controls with an emphasis on short-term capital flow. Taking into account new challenges, China should upgrade control methods and improve efficiencies by using indirect or market-based controls. This paper stresses that China should open its capital account in an orderly, gradual, and well-sequenced way.
03/29/2002
Speaker: Kuo, Tai-chun (Research Fellow in Hoover Institution)
Topic: Enjoy Beijing Opera
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