Dr. P.V. Viswanath

pviswanath@pace.edu

• Martin Jacques's Understanding the Rise of China
• Country Driving: Individual Presentations
• Finance Group Project
• Still Life: Movie Assignment
• Rural Bank Reform
• Quizzes

Martin Jacques's Understanding the Rise of China

Watch the Ted Talks segment of Martin Jacques's Understanding the Rise of China and write one or two pages on your impressions. First explain what he is saying, then tell me whether you agree or disagree and why? Is it necessary to apply different standards to understanding different cultures? Even if there are differences between cultures, is it necessary to conclude that there are different moral yardsticks in understanding different cultures? Do people from different cultures behave differently in the same economic circumstances? Explain.

Rural Bank Reform

In a May 2007 interview to Caijing magazine, CBRC Chairman Liu Mingkang highlighted six aspects of systematic reform:

1. Reform the loan application process: tailor the process to meet rural conditions.
2. Differentiate between small-scale loans to farmers and loans to large companies: develop separate assessment and performances measurement schemes to incentive bankers to make loans to farmers.
3. Enhance information sharing among different financial institutions:  track borrowers in default and develop a comprehensive nationwide credit rating system.
4. Train more people to work in rural lending: provide specialized training on the management of rural credit risks.
5. Set up professional performance measurements and award/penalty mechanisms: align compensation and promotion for rural lenders with performance.
6. Use interest rates as a tool in pricing risks: liberalize interest rate policies, especially with respect to rural lending.  This, in particular, will allow banks to charge more for taking on more risk, and it would give incentives to banks to make rural loans.

Write a page explaining the importance of these six ideas.

Quizzes

Quiz 2:

1. Why are Lu Xun and his ideas important for the development of Chinese political reform?
2. What is unique about China and what does it have in common with other countries?
3. Explain how the financial system facilitates the sharing and transfer of risk. Provide three different examples.

Quiz 3:

1. What makes a bank different from other financial intermediaries?
2. What is the “too big to fail” problem?
3. Why are banks and other financial institutions important elements in situations of systemic failure?

Country Driving: Individual Presentations

Students will write a brief summary of and present in class, one of the following papers/book chapters, as explained below.

The list of assigned texts are:

1. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 1, part I, pages 1-59
2. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 1, part II, pages 60-122
3. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 2, part I, pages 127-177
4. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 2, part II, pages 178-224
5. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 2, part III, pages 225-276
6. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 3, part I, pages 281-325
7. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 3, part II, pages 326-367
8. Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler, Book 3, part III, pages 368-415 and part IV, pages 417-424
9. Gan, Jie. "Privatization in China: Experiences and Lessons” in Barth, James; John Tatom; Glenn Yago (eds.) China's Emerging Financial Markets, New York: Springer Verlag, 2009.
10. Gong, Yufeng and Zhongfei Zhou, “Combating Financial Exclusion in China: A Banking Regulatory Perspective” in Barth, James; John Tatom; Glenn Yago (eds.) China's Emerging Financial Markets, New York: Springer Verlag, 2009.
11. Bai, Chong-En, Qiao Liu and Frank Song, “Bad News is Good News: Propping and Tunnelling Evidence from China,” Working Paper, University of Hong Kong.
12. Shah, Angilee; Wasserstrom, Jeffrey; and Mishra, Pankaj. 2012. Chinese Characters : Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land, Berkeley: University of California Press; Chapter 7 “The Ever-Floating Floater.”
13. Shah, Angilee; Wasserstrom, Jeffrey; and Mishra, Pankaj. 2012. Chinese Characters : Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land, Berkeley: University of California Press; Chapter 8, Megan Shank, “King of the Road.”

We will be reading the entire book during the term.  I have divided it into eight sections.  Each of these sections will be summarized and a student will make a brief presentation of each of these parts.  The student will submit a brief write-up on his section, at least a few days before the presentation, and preferably a week before the presentation.  The write-up will first lay out a summary of what the section discusses.  The main part of the write-up, though, will be a discussion of what one can learn from the section about the Chinese economy and the Chinese financial system.  (We will be discussing what a financial system is, on February 6th, but if you wish, you can go ahead and look over the slides for February 6th, which you can find at http://webpage.pace.edu/pviswanath/class/eco375/eco375.html (click on Course Outline). 

Students will sign up for one of the 13 "assigned texts," above and present them according to the schedule in the Course Outline.  There are ten students registered for the course and thirteen assigned texts, so in addition to the eight portions from Peter Hessler's book two of the remaining five assigned texts can also be chosen.  I would you to email me your choice of one of the assigned texts as soon as possible.  Even though you may feel an urge to postpone your presentation date, I would suggest that you don't do so.  The Peter Hessler book is easy reading and the early chapters are more narrative than the later ones.  As the term progresses, I will, of course, expect more of you in terms of your write-up and your presentation. (We will all read and discuss in class, the three assigned texts that are not chosen by a student.)

The presentation,which should be no more than 15 minutes, will be based on your write-up. The first presentation will be during the second class meeting, so please buy the book as soon as you can.  For the student choosing to make the first presentation, if you don't have time to acquire the book and read your portion, you can borrow the book from the library -- I have put it on reserve. The written report and powerpoint slides are due one week before the actual presentation (except for the first presentation, which will be due on the day of the presentation).

You should have two parts to the written report, which should be about 2-5 pages (double-spaced; this is an estimate -- the length is not important, but rather the content):

• one, a summary of what the portion discusses
• two, what the reading teaches us about the Chinese economy and the financial system. The more insightful and original the comments, the better.

Make sure that you read and revise your paper after writing it. Provide a layout of the paper and a roadmap for the reader. Make sure your paper flows properly. Make sure the paragraphs relate to each other. Run your paper through a spelling and grammar check. Use the editors at the Writing Center, if necessary.

Group Presentations

Students will form a group of from three to five students (in consultation with the instructor) on a finance topic to be selected by the students in consultation with the instructor; they will read a couple of papers, and write a brief paper of no more than five pages (double sided) and make a presentation in class on the topic.

Zhangke Jia movie "Still Life"

Students will watch this movie and write a brief report of no more than two pages on what they have learnt from the film about the Chinese economy and about the implications for the Chinese financial system. We will discuss this movie in class, as well. Students may want to read an analysis of the film, which can be found online.