Newsletter

CDE Newsletter

From Professor Bruton
January 2008

Newsletter # 3
Dear Alumni,

Happy New Year to everybody. May all of 2008 be filled with joy and hope for all of you, and may all of you enjoy hard work and great searching and learning. Let's designate 2008 the Year of the Extra Great Learning for all us.

We had tea just before the winter recess began, and talked a bit about foreign direct investment (FDI). Everyone seemed to welcome FDI to their country, but when it came down to saying exactly what the foreign firms did for us, we had a little trouble. We took a little time to try to nail down exactly what we expected from FDI in our country.

The first thing that we mentioned was that the FDI brought their own money to finance their investment. This, the argument went, was due to the low income and, hence, low ability to save in our countries. Foreign firms then brought their own funds that added to domestic firms own saving and so we had larger investment than we could have without FDI. This sounded nice until it was discovered that in many cases the foreign firm did not bring its own money, but rather borrowed our money from local banks, and so investment was no higher with FDI than without it. Foreign firms of course bring some funds of their own, but frequently not much. So we concluded that the first thing to look for with respect to FDI is where the money is coming from or whose money is being utilized.

Then it was pointed out that foreign firms did bring more productive technology that could be used within our country. But there is a question here too: did our domestic firms learn from the foreign firms in our midst? The evidence is far from clear, but we do know that in many cases they do not. So we have to look closely to see if our firms are really learning from the foreign firm in our midst. More pertinently we have to try to design policies that induce our firms to try to learn from the foreign firms in our country. This should be done very carefully and thoughtfully. The evidence suggests that the most common way for local firms to learn is local workers leaving the foreign firm to establish their own enterprise. This seems particularly good to me. Can you think of a way to encourage this? This fact that local firms must learn from the FDI is emphasized, because we now know that knowledge accumulation is strategic to economic growth. Think hard about it, and think hard about policies that might bring this learning about. If you have a bright idea, please let me know at once.

A third question that arises is the extent to which our own government is somewhat limited in policymaking by the need to take into account the effect of policy on the foreign firm. Especially, does a policy that helps foreign firms at the expense of local firms do harm to the national development effort? In thinking about FDI always remember that the fundamental basis of development is domestic firms, they are the only ones who can really move the entire economy. FDI may make you rich, but it cannot make you into a viable economy with good institutions and permanent growth.

The conclusion is not that FDI is necessarily harmful or useless, but rather that it has many side effects that we must watch closely and monitor continuously. It now seems that the most suitable policy is one that is set by domestic authorities, not subject to negotiations, and goes very slowly on any incentive package that simply aims at attracting FDI. Try to make it mandatory that the foreign firm brings its own money, and try to watch carefully the productivity of the domestic firms. Remember it is your own firms that will carry development in your country. You can learn from FDI, but FDI cannot really carry the development load. And always remember it is your country.

Regards to Everyone and keep in mind that 2008 is the Year of the Extra Great Learning for all of us.

Henry Bruton

From Professor Bruton
November 2007

Newsletter # 2
Dear CDE Alumni,

Last week we had a tea at the CDE and talked about employment. It was a fine occasion. Nothing is quite as interesting and challenging as drinking a very hot cup of tea, eating cakes, and talking economics with demanding friends. Try it some time with your friends. You might want to make it a regular occurrence. I want in this newsletter to report a bit on what we talked about and maybe elaborate a little on what was said and not said.

We all agreed that in all our countries there was widespread unemployment and even wider spread underemployment, and further we agreed that an objective of policy in every country was full employment. So if we all agree that full employment is an important target, why don't we achieve it?

The first place to look is at the labor market. Are there institutions that push wages above the level that would permit full utilization of all labor? One thinks of unions, government laws (minimum wage laws, severe rules with respect to firing. etc.). But then one must ask why do we have such laws or rules or institutions? Do these laws prevent situations that would be worse than unemployment? Such laws and institutions may help those who are employed, but may hurt those seeking jobs without success.

But then we had to ask how important are wage rates in determining the demand for labor. We saw that much depends on the extent of the substitution between labor and other resources, especially physical capital. We noticed that in one model (the Harrod growth model) it was assumed that there was no substitution possible. If that were true then wage rates would be much less important or not at all important, as the amount of labor employed would depend simply on the amount of capital available. Different sectors may have different capital/labor ratios, but basically the rate of growth of demand for labor would depend on the rate of growth of physical capital, related closely to the investment rate. Technology was 'given', and not open to choice. In this way of thinking the way to solve the employment problem is to achieve and maintain a high rate of investment. This was a widely held view in the 1950s, and had important (usually bad) consequences for policy.

But then people began to believe, partly as a consequence of research and observation, that wages did matter in choosing production technique, that you could substitute labor for capital, and whether you did depended on the relative cost of labor (wages) and the cost of capital. To solve the employment you needed both a high rate of investment and a labor market that worked well; make wages reflect their supply. It seems now that most economists think that there is substitutability between capital and labor, and so wages matter. But then there is technology to worry about. A very labor-intensive technique may mean that labor productivity is very low, and more importantly, not rising. So we have to ask about technology, and that is tough. It is easier to say technology is given, but we mustn't say this and certainly must not believe it. So we spent a little time at tea talking about technology.

It is tempting to say that we import our technology from Germany, Belgium, Britain, the US, and Japan. We can't just do that however for many reasons, and one in particular. Much of technical knowledge is `tacit' knowledge. What is tacit knowledge? It is knowledge that is crucial and can be learned only on the job, only in the country itself. It is absolutely crucial, and obviously it cannot be imported. It must be created, as we say en situ, in place. Since it must be created in the country, by the workers of the country, it is likely to reflect the institutions and factor supply situation in the country. The creation of tacit knowledge not only results in the techniques chosen being more suitable, not only in terms of labor, but also in terms of other characteristics of the country. There are many examples of turnkey projects (be sure you know what the term means) where labor productivity stayed well below what it was rated to be because of the failure to create tacit knowledge. One alumnus wrote to say that his country was experiencing jobless growth. He had a very good analysis of why and how that could happen. There are many reasons, but I am urging you to think about the creation of tacit knowledge. So we have to ask how we create tacit knowledge in a particular country.

We clearly can't say that it is given, because we have just said that it has to be created in the production process. We need then to ask how we can create a situation that induces individual firms to search and learn how to be more productive. You recognize that we are now saying that a significant part of technology is endogenous, and this changes things markedly. I urge that you think about this and try to see what happens to our stories when we do this, i.e. recognize that all technology is not given or imported, but that we must establish some sort of internal process of knowledge accumulation. There are numerous economic models that purport to make technology endogenous, but they are of little help to us and don't point to any specific policy.

Let me offer some examples of the kind of approach that follows from what was just said. These suggestions are probably administratively unfeasible, but they may help you to see the issue more clearly, and you may come with ideas that can be carried through in your country.

1. Most countries provide subsidies in one form or another to try to induce foreign investment in the country. Such subsidies are often based on the size of the investment involved. Why do we do this? Why not make the subsidy depend initially on the amount of labor per unit of capital that the investor makes. Then future subsidies would depend on the increase in the amount of labor per unit of capital. Note that we want an increase.

2. Better yet, can you devise a subsidy that is applied to domestic firms that rewards them for increasing employment per unit of capital? Subsidizing domestic is usually better than subsidizing foreign firms. (Evidence shows that the subsidies to foreign firms do not or rarely do affect their decision to come or not come.)

3. Suppose that you could eliminate all subsidies on inputs for agriculture, fertilizer, water, etc. In their place you could design a policy that rewarded farmers for an increase in yields per hectare that they were able to achieve. What do you think would happen? Remember that farmers are pretty smart. Can you design a policy that would be easier to implement than this, but have the same effect?

4. Schedule fairs or seminars in which farmers are paid a small fee for participating, and in which the more successful farmers are paid a larger fee to talk about how they operate that makes them more productive. We don't need foreign experts to come and talk about things that mean nothing to us. We have some of our own farmers who can share their knowledge with others. Try to think of ways to utilize better our own experts.

5. Governments everywhere are overstaffed. This fact has many unfortunate consequences. What do you think of the following. Discharge as many government employees as seems in order, but continue to pay them for a year. And raise the pay of those employees who were retained. What do you think would happen?

I don't recommend these proposals especially for any particular country, but I hope that they will give you an idea or two and induce you to think about knowledge accumulation at home. Think about a learning economy. How to create an awareness of the many rewards of a learning economy and then how to go about creating one in your country at the present time. I mean really think about it and talk about it around the water cooler and elsewhere.

I have enjoyed your e-mails about the first newsletter. I hope that you are moved to send more in response to this one. Remember we are trying to create a real, live round table. Most of all though I hope that you will be moved to talk with your friends and colleagues about these matters. Keep at it, keep at it. Remember that searching and learning is what it is all about.

Your friend,
Henry Bruton

From the Chair
October 2007

It is an exciting time at the CDE. As part of a growing interest in globalization, and understanding the way in which the CDE ‘brings the world to Williams,’ the College is increasingly interested in supporting us.

As a result, not only will we be able to do more for the students who are here, but we look forward to doing more for the alumni. So we would like to hear from you as to what you would like to see. One exciting possibility would be to organize regional meetings of the CDE alumni so that you can exchange the knowledge that you have been picking up in your jobs, in struggles with a variety of policy issues, etc. I and/or other faculty would try to join these meetings, especially those in the summer, in late March (remember ‘spring break’?), or possibly January, and could give seminars on topics that might be of interest. We also intend to do more with the website, making it an efficient tool for you to communicate with one another, and giving you access to some of the information and tools that we use in CDE courses and in our research. And we are reinvigorating this newsletter with a regular column from Henry Bruton, sure to be of interest to you. Other ideas are welcome, so please send them in.

We are looking forward to a great seminar program this year. Nancy Birdsall, President of the Center for Global Development, spoke last month on Globalization, and we have Lant Pritchett (Harvard) and David Weill (Brown), whose names come up in CDE courses, during October. Sara Sievers, of the Gates Foundation, will visit in November to speak on aid effectiveness in health and education. I am working on an equally stellar cast for the spring semester, including talks on capital market development by some hands-on experts from Wall Street. Of course, the headline event in the spring will be the conference on Global Warming and Developing Countries April 10-11, and we will be posting that agenda later this fall.

I look forward to your suggestions for how we could help you, and look forward to meeting you at a regional meeting in the future.

All the best,
Jerry Caprio
Chair, CDE

From Professor Henry Bruton
October 2007

This is the first of what I hope will be a series of newsletters in which, with your cooperation, I talk about the CDE and about development economics. Personal matters are discussed in the spring newsletter in which is reported what is new in our individual lives. I will try to identify substantive issues that I think are of interest to most of us, and I may do a little preaching on the side. I will need your help, so I hope to be provocative enough to get some reaction from you. So let me know what you think.

Dear CDE Alumni:

The CDE began its 47th year this September. This year’s class looks very much like our first class, way back when in 1959, except, happily, we have women in this one while we didn’t in the first one. Countries are also different. Earlier we had people from India, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Nigeria, Haiti and now we don’t. We now have students from several of former members of the Soviet Union, and from Eastern Europe, which we didn’t in the beginning. But other countries have continued, some sending students every year. At any rate it is a great pleasure to welcome a new class from wherever they come, to welcome them to the Center and to Williams and to the United States. We are enriched by your presence as we hope that you have been and are equally so in being here for a year.

What is new in economics? There is a huge outpouring of literature. New journals appear frequently, and old ones get fatter and more esoteric with every issue. No one can keep up with even a narrow sub field, let alone with all of economics. But one must read and think, so a big question is what to read and what to think about, since you can’t read everything. I will suggest a few things after a bit, but first back to the question, what’s new in economics?

I think there is a great new surge of interest in finance in development. Earlier, economists I think believed that where entrepreneurs went finance could be assumed to follow. Finance was not a cause of growth, but could be depended on to follow where it was needed. Now many economists feel very differently, and argue that availability of finance can well be an initiating factor or can be a bottleneck that stops growth or distorts it. The role of banks in development takes on a new and increasing importance with the attention to finance. See a new book Rethinking Bank Regulation by the CDE chair Jerry Caprio, Jr. and two other authors for a helpful discussion of the various issues.

A second area that is attracting increasing attention is institutions as rules of the society that are outside or beyond the market. Institutions have been around some time, but have recently been more formally incorporated into analyses of growth and development. And empirical work is providing us with greater understanding of how and why they matter. We don’t know exactly what institutions do or even what they are, but they surely matter and are usually country specific or even region specific, and they affect the way the ‘economy’ works. In particular, institutions mean that a policy may have one consequence in one country and another effect (or no effect) in another. For example, globalization, about which we hear so much, may be very effective in one country and cause chaos in another. Institutions teach us to beware of strategies and policies that are said to apply to all countries in the same way. I urge that you think hard about the institutions in your country and how they act on economic performance. Douglass North is the grandfather of institutional analysis, and points the way for one’s thinking. Also Dani Roderik, who is often on the internet, is a good and helpful writer on this topic.

A third topic that I am very interested in is employment. All of our countries have an employment problem, and yet we all are very much committed to a full employment policy. We spend large amounts of money and energy on collecting data for our estimates of GDP, but our employment data are very unsatisfactory, and, I think, more relevant to our welfare than is GDP. Why is there so much unemployment in our countries? Ask yourself about your own country in this respect, urge your supervisor to put employment high on the list of things to think seriously about. An economy that is providing good jobs for everybody combined with rising labor productivity is functioning well, no matter GDP. Why can’t your economy do that?

If you worry about these three topics, you will be a very useful economist in your country. I urge that you read and read some more about your economy, read history, read novels written by a novelist of your own nationality. An effective economist knows his/her economy and society, its history, its institutions, and its values and from this knowledge good policy can emerge. Writing is also helpful to a reader and indeed to the writer. Letters to the local paper or to a local magazine can be very worthwhile. People will read, you may be surprised at the response you get. If you can send something you’ve written to me, I promise some reaction.

These are suggestions as to what an interested, committed, able economist like you can do to make a difference in your country. Searching and learning goes on and on, and gets more and more exciting and fulfilling. Keep at it.

I welcome letter, e-mails with your own ideas and problems and solutions, and discussions of things happening in your country or job. Let’s get a real roundtable going. There is nothing like a roundtable to beef up our searching and learning.

Your Friend,
Henry Bruton

From the Director
October 2007

Dear CDE Alumni,

CDE fellows for 2007-2008 arrived in August and are busy now with mid-terms. To learn about the talented and interesting individuals studying here this year, please visit the following website:

http://www.williams.edu/cde/people/Images/fellows/ClassDirectoryWeb.pdf

In case it takes time to download all the photos, there is a listing at the end of this note.

Increasingly, the wider Williams community has come to appreciate the CDE program. We see this shift through the undergrads who take CDE courses, who eat meals at CDE, who play on the CDE soccer team, and who introduce CDE fellows to campus clubs and organizations (ranging from the Outing Club to the Writing Workshop this week). This interest begs a larger question: how should Williams change as globalization influences organizations? Are there considerations or strategies that you would like to recommend? CDE alumni have their fingers on the pulse in more than 100 nations. We would like to hear from you with ideas and thoughts that may be valuable for the future of your College.

Warm regards,
Tom Powers
Director

CDE Class of 2008 Position List

Hamis Abd El Rashid, Egypt, Economic Researcher, Central Bank of Egypt

Altynai Aidarova, Kyrgyz Republic, Leading Economist Economic Analysis Division, National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic

Shereen Aleryani, Yemen, Program Assistant, World Bank-Yemen Office

Sarwat Amir, Pakistan, Analyst, State Bank of Pakistan

Konstantin Baratashvili, Georgia, Leading Specialist; Lecturer & Chair of Econ & Educ Management, Parliament Budget Office; Tbilisi State Pedagogical Univ

Gerawork Getachew Bizuneh, Ethiopia, Junior Research Officer, National Bank of Ethiopia

Pablo Alfredo Cuba Borda, Bolivia, Economist and Junior Researcher, Ministry of Planning

Amira Saleh Sherif ElSebaei, Egypt, Banker, Economic Researcher, Central Bank of Egypt

Rathnaseela Endera Arachchige, Sri Lanka, Assistant Director Department of Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance

Freddy Espino Lazo, Peru, Analyst, Central Reserve Bank of Peru

Joseph Fahnbulleh, Liberia, Analyst, Central Bank of Liberia

Orzimurad Gaybullaev, Uzbekistan, Chief expert, Cabinet of Ministers

Zakaria Amidu Issahaku, Ghana, Economic Officer, Aid & Debt Management Unit, Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning

Decky Kipuka Kabongi , DR Congo, Junior Teacher Progam Assistant, University of Kinshasa, UNDP, DRRC Office

Ayman Maher Abd El Hamid Mahmoud, Egypt, Chief of section, Economic Research Sector, Central Bank of Egypt

Crane Muleya, Zambia, Senior Budget Analyst, Ministry of Finance & National Planning; Budget Office

Otar Nadaraia, Georgia, Head, Off-Site Division of Supervision Department, National Bank of Georgia

Ahmed Naseer, Republic of Maldives, Manager, Academic Programs and Supervisor, Ministry for Finance & Treas; Academy for Bus & Mgmt

Betty Pacharo Ngoma, Malawi, Principal Budget Officer, Ministry of Finance

Juan Carlos Pacheco Romero, Costa Rica, Manager of Public Debt Division, Ministry of Finance; National Treasury

Baryalai Parsa, Afghanistan, Development Budget Officer, Ministry of Finance

Haykuhi Levon Sekhposyan, Republic of Armenia, Lecturer, Department of Economics, Gyumri Campus of State University of Economics

Athikaset Thongves, Thailand, Policy and Planning Analyst, Office of the Nat'l Economic & Social Development Board

James Tumwine, Rwanda, Personal Assistant to the Minister of Finance & Economics, Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning

News from the Various Classes

Class of 1961

Lee Soo Ann, Singapore, sent an email with news of what he is doing. Currently he is teaching "Development Economics 1" at the National University of Singapore in the department of economics. He says, "My training and the teachers/fellow students I met while at Williams come back as a refreshing tonic!"

Lee Soo Ann with his wife and daughter and a Tibetan friend in Xianggelila, China

Class of 1965

Arturo Garcia-Torres, '65 Mexico, reports, "I have returned to Mexico my home country from an extended sabbatical in Madrid, Spain, where I spent about a year and a half studying art, literature, history, wine tasting and cooking. I keep in touch with Ted Rumme, who is not a CDE fellow but well known to the people of the class. All is well and I would like to have emails from my class." arturo@garcia-torres.com

Class of 1968

Leopoldo Hernandez Lara, Mexico, wrote that he has 6 grand children. He recalls fondly meeting up with Henry Bruton in 2004 when he was in town for a visit. He reports that he is no longer an economist, but has written several books. The most recent book is Religious Discrimination Against Women.

Class of 1971

Fakhruddin Ahmed, Bangladesh, is currently the Chief Adviser of the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh.

Class of 1974

Mutawakkil Kazi, Pakistan wrote, "After a satisfying career in the Government of Pakistan, I have been appointed as Member Federal Public Service Commission, a constitutional position for a tenure of three years." He reported further that he has had several different positions over the years including, positions in Federal Secretary for Industries, Production, and Special initiatives; Chief Secretary Sind, Federal Secretary for Planning and Development; Additional Chief Secretary Development Sind, Federal Cabinet Secretary, Member Planning Commission; Chairman Planning and Development Board, Punjab; and Staff officer to the Prime Minister. His wife, Bina is pursuing a successful career as an Architect and Designing Consultant. Their two daughters Aasiya and Nadia are in college.

Class of 1977

Rodolfo Tacsan, Costa Rica, wrote, "I am about to retire and enjoy a life of traveling and rest....Its been 35 years of public service at different public institutions and 27 years of teaching Economics and Trade. My future plans: continue with my consulting work and research on topics on trade and development using all I have learned from Mead Over, John Sheahan, Paul G. Clark and of course, Henry Bruton.

Class of 1979

Jana Grace (Poticar) Ricasio , Philippines, took up her post as Economic Affairs Officer at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in November 2003. She moved from the UNDP country office in the Philippines where she last served as Programme Coordinator. At UN DESA, Jana works with the Development Cooperation Policy Branch of the Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination. Her work involves assessing the development cooperation activities of the UN system in the countries where there is UN presence. Jana has taken up residence in New York City while working in her current post. Of her three children, two are already young working adults based in the Philippines, while her youngest, a daughter lives with her in New York, studying to become a film-maker. Jana and her husband have a 'commuting' household. Jana asks her batchmates to send her an email message at ricasio@un.org, as she is most eager to hear news of them and their families, and their whereabouts. She sends all her best regards.

Jana and her husband in Times Square

Class of 1982

Ferdinand Abayomi Oguntoye, '82 Nigeria, sent news of the death of Chief Stephen A. Sholola '62. He wrote that Stephen had been his boss at Economic Planning and Development and he was extremely fond of his Williams College heritage.

Class of 1983

Mir Obaidur Rahman, Bangladesh, reports, "I have joined as Associate Professor in the School of Business in the North South University." His new email is bpatcmdsde@sdnbd.org

Class of 1984

Md. Ghulam Murtaza, Bangladesh, writes, "I have gone on leave prior to retirement (due Nov. 06) since November last from my job as General Manager of Research Department of Bangladesh Bank." He further reports that both his daughters were recently married, one in November 05 and the other in January 06.

Class of 1985

Stephen Wainaina, Kenya, sent in an alumni update form and his new position as Planning Secretary, Ministry of Planning and National Development. He wrote, "The CDE programme gave us a good bearing in our careers. For the Class of '85, we will miss the late Earl McFarland." A. Richard Dorley, Liberia, sent in an alumni form with updated information. In the form he wrote: "I must also thank those who established the graduate program in development economics that has proven to be so useful to us, the developing countries, in terms of formulating appropriate and implementable social economic policies for the development of our economies."

Class of 1987

Anna Maria Rorigues-Ortiz, Columbia, is now Chief of Staff, Executive Vicepresidency at the IDB and spends much of her time now in Washington, DC. Rescina Bhagwani, Philippines, visited the CDE on the starting day of the new class with her whole family. There was so much going we forgot to take a group picture! The picture below makes up for that omission and is from a wedding they attended here in the States.

Class of 1989

Jose Samaniego, Ecuador, sent the picture below of his family.

Luz Elena Coloma; José Ignacio Samaniego (10 años); José Samaniego and Isabel Samaniego (15)

Class of 1993

Nadezhda Soboleva, Kyrgyzstan, wrote that she was married to Sean Gaherty in June 2006. They live in San Francisco where she works for Cornerstone Research. Ahmad Sukhera, Pakistan works for the Secretary, (Implementation & Coordination) Services & General Administration Department, Government of Punjab. He reports, "My son Jahanzeb (whom we call Jazzy) is now 16, and a smart young man doing his O-Levels (plays guitar but wishes to become a surgeon!), followed by two daughters, Nushmiya who is 13 and a good golfer, and Rushna who is going to be 10 this year and is again a golf enthusiast." Alfred Mulwa Kitolo, Kenya, wrote that he is now Deputy Chief Economist in the Ministry of Transportation. He said he has been in the States a couple of times for meetings at the UN but that his tight schedule did not allow for a side trip to Williams. He hopes to change that in the future. He reports he has two children.

Class of 1994

Wu Shaosong (Kevin Mo Siu Chung), China, stopped by the CDE in early March. He was in Williamstown to meet with representatives of the Career Consulting to recruit interns to work briefly in China. He is a partner in Chinasemester and educational institution in Beijing. Mauricio Pareja, Ecuador sent the picture below of his daughters, taken in Paris. Can these be the same "little gilrs" who were here in Williamstown?

Dani, Mauricio, and Chris Pareja in Paris

Class of 1995

Matfobhi (Tito) Riba, Swaziland wrote that she is still at UNCTAD but there has been another change in her life. She was married in December 2005. Her husband, Kelly, is from Lesotho and is a medical doctor.

Class of 1996

Olga Caday-Asana and Ramon Asana at their wedding.

Olga Caday-Asana, Philippines, wrote that she was married July 8, 2006 to Engr. Ramon Asaňa . CDE alumni present were Rescy Bhagwani '89 filling in for Ginny Gaskill as sponsor, Pie Jamon '93, Sonny ' 92 and Pat Samia, Ramon ''88 and Malou Lopez. Mulambol Sililo, Zambia, is currently working in South Africa for Standard Bank as Credit Manager. She is looking for fellow classmates. Mulambo.Sililo@standardbank.co.za

Class of 2000

Tasawan Kasemsawasdi (A), Thailand, was married February 1st. The wedding reception was held at the Nai Lert Park Hotel---a Raffles International Hotel in Bangkok. Classmate, Tessie Candelerio-Gregorio (Phiilppines) attended the wedding along with Tessie's husband Simon.

"A" in an unsusal bride pose!

Khoa Truong, Vietnam sent the following text for his classmates: "After 20 hours of flying, I finally arrived in Myanmar with lot of excitements. My first night was totally refreshing. Tin Htut of 2001 took me on a tour of Yangon by night. We ended up at a street restaurant in crowded China town with yummy food, great beer, and wonderful conversation. The next days were filled with work, and in my last morning, Thandar Swe of 2005, on a business trip to Yangon, also managed to come for breakfast with Tin Htut and me. We had a great time chatting the world news, Myanmar’s development, and of course our wonderful time in Williamstown. I am so grateful for warm treatment that these dear CDE fellows gave me. I therefore cannot resist from suggesting one thing to CDE alumni: before visiting a foreign country, make sure you search the CDE database and contact your friends there. Your effort will be paid off." He added, on a personal note, my wife Tram, kids Chris and Ben are doing just fine. I will be finishing my PhD study this summer and looking forward to a new chapter of the professional life.

Faizul and Rahnuma on their honeymoon.

Faizul Islam, Bangladesh, wrote that he and Rahnuma Khan, Bangladesh '02, were married January 15, 2007. To our knowledge this is the first marriage of two alumni, not in the same class. Does anyone have information to the contrary? Congratulations to both Faizul and Rahnuma.

Tin Htut, '01 Myanmar, Thandar Swe '05 and Khao during his visit to Mayanmar

Class of 2001

Tin Htut, Myanmar, wrote that he is still working with UNICEF Myanmar as an Assistant Project Officer. He is also a co-operating faculty teaching Managerial Economics at the Department of Studies under the Institute of Economics, Yangon. Below, a picture of Tin (third from right) and his colleagues during a field trip to observe community development study activity lead by monks in the rural area. Aura Yaneth Para, Colombia, wrote that she has returned from Lyon, France where she had been studying French. She is now back in Colombia "working as a Consultant in the distrial public sector in subjects related to the educative sector of Bogota and with the harvesting, processing and analysis or economics and social information of the national and distrital order."

Tin Htut and colleagues in the field in Myanmar

Class of 2002

Maia Gikoshvili, Georgia wrote that she was married in 2005 and Eka Galdava, Georgia, was in her wedding. She reports, " I changed my working place, moved from German bank to the World Bank sponsored organization in Georgia (MDF), the main profile of the organization is implementation of the projects of the donors like the WB, Millenium CC (USA), SIDA, EBRD, KFW, and others. Nia Sharashidze, Georgia, wrote that she and George Bakradze, Georgia '03, attended an IMF seminar in Washington, DC in late December 2005. They met up with Raushan Seitkasimova, Kyrgyzstan '03, and they all exchanged memories of their time here at CDE. Donanto Wibowo, Indonesia, wrote that there is nothing extraordinary to report. He visited Bangkok in November 2006 and met up with Pui Worawan, Thailand. They had fun and reminisced about their time at CDE which made them realize that time was passing fast and they "kind of miss the hectic period". David Lezhava, Georgia, he is now at the National Bank of Georgia, Department of Macroeconomics and Statistics, Monetary Policy Division as one of the Chief Economist.

Class of 2003

Elvis Requena, Belize, wrote that he was married February 3, 2006. He promised pictures, but we have not yet seen them!

Class of 2004

Otilia Frolu, Romania, sent an email with news. She reports" I'm still working for the Government Treasury, fully involved in curbing the public financing towards financial markets, and developing the local ones. I got involved in this immediately after I arrived, in fall 2004, and I can tell that the course that Tom taught had an immediate impact for me. We had IBRD and EIB issuing bonds on the local market, locally denominated, supplying the market alongside the Treasury. Still working on it, though.

Otilia with her daughter, Kira with her nephew Alex in Amsterdam last spring

Cesar Carrera Yalan, Peru, wrote that his studies at UCSC are going well and that he continues to rule his "Sui Generis" soccer team there, winning the IM championship (see picture below!). He also reports that he published a paper in the central bank about the pass though and ODEC countries with a friend from the central bank of Turkey. Cesar invites you all to visit his web page at:http://econ.ucsc.edu/grads/ccarrera/

Cesar Carrera Yalan

Class of 2005

Bheki Bhembe, Swaziland, writes, "I've attached a photo of our son, who was born on the 7th of February 2007. My apologies for sending this photo so late, I've been out of office for the past one and half months. Hlobi and I are so excited even though he is keeping us awake for the better part of our nights.

The new addition!

Class of 2006

Kamiljon T. Akramov, Uzbekistan, has joined the International Food Policy Research Institute after completing his Ph.D. He is working on development and governance issues pertinent to countires in South Asia, Africa and Central Asia. His son, Bekzod, is a first year student at Williams. Gantuya (Gana) Badamgarav, Mongolia, writes that she is working for a USAID Project named Economic Policy Reform and Competitiveness. Bilguun is happy meetings his friends and enjoying school.