Jomo Kwame Sundaram’s Blog

In 2015, almost all heads of government in the world committed to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including universal health coverage (UHC). This was consistent with the World Health Organization’s commitment to Health for All. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed most countries’ under-investment in public healthcare provisioning and other weaknesses. Clearly, health system reforms and appropriate financing are needed to improve populations’ wellbeing. Instead of helping, more profit-seeking investments and market ‘solutions’ in recent decades have undermined UHC. Health markets the world over rarely provide healthcare for all well. Instead, they have increased costs and charges, limiting access. Worse,…

Jomo said a multitude factors – including the role of certain “powerful” speculators and Malaysians who hoard their cash abroad – exerted pressure on the ringgit. A weak ringgit is “not the most important problem” for Malaysia currently, according to a prominent economist. Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram, a research adviser at Khazanah Research Institute, also said that the ringgit’s depreciation was not caused by the country’s economic fundamentals. Speaking exclusively with StarBiz, he said multitude factors – including the role of certain “powerful” speculators and Malaysians who hoard their cash abroad – exerted pressure on the ringgit. Like many other currencies,…

As our planet continues to heat up at an alarming rate, carbon credits, markets and trading have been promoted as effective measures to combat global warming. While there is an urgent need to curb planetary heating, growing reliance on this innovation is problematic, to say the least. Global warming occurs when heat from the sun is absorbed by greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. Like a blanket, GHGs trap heat, preventing it from escaping our atmosphere. This raises temperatures on Earth, accelerating climate change and triggering extreme weather events such as droughts, cyclones and floods. Historically,…

Professor KS Jomo is one of Asia's most prominent economists of our time, having spent much of his career examining the challenges besetting the growth and development of emerging market economies in Asia and Africa. This, in the context of the policies practised and fomented by some of the world's richest nations in Europe and North America. Hailing from Penang, Malaysia, his journey took him from Penang Free School in northern Malaysia to Yale and Harvard Universities, amongst many august institutions including the United Nations, where he also lectured, wrote and spoke on subjects as diverse as the political economy,…

Introduction The world is once again in the grip of inflation, with Kenneth Rogoff (2022) terming this ‘The Age of Inflation.’ Pundits, such as Rogoff, and leading central banks – for example, the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) – and international financial institutions – for example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) – are all loudly warning about the dire consequences of inflation. Inflation hawks, like Frederic Mishkin (2022), believe central bank independence must be jealously protected to slay it. Larry Summers has urged…

1. Personal Intellectual and Professional Trajectory RR. Let’s start with your training as an economist. You have studied in prestigious US universities (Yale, Harvard), before returning to Malaysia. What lessons did you learn from this unique experience as a foreign student in economics in the US? JKS. In 1967, when I was 14, sterling was devalued. Suddenly, the little money I had was worth even less. Considered good in mathematics at school, and hearing of economics’ turn towards mathematics, I decided to study economics. I did well, but got into trouble for taking exams without official permission as I was not in…

In this thought-provoking lecture, Jomo KS argues that the policies pursued by the United States are driving the world towards war and depression. Neoliberal economic policies have dismantled social welfare programs, privatized public services, and deregulated financial markets, leading to inequality and economic instability around the world. The US is increasingly using military force to maintain its dominance, leading to increased tensions and global conflict. Jomo KS draws on a wide range of historical and contemporary examples such as Chile, South Africa and Greece to illustrate the devastating effects of US policies on a global scale. He examines the role…

What are the economic challenges facing the Global South post-pandemic? What role have global financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF played in worsening the economic situation for poorer countries? And what economic alternatives might exist? In this interview, Jomo Kwame Sundaram shines a light on the effects that decades of liberalisation policy have had on countries in the global South, including deindustrialisation, food insecurity, and another looming debt crisis. He argues that the recent refusal to waive international property rights related to vaccines as well as sanctions on China have worsened the situation, with the odds increasingly…

Soaring inflation and devalued currencies have created a catastrophic debt crisis for much of the world, including in countries like Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Malaysian economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram says the instability is largely driven by interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which have the effect of increasing borrowing costs for poorer countries and devaluing their currencies compared to the U.S. dollar. The intensifying U.S. economic war on China is also hurting many countries of the Global South that are linked to Chinese industry, he says.