BTO: A risk worth taking

Business Times - 11 Apr 2009

LETTER FROM WASHINGTON, DC
A risk worth taking

RAMKISHEN S RAJAN
Associate professor, School of Public Policy,
George Mason University

 

IT HAS been about four years since I shifted to Washington, DC from Singapore and it's probably long enough a time for me to reflect dispassionately on the merits of this move.

 

I joined the faculty of the School of Public Policy at George Mason University (GMU) in January 2006. (Technically GMU is in Northern Virginia, but the campus I work in is just across the Potomac River from DC.)

 

GMU has particular strengths in law, economics, entrepreneurship and public policy. The School I am in is one of the largest public policy programmes in the US, and is fast rivalling more established programmes like Harvard University's Kennedy School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and Syracuse University's Maxwell School.

 

My intention to move to the US had many of my friends and colleagues puzzled. Why would I want to leave a good job in a well-regarded institution in a safe and comfortable location like Singapore, surrounded by friends and family? My work was also appreciated and I had worked hard to establish professional links in the region and a reputation as an applied international economist.

 

Many assumed the only reason I would leave was 'for a handful of silver'. But I was actually starting out at a much lower real income level in GMU than what I was enjoying in Singapore because of the relatively higher cost of living in/near DC, not to mention the loss of a second income: my wife worked in Singapore, but she is now a doctoral student in organisation learning at George Washington University.

 

Why the move then? I had two reasons. The challenge of working in an up-and-coming large research university in the US appealed to me. Call it an early mid-life crisis, but I felt it necessary to get out of my comfort zone (Singapore) and take on the major challenge of getting tenure in a major US university. Second, as an international economist, the prospect of being near DC - home to the IMF, World Bank and top-notch think tanks - added significantly to the appeal. It was a bit of a risk, but one I was willing to take and fortunately, my family was supportive.

 

Fast-forwarding four years, taking the risk seems to have been worth it. I have a tenured position in a good university with a first-rate work environment. The liberal research environment has - I think - enhanced both the quality and quantity of my research output. After the first couple of years of establishing myself in DC, I found myself being invited to give seminars and write papers at various think tanks as well as at US government-sponsored events. (The manner in which the US government actively solicits viewpoints and interactions with academia is something that Asian governments may want to emulate.)

 

Our move to the US has coincided with two historic events - good and bad. The good is obviously the election of the first African-American president, Barack Obama. It was a unique experience indeed to be in the vicinity where President Obama was sworn into office.

 

The bad is the ongoing US economic crisis which has seen the almost overnight disappearance of several venerable financial institutions like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. While the social and human impact of the crisis has been most unfortunate, for a researcher like me who has worked extensively on financial crises in Asia in 1997-98, witnessing the ongoing US crisis at close quarters has been of significant intellectual interest.

 

Another notable aspect of the teaching at GMU has been the quality of the students. As many of them work in DC - for government agencies, multilateral institutions, senators, congressmen, lobby groups, etc - the classes are both stimulating and challenging.

 

One major aspect of education I have tried to emphasise to them is the importance of thinking more globally. Given the size and importance of the US economy, many students unfortunately still tend not to think beyond the US. (This is the exact opposite of Singapore where the students often learn more about global issues than about Singapore). Whenever we discuss the US crisis in class at GMU, I make it a point to emphasise how the crisis - particularly post-September 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt - severely impacted the rest of the world, especially Asia.

 

Making our students think more globally, to be more cognizant of, sensitive to and interested in, the global consequences of policy actions is a key point I try to drive home in my classes.

 

My time in the US has been rewarding, particularly over the last year with the birth of our son. But for both personal and professional reasons I have made it a point to spend as much time as I can in Asia. Also, I am quite pleased to be renewing my research links with the National University of Singapore (NUS) as I have just accepted a Senior Fellowship position with the Institute of South Asian Studies at NUS. We look forward to our visit this summer.