A Practical Idealist Makes An Interesting Economist

By Manling, China Plus Host

Episode 1

Wang Dan, an analyst at the Access China service of the Economist Intelligent Unit. [Photo: courtesy of Wang Dan]

Economics has been nicknamed the dismal science, a derogatory term given by the Victorian historian Thomas Carlyle in the 19th century. Because of this old label, and also because of my personal experience of having married an economist and taught English to economics students at university early in my career, I understand and have come to terms with their lack of personality. They are trained to be precise and practical, and not carrying those professional traits into personal life is easier said than done. Most of my friends in the field of economics have all impressed me as more reliable in times of need and less fun when a bit of mischief is called for.

Episode 2

Aware of this personal prejudice of mine, I began my interview with Wang Dan, an analyst at the Access China service of the Economist Intelligent Unit, where Dan is a senior researcher on China affairs. Her job involves leading regional research and forecasts, and advising clients on economic and policy developments in China as well as the global outlook. Dan caught my attention when we were on a current affairs discussion show together at China Plus radio. She impressed me as quite the opposite to the stereotype of an economist – she seemed relaxed and was happy to share personal stories. So, I requested an interview and she agreed without hesitation.

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Dan said she sympathizes with anyone who has economist friends. She decided not to date a man in her line of work, and wouldn’t invite to a dinner party many of her economist friends, because they can be truly serious and argumentative. This treacherous attitude towards her profession caught me unprepared. She is direct and honest, and displays exceptional confidence when she is speaking in public.

When I asked why media exposure constitutes such an important part of her research job, Dan said that as an analyst, doing paperwork and toiling behind closed doors is a prerequisite, but doing fieldwork and facing the media are two additional dimensions that she says can’t be neglected. She puts herself in the limelight because she enjoys the sparks of ideas that come through discussion and can help to broaden her empathy and understanding of others. She said that from time to time, China has been depicted inaccurately, and when that happens, Dan wants to be there to share her first-hand knowledge about her own country.

Dan speaks quickly and with confidence, logic, and a bit of humor. I would never have guessed that eloquence used to be a battle for her, and that economics was not her passion but a practical choice.

Dan was good at math, and her passion for the subject was fostered by one of her primary school teachers, named Yang. She is one of the people called guiren (贵人) in Chinese, noble people, who give others timely support. Teacher Yang, who is now nearly 80 years old, gets a visit from Dan every year. Because of her passion for numbers, it was taken for granted by her parents and friends that she’d choose to major in economics, since it was one of the most sought after majors for the promise it offered graduates of a decent job and a comfortable life. By the time Dan sat China’s university exam, the gaokao, in 2001, China’s economic development was in full swing. The country needed more economists and Dan was to be one of them.

Wang Dan, an Economist Intelligence Unit analyst, poses for a photo with China Plus host Manling. [Photo: China Plus]

When asked why it was rare to see female economists serving in senior positions, Dan explained that all economists might be good with numbers, but men are better at self-promotion. She believes that besides maternal responsibilities, women keep dropping out of the competition and failing to climb to the top of the ladder largely because they are not as good as men at making public speeches and sounding authoritative. This challenges my belief that women are more empathetic and better at expressing themselves than men. However, Dan gave me an example that changed my view considerably: a Chicago professor underwent gender change surgery and became a woman at the age of 53, and found that she experienced more interruptions and less respect from fellow professors.

From 2001 to 2005, Dan studied economics and law at Beijing University of Astronautics and Aeronautics. She fell into law after attending a public lecture by He Weifang, a law professor from Peking University. The talk was held at what was then the Beijing Film Studio as part of a television series organized by Phoenix Satellite Television to promote academic findings among the general public. She was captivated by the stories he had woven into the fabric of his talk, so decided to pick up law as a second major.

As for why economics became a lifelong passion, she spoke about an economics Professor Gregory Mankiw from Harvard. In China, Paul Samuelson’s “Economics” is the bible for economics students. I ventured into the text several times during my nine years of teaching in order to understand my students better, but failed to finish reading it having found it dreadfully boring. Dan hates it too, even today, even though she studied it and was involved in translating part of it into Chinese. If she hadn’t come across Gregory Mankiw’s “Principles of Economics”, her career might have taken a different trajectory. It is no exaggeration to say that his book sucked her into the black hole of economics. Years later at Harvard, Dan sat in on his classes and immersed herself in his people-centered explanations of monetary and fiscal policies, social welfare, and the justice that can be offered by economic incentives. “I never imagined that’d he be very funny in person,” said Dan. And yet, he was her inspiration for a career in macroeconomics.

Dan decided to go to the United States in 2005 to obtain a PhD from Tulane University in New Orleans. If it weren’t for the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina that year, Dan would have graduated from Tulane, gone back to China, got herself a decent job, and started a family. Dan said it suited her level of ability: When she was a kid, her mom had an almost fanatic desire for her daughter to master a foreign language, and Dan was made to listen to English recordings during mealtimes. She also sat through countless hours of English classes at school, where from third year through high school it is a compulsory subject. But too much emphasis is given to preparing students to pass standardized tests rather than the practical use of the language, so even students who get high scores often struggle to speak fluently. When she arrived in the United States she struggled to communicate, confirming what she had already knew in her own mind – universities like Harvard and Stanford were beyond her reach. But sometimes the havoc wreaked by nature has a way of changing people’s plans in unexpected ways.

That year, Hurricane Katrina rendered a vast number of people in the United States homeless, including Dan. Schools closed and everything had to make way for disaster relief. With her personal belongings gone and with only 300 U.S. dollars in her pocket, Dan registered for government assistance and became a refugee inside the country. She loaded herself onto one bus after another destined towards temporary shelters, mostly in auditoriums and stadiums. “The government didn’t know what to do,” she thought at the time. She felt confused, unable to believe that a disaster of this scale and enormity could happen to New Orleans and to her. To spare her loved ones from worry, she decided not to call her family, refused to go back to China without a PhD, and chose to stay, come what may.

In the second month after the disaster, she was given notice that her program in Tulane was cancelled for good, which gave her a chance to apply for another study program. Dan was recruited by Harvard as a visiting student for one year, an experience she later described as a blessing for her academic career but a disaster for her mental health.

Because of her refugee status, Dan was entitled to FEMA subsidies and free accommodation. When she appeared in front of her landlady Connie O'Connor, she looked like a homeless person. She looked ragged, and she stunk after having gone days without bathing. Connie kindly took this poor young Chinese woman into her home, but with some hesitation. According to Dan, it took quite some time before she was allowed to go into the kitchen, a place any housewife would consider a domain open only to people she trusts.

The time Dan spent in Connie’s home changed the course of her life. Books on the shelves of her temporary home led to an unexpected encounter with a deceased professor from Harvard: William Alonso, one of the world’s leading urban economists, who died at the age of 66 in 1999. Connie was his widow. Regional research is an important part of Dan’s job and her bond with this professor is part of her personal story that drew her further in the study of economics.