Confronting South Korea's Next Crisis

Jaejoon Woo is an Associate Professor of Economics at DePaul University. Previously, he served as Chief Korea Economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and as Senior Economist at the IMF. Also, he held an economist position at the OECD. He served as Member of the International Finance Development Council for Ministry of Strategy and Finance. He taught at Harvard University, Helsinki School of Economics (now Aalto University), and Sciences Po. He received his PhD in economics from Harvard University, and his research areas include macroeconomics, political economy, fiscal policy, inequality, and Korea. He wrote over 145 market-oriented research notes on Korea at BAML, and published 3 books and 32 articles, including in the leading economics journals such as Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, European Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, and Economica. His works are featured in The Economist and Financial Times.

• Part 1: Longer-term Outlook, Challenges, and Issues 1: Introduction: Overview of Contemporary Issues and Challenges 2: (Why) Is the Current Recovery So Different from the Past? 3: Taking the Long View of Economic Growth, Part 1: Recent Growth Deceleration, Convergence Debate, and Structural Issues 4: Taking the Long View of Economic Growth, Part 2: Population Aging, Private Debt, and Japanification Risk 5: Social Polarization and Inequality of Income and Wealth 6: Jobs and Wages: Sectoral Shifts, Technological Change, and Structural Rigidities Part 2: Political Economy of Economic Policy 7: Are There Political Business Cycles in Korea? 8: Korean Presidents and Major Policy Agenda over the Last Three Decades 9: Korea's Monetary policy and Challenges for the Bank of Korea 10: Looming Fiscal Challenges: Polarization, Populism, Population Aging, and Debt Part 3: Trade, Capital Markets, and Currency 11: A Case for Korea as a Developed Market? 12: Korea Joins the League of Wealthy Nations Part 4: North Korea 13: North Korea: Known Unknowns and Unknown Unknowns Part 5: Epilogue 14: Final Thoughts

Jaejoon Woo has done a masterful and sophisticated job of analyzing why the economy has slowed and what it will take to sustain growth into the future. His analysis will be of interest to anyone wishing to understand the contemporary Korean economy. It should also be of interest to anyone concerned with similar challenges facing many other advanced economies at this time.