The East-West Center in Washington invites you to an
Indo-Pacific Political Economy and Trade Seminar Series Book Launch:
Has Asia Lost It?
Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future
Featuring:
Mr. Vasuki Shastry
Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme,
Chatham House
Dr. Sayuri Shirai
Professor of Economics, Faculty of Policy Management,
Keio University
Dr. Prakash Loungani
Assistant Director, Independent Evaluation Office,
International Monetary Fund
Dr. Satu P. Limaye (Moderator)
Vice President, East-West Center &
Director, East-West Center in Washington
East-West Center in Washington · Has Asia Lost It? Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future
COVID-19 has exposed developing Asia’s social, political, and economic fault-lines. In a region obsessed with high economic growth, inequality is rising and social mobility has stalled. In his new book, Has Asia Lost it - Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future, Chatham House Fellow Vasuki Shastry argues that while Asia’s reckoning may have been subject of speculation before the pandemic, COVID-19 has made that inevitable. After benefiting from investment and trade for several decades, the region’s durable economic model is facing headwinds due to pressures on globalization and the US-China trade war. Can Asia remain the greatest economic show on earth and how should the Biden administration recalibrate its relationship with the region?
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Vasuki Shastry is an Associate Fellow in the Asia-Pacific program of Chatham House, where he researches Asian economic integration and the interplay between technology and democracy. A former journalist, he has worked in senior roles at the International Monetary Fund, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Standard Chartered Bank. Shastry is the author of two books on Asia: Resurgent Indonesia - From Crisis to Confidence; Has Asia Lost it - Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future, which was published in March 2021. He lives in Washington DC.
Sayuri Shirai has served as a Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University in Japan since September 2016. In January 2020 she was appointed as a Senior Advisor to the UK-based Equity Ownership Services (EOS) at Federated Hermes to support engagement for Japan’s Listed Firms and participate in discussions with other stakeholders on Environment and Governance (ESG) issues. She has held numerous positions including Macroeconomic Policy Advisor to the Minister of Finance in Zambia, Africa (July – August 2019); Asian Development Bank Institute Visiting Scholar (April 2016 – March 2020); and a Member of the Bank of Japan’s Policy Board (2011 – March 2016). She received her doctorate from Columbia University’s Department of Economics.
Prakash Loungani is Assistant Director in the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office. He is a co-author of Confronting Inequality: How Societies Can Choose Inclusive Growth (Columbia University Press, 2019). Previously, he headed the Development Macroeconomics Division in the IMF’s Research Department and was co-chair of the IMF’s Jobs and Growth working group from 2011-15. He is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey School of Business and Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a think-tank based in Rabat, Morocco.
Satu P. Limaye is Vice President of the East-West Center and the Director of the East-West Center in Washington where he created and now directs the Asia Matters for America initiative and is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Bulletin. He is also a Senior Advisor at CNA Corp (Center for Naval Analyses) and Senior Fellow on Asia History and Policy at the Foreign Policy Institute at Paul H. Nitze School of International Studies (SAIS). He is magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar. Recent publications include: “America’s ‘Pacific Principle’ in an Indivisible Pacific Islands Region,” (Asia-Pacific Bulletin); “Despite Stumbles, America’s Engagement with Southeast Runs Deep,” (Global Asia); Raging Waters: China, India, Bangladesh, and Brahmaputra Water Politics (Marine Corps University Press); and Russia’s Peripheral Relevance to US-Indo Pacific Relations (Center for the National Interest).
The East-West Center in Washington invites you to an
Indo-Pacific Political Economy and Trade Seminar Series Book Launch:
Has Asia Lost It?
Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future
Featuring:
Mr. Vasuki Shastry
Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme,
Chatham House
Dr. Sayuri Shirai
Professor of Economics, Faculty of Policy Management,
Keio University
Dr. Prakash Loungani
Assistant Director, Independent Evaluation Office,
International Monetary Fund
Dr. Satu P. Limaye (Moderator)
Vice President, East-West Center &
Director, East-West Center in Washington
East-West Center in Washington · Has Asia Lost It? Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future
COVID-19 has exposed developing Asia’s social, political, and economic fault-lines. In a region obsessed with high economic growth, inequality is rising and social mobility has stalled. In his new book, Has Asia Lost it - Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future, Chatham House Fellow Vasuki Shastry argues that while Asia’s reckoning may have been subject of speculation before the pandemic, COVID-19 has made that inevitable. After benefiting from investment and trade for several decades, the region’s durable economic model is facing headwinds due to pressures on globalization and the US-China trade war. Can Asia remain the greatest economic show on earth and how should the Biden administration recalibrate its relationship with the region?
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Vasuki Shastry is an Associate Fellow in the Asia-Pacific program of Chatham House, where he researches Asian economic integration and the interplay between technology and democracy. A former journalist, he has worked in senior roles at the International Monetary Fund, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Standard Chartered Bank. Shastry is the author of two books on Asia: Resurgent Indonesia - From Crisis to Confidence; Has Asia Lost it - Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future, which was published in March 2021. He lives in Washington DC.
Sayuri Shirai has served as a Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University in Japan since September 2016. In January 2020 she was appointed as a Senior Advisor to the UK-based Equity Ownership Services (EOS) at Federated Hermes to support engagement for Japan’s Listed Firms and participate in discussions with other stakeholders on Environment and Governance (ESG) issues. She has held numerous positions including Macroeconomic Policy Advisor to the Minister of Finance in Zambia, Africa (July – August 2019); Asian Development Bank Institute Visiting Scholar (April 2016 – March 2020); and a Member of the Bank of Japan’s Policy Board (2011 – March 2016). She received her doctorate from Columbia University’s Department of Economics.
Prakash Loungani is Assistant Director in the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office. He is a co-author of Confronting Inequality: How Societies Can Choose Inclusive Growth (Columbia University Press, 2019). Previously, he headed the Development Macroeconomics Division in the IMF’s Research Department and was co-chair of the IMF’s Jobs and Growth working group from 2011-15. He is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey School of Business and Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a think-tank based in Rabat, Morocco.
Satu P. Limaye is Vice President of the East-West Center and the Director of the East-West Center in Washington where he created and now directs the Asia Matters for America initiative and is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Bulletin. He is also a Senior Advisor at CNA Corp (Center for Naval Analyses) and Senior Fellow on Asia History and Policy at the Foreign Policy Institute at Paul H. Nitze School of International Studies (SAIS). He is magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar. Recent publications include: “America’s ‘Pacific Principle’ in an Indivisible Pacific Islands Region,” (Asia-Pacific Bulletin); “Despite Stumbles, America’s Engagement with Southeast Runs Deep,” (Global Asia); Raging Waters: China, India, Bangladesh, and Brahmaputra Water Politics (Marine Corps University Press); and Russia’s Peripheral Relevance to US-Indo Pacific Relations (Center for the National Interest).
