Confronting South Korea's Next Crisis Rigidities, Polarization, and Fear of Japanification

Jaejoon Woo, Professor of Economics, DePaul University

Jaejoon Woo is an Economics Professor at DePaul University. Previously, he was Chief Korea Economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) and was also Senior Economist at the IMF and Economist at the OECD. He was an advisory committee member for Ministry of Strategy and Finance. 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, and Journal of Development Economics. 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