Upcoming Lecture: 'Why Development Becomes Harder: The Political Economy of the Possible'

On Tuesday, March 31, Muhamad Chatib Basri will deliver a lecture titled: "Why Development Becomes Harder: The Political Economy of the Possible." In it, Basri will explain how slower growth, rising economic insecurity, and structural shifts in the labor market work to reshape the political foundations of reform — ultimately defining what is politically feasible in contemporary development. This lecture is geared towards students and open to the public.

Basri is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Center for International Development. He is a former minister of finance of Indonesia and former chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board. He currently serves on the National Economic Council to the president of the Republic of Indonesia.

He is co-chair of the Pandemic Fund, co-hosted by the World Bank, and serves on the Governing Board of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He also teaches at the University of Indonesia's Department of Economics. Basri earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Australian National University and was named an IEA Fellow by the International Economic Association in 2024 in recognition of his contributions to research and policymaking.

Please join the International and Global Studies and the Department of Economics for this exciting lecture and opportunity from noon to 1:30 p.m. in CORD 349. For more information, please contact Kelly Hammond at kah018@uark.edu.