Johnson Lecturer Ralph Chami to Discuss IMF Capacity Development in Libya
27 March 2015 10:53AM
The 2011 Libyan civil war culminated when Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and his government were finally ousted from power, but what came after the revolution proved to be another challenge. What was it like to help Libya pick up the pieces? This question will be the focus of the Spring 2015 Allen Starling Johnson, Jr. Distinguished Lecturer Series.
Ralph Chami is the featured speaker for the Mar. 30 event. As the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) former mission chief to Libya, he experienced firsthand the difficulties and rewards associated with rebuilding a nation. His talk, “My Time in Libya: Trying to Help a Fragile State,” will discuss capacity development in the North African country
“Capacity development, in the context of our work, is about building human capital in the country among the officials in the various government agencies, through training and technical assistance” Chami said. “Building capacity among emerging, transitioning, or fragile states is paramount, as it allows these countries to enhance the quality of their institutions, and in some cases, build them from scratch.”
The end goal is to help these countries design better economic plans so they can make informed policy decisions and engage meaningfully with the global markets.
Chami served as mission chief from 2010 to 2014. During that time, the IMF’s primary objectives were to simultaneously stabilize the Libyan economy and help the government respond to the “aspirations of the revolution,” the latter of which included stabilizing the economy, enhancing accountability and transparency, ensuring fiscal sustainability of government finances and dealing with high and persistent youth unemployment. These ingredients formed the backbone of the agenda for enhancing growth that is inclusive.
“In order to put together such an agenda and to ensure its success, one has to have an economic framework that understands the incentives at play among the various actors and is flexible enough to react and adjust to changing conditions,” he said. “I could not have done all this without a solid training in economics, especially a firm grasp of the micro foundations of macroeconomics.”
Chami holds an M.B.A. from The University of Kansas and a doctoral degree in economics from The Johns Hopkins University. Before joining the IMF, he was an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame.
“My experience in teaching convinced me that capacity development through training and technical assistance truly reflects the timeless adage: ‘Give a person a fish and you feed that person for a day; teach a person to fish and you feed that person for a lifetime.’ This is never more true or relevant than when you work in capacity development for developing or fragile countries,” Chami said. “And, to my mind, there is nothing more noble or fulfilling than being given the chance to teach and to gain the honor of being called a teacher.”
His lecture, as part of the department’s Johnson Lecture Series, is intended to encourage undergraduate students to engage in economic research on a deeper level.
“I invited Ralph to come give the Johnson Lecture because he’s a first-rate scholar with firsthand experience applying economics to important real-world issues,” said Professor Connel Fullenkamp, director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Economics. “I hope students will take away important lessons from the talk: You can use economics to make a difference if you really study it seriously and learn how to apply it.”
The views expressed in this article are those of the Ralph Chami and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy.
Ralph Chami's lecture will be held in Social Psychology 130 at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 30, 2015. Students are encouraged to RSVP.
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