A Second Trip to China

I will soon start my second trip to Beijing.  This blog won't be updated at that time because the wise Central Government doesn't allow access to "blogspot blogs".    In Beijing, I'll be working with the Lincoln Institute where I will be giving a set of lectures related to my work on "green cities".   The participants will be professors from many Chinese universities so this will be a very good opportunity to influence how environmental and urban economics is taught throughout China.  My friends Chip Case and Dan McMillen will also be participating.  During that trip, I will visit a friend of mine in Tianjin, and work with my co-author at Tsinghua University.  

I'm greatly looking forward to this trip.  The food is good and the people are kind.  While we all wonder whether China's Superstar cities are in the midst of a housing bubble ,  these continue to be exciting days there.  New construction is taking place as far as the eye can see.  Hundreds of millions of rural people seek a better life as they try to urbanize.   Millions of urbanites are investing in their educations and anticipate participating in the global free market economy.  I must admit that it was strange to see the freshman class at Tsinghua marching around their campus in tight military formations but maybe UCLA should consider doing this to instill discipline and teamwork.