Hou testifies in front of a Congressional Commission
Professor Yilin Hou testified on April 27 before the Congressional US-China Economic and Security Commission (USCC). This is a
standing commission created by Congress in 2010 charged with the task of examining
issues related to the two countries economy and security and publishing an
annual report on this broad topic.
Professor Hou was picked for his work and reputation in this
area. Prof. Hou’s task on this testimony was to interpret China’s fiscal
policies and reforms that are under way and will be implemented according to
China’s 13th Five-Year Plan. Hou prepared a 20-page testimony
statement, using publicly available document sources, data from China’s central
government websites, and publications in English, in particular in Chinese to
guarantee consistency and authenticity.
Hou’s statement began with a “three-stage analytical
framework for understanding China’s fiscal reforms” that started in late 1978
as the icebreaker of China’s open-door and reform program. Prof. Hou originally
developed this framework in a 2009 article and then expended it in his 2014
co-authored book. This framework offers an easy-to-grasp background and
analytical perspective for policymakers to understand and dissect the why and
how of China’s fiscal reforms and policies as well as the multifaceted
challenges China has been facing and trying to tackle. Prof. Hou then fully
addresses all the questions that the Commission posed on many technical
details.
On the same panel as Prof. Hou was a professor of urban and
environmental policy and planning who heads the department at Tuft’s University
and an endowed chair in international trade at Cornell University who was previously
a long-timer at the International Monetary Fund.