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About Nick: i am an economist based in malaysia. I write about ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL ECONOMY, while sneaking in a pop culture reference or two.

Nicholas Khaw

Oct 1
Oct 1 What Does it Really Mean to be a Competitive Nation?

Nicholas Khaw
Malaysia, culture & identity

If the people of a nation aren’t known for their competitiveness, how competitive can that nation really be?

Sep 3
Sep 3 Meritocracy and Inequality: The Role of Affirmative Action

Nicholas Khaw
Policy, Wealth Inequality, Education, Malaysia

Historically, inequality never dies peacefully. Can we reverse the trend of history or are we doomed to repeat it?

Aug 9
Aug 9 The Merits and De-Merits of Meritocracy

Nicholas Khaw
Wealth Inequality, Education

Education is meant to provide a basis for meritocracy regardless of background. But here’s the problem. Meritocracy, in its current state, worsens inequality over time.

Jul 2
Jul 2 The World Cup and the World

Nicholas Khaw
culture & identity

The World Cup is really a great lens in which to view the world. There is so much of Economics, Politics, and Sociology that is reflected in this tournament.

Jun 4
Jun 4 Patient Capital for the Long-Term

Nicholas Khaw
Malaysia, Politics, Policy, Economics

No true change and reform is straightforward. But markets, in almost all cases, prefer stability and the status quo – what is going on in Malaysia may be anathema to markets.

May 20
May 20 "Maka Kami, Rakyat Malaysia"

Nicholas Khaw
Democracy, Malaysia

These individuals, who share a belief that Malaysia should be a prosperous, kind, inclusive, caring, sustainable nation, are Malaysia. And it is in these individuals that the true power of the nation resides.

Apr 2
Apr 2 Fake News – Accountability of the Governed and their Governors

Nicholas Khaw
Malaysia, Policy, Statistics

The government needs to play its part by allowing the rakyat to have a level playing field when it comes to data and facts.

Mar 5
Mar 5 Correlation, Causality and the Lack Thereof

Nicholas Khaw
Education, Statistics

We are hardwired to attribute causality to patterns that we observe, and going against that wiring will be difficult. But we have to start somewhere.

Feb 5
Feb 5 Trump, Davos and Moral Foundations

Nicholas Khaw
Politics, U.S.A., Taxes, Reflections

When it was announced that President Trump would be speaking at Davos, I found myself being unable to gauge what sort of reception the Davos crowd would give to President Trump.

Dec 5
Dec 5 Thanksgiving, Black Friday and a High-Income Nation

Nicholas Khaw
Capitalism, U.S.A., Wealth Inequality

Thanksgiving is essentially camaraderie, goodwill, gratitude and a sumptuous dinner, all packed in one. The very next day, all of this just basically gets blown to smithereens.

Nov 8
Nov 8 Persuasion in a Rashomon World

Nicholas Khaw
Economics, Rethoric

For any given individual, the narratives we tell ourselves about how the world works or how events play out becomes our ‘truth’ and can very easily take precedence over facts.

Oct 12
Oct 12 Ten “Indie” Development Indicators

Nicholas Khaw
Economic Growth, Malaysia, Education, Gender Inequality

why not come up with a set of indicators specific to Malaysia’s context that we do not measure at the moment, but we certainly could.

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Hi, I'm Nick. My research interests and intellectual passions are in the the political economy of economic development particularly related to the long term persistence of historical events and cultural/institutional co-evolutionary factors on economic and public policy outcomes today.

I serve as an economist in Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, where I am Head of Research and Co-Head of Private Markets, Investments. My work covers Investments research, private markets investing (direct and indirect), Dana Impak, Khazanah’s knowledge management and Khazanah’s public policy engagement. I am also a Trustee of the Khazanah Research Institute.

I also write a monthly column for The Edge Malaysia.

 

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