David Dollar

U.S. Treasury Department’s Economic and Financial Emissary to China

David Dollar has served as the World Bank's China Director and is currently the U.S. Treasury Department's Economic and Financial Emissary to China.

Before this assignment, Mr. Dollar worked as Director for the development research department of the World Bank, overseeing the Bank’s research on the investment climate and growth. He co-authored the recent World Bank reports Globalization, Growth, and Poverty and Assessing Aid. His earlier work focused on aid and growth, and the determinants of the success and failure of reform programs supported by structural adjustment lending. He has been a key World Bank spokesperson on investment climate, globalization, and the effectiveness of aid.

He has a PhD in economics from New York University and a B.A. in Chinese history and language from Dartmouth College.

Everything Videos

China and the U.S.

Dollar, on the misunderstandings that get in the way.

Why can’t we all cut our energy use in half?

Re: Is free trade fair trade?

Dollar talks about making globalization more equitable.

Globalization and the Middle Class

Does free trade hurt the developed world’s middle class?

Re: What is the world’s biggest challenge?

Global inequality and global warming need to be addressed, Dollar says.

Re: What is your outlook for China?

Dollar sees improvements as a sign of good things to come.

China’s Economic Future

China’s prospects in the next decade are very good, Dollar says.

Re: Strings Attached?

China’s foreign aid, Dollar says, is no different from anyone

China on the World Stage

Dollar talks about China’s rising profile on the African continent.

China's Political Future

What route will China’s political evolution take?

Re: Can China grow as a one-party state?

Dollar knows it can.

Re: How has China changed?

In the last thirty years, people’s lives have become more open and comfortable.

Democracy and Development

Does democracy necessarily develop out of economic growth?

Re: What fueled China’s economic resurgence?

Deng Xiaoping’s move to de-collectivize agriculture was crucial in China’s development.

The Public Good

Does capitalism take the communal interest into account?

Re: What drives economic development?

The ability to patent an idea, Dollar says, is critical.

Re: Do economics explain everything?

Where do theory and implementation diverge?

Is globalization a good thing?

David Dollar: The World Bank in China

China’s main challenge is environmental management.

Understanding China

An evolving understanding of an opening county.

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