The Language of Economics: Wentong Zheng brings an economist’s eye to legal study
Growing up in a small city 200 miles south of Beijing, Wentong Zheng was a witness to history: China’s rapid transformation from an isolated nation into an economic powerhouse. The intense debate about economic and political reforms, closely entwined in China, captivated him – and led him to economics as a way to better understand it all.
Zheng, who joins the UB Law faculty this fall, went to big-city Beijing and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Renmin University of China. From there he traveled to Stanford University, where he earned his doctorate in economics in 2005.
But along the way, he says, he realized that “the dismal science” did not satisfy his desire to understand the workings of human economic and political life. “I found economics to be more abstract than I would like it to be, “he says. “We were using very complicated mathematical models without explaining the relevance of those models to reality. I wanted to apply my economics expertise to something more concrete. And I just got very interested in legal issues, especially issues relating to economics.”
So he applied and was accepted at Stanford Law School, earning the J.D. (and serving as executive editor of the Stanford Law Review) while at the same time completing his dissertation for a Ph.D. in economics. He spent the first year on his law courses, and then shuttled back and forth between the law school and the economics department – a fortuitously short five minute walk.
How does someone whose native tongue is Chinese survive such a rigorous challenge? “I started learning English in middle school, “Zheng says. “But when I left China for the U.S., I really knew mostly written English. When I came to the U.S., I realized that I didn’t really know how to talk to an American and make him or her understand me.” Fortunately, he said, much of his economics coursework was in the universal language of math. “I devoted those years to studying economics, but also to watching TV and talking to my advisers and classmates, ” he says.His English – spoken and written – now is impeccable.
After he completed his work at Stanford, Zheng joined the Washington, D.C., firm Steptoe & Johnson, where he works on international trade litigation and trade policy advocacy. For nearly two years, he worked primarily on a case involving the import of softwood lumber from Canada. U.S. lumber producers had complained to the Department of Commerce that the Canadian government was unfairly subsidizing the costs of lumber production by charging below- market stumpage fees, undercutting fair competition.
“It was a very interesting experience, ” he says of the case, in which Steptoe represented the Canadian producers.”We had to hire many prominent economists to prove why the Canadian government’s stumpage policy was not a subsidy. I had to be both a lawyer and an economist, because I was interpreting between the lawyers and the economists.”
That dual orientation – Zheng considers himself a lawyer with an economics background, rather than the other way around – fuels the research interests that he will continue at UB Law.
His major interest is in studying international trade law from an economic perspective. Specifically, he has been looking at the use of the market as a benchmark for the law, as in takings law that requires government to pay fair market value for property acquired through eminent domain.”My research points out that there is a lot of inconsistency with the economic principles behind that approach, “he says.
Drawing upon his advanced training in econometrics and statistics, he also wants to pursue his interest in empirical studies of legal and public policy issues.
He also is doing work in comparative law, such as comparing the Chinese and U.S. anti-trust laws through the lens of political and social factors affecting their development, rather than the traditional economics-only approach.
At UB, Zheng says, he is looking forward to a wide range of collaborations.” Buffalo people have interesting ideas and want to talk about their research, ” he says.” And the Law School has given a very high priority to interdisciplinary research, especially through the Baldy Center. I think that will provide an excellent platform for my research interests.”As well, he says, he expects to build contacts in the School of Management and the departments of economics and Asian studies.
Zheng is married to Zhuqin “Allison” Zhou; a fellow economist, she works as an economic consultant. They have two young sons, ages 21?2 years and 7 months.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment