Veteran economics commentator to lead Korea Association of Economics Critics
Shin Se-don, honorary professor of economics at Sookmyung Women’s University, has recently been sworn in as the founding president of the Korea Association of Economics Critics, with a goal to ameliorate and lead the country’s economics commentary practices.
Since he began teaching at the university in 1989, Shin has long been a frequently invited economics commentator on various news broadcasts, current affairs programs and media outlets over the decades, sharing his views and analyses on a range of economics-related issues.
His decades of media appearances led him to recognize many areas that need improvement concerning economic analysis, criticism itself as well as somewhat problematic stances held by the media and the public regarding economic expertise.
He noticed that some commentators at various media outlets often lack objective facts or distort statistical data when analyzing economic situations. Sometimes, the media tends to frame certain commentators with political or ideological hues, making it harder for their facts-based analytical comments to be heard neutrally by the public without prejudice.
Aiming to address such underlying issues regarding economic commentary practices, Shin and other veteran economic commentators — including Kwon Daejung, a professor of real estate at Sogang University, Kim Dae-jong, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, and Kim Gwang-seok, adjunct professor at Hanyang University — came together to establish the Korea Association of Economics Critics, the first of its kind in the country, at the end of January.
The group held its inaugural ceremony at a seminar room of the National Assembly in Seoul under the auspices of lawmakers from both the ruling and the main opposition parties, aiming to show the association’s bipartisan nature.
“The Korea Association of Economics Critics was established with the intention of enhancing the country’s economic commentary standards and practices, transcending political affiliations,” Shin said during the ceremony.
“Economic commentary is all about expressing one’s judgment on economic matters accurately and correctly. Thus, the association vows to firstly be thoroughly grounded in accurate statistics and facts. Secondly to possess a sufficient and deep understanding of economic theories, and thirdly to avoid errors in abstraction. And lastly, the association strives solely to enhance the well-being of the nation and its people, free from the confines of political frames, ideological frames and preconceptions,” said Shin as he emphasized the association’s goals.