Nobel laureate Jean Tirole gives talk at UM on private money and public power
The University of Macau (UM) held a Nobel Laureate Lecture titled ‘Private Money, Public Power: Finance and the New Geopolitics’ today (11 November), featuring Jean Tirole, recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. During the talk, Prof Tirole examined how technology and finance are being used as tools of transactional geopolitics amid the declining influence of multilateralism and international law.
In his welcome address, Yonghua Song, rector of UM, said that Prof Tirole’s talk would offer valuable insights into the relationship between markets and public policy, and in particular how financial innovation is reshaping the global economic landscape. He encouraged students and faculty members to remain curious and open-minded, and to draw on Prof Tirole’s perspectives when addressing contemporary societal challenges. Song added that hosting the lecture as part of UM’s 45th anniversary celebrations would not only enhance the academic significance of the of the anniversary programme but also reflect the university’s commitment to advancing knowledge innovation and strengthening international academic collaboration.
The lecture was moderated by Yang Zaifu, director of the Centre for Institution and Mechanism Design and chair professor in the Department of Economics at the UM Faculty of Social Sciences. He noted that Prof Tirole has made fundamental contributions to many areas of economics, from industrial organisation and game theory to finance and macroeconomics. Regarded as one of the world’s most influential economists, Prof Tirole was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2014.
Prof. Jean Tirole stressed that the world has become more transactional, adversarial, and short-termist, cautioning that growing geopolitical fragmentation threatens international trade, finance, and financial stability. He explored how digital financial innovations, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies, interact with dollar dominance and bank liquidity, emphasizing the need for robust regulatory frameworks to prevent private money risks from spilling over into traditional financial systems.
Furthermore, UM hosted the Workshop on Markets, Institutions, and Policies, where Prof Tirole presented a paper titled ‘Engineering Commonality’. He discussed how perceived commonality serves as a cornerstone for driving collective action within organisations and society. Prof Tirole also engaged in in-depth discussions with experts and scholars from UM, Hong Kong, and the Chinese mainland.
During his visit to UM, Prof Tirole also had a meeting with Rector Song and other UM faculty members, including Cai Tianji, acting dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences; Gui Changfeng, interim dean of the Faculty of Science; Richard Fitzgerald, associate dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences; Angus Chu, head of the Department of Economics; Yang Zaifu, director of the Centre for Institution and Mechanism Design; and Pan Wei, director of the Institute of Global and Public Affairs. Prof Tirole learned about the university’s latest developments in academic structure, disciplinary development, and international collaboration, and praised UM’s research achievements in economics and related fields. The two parties also held discussions on strengthening academic exchange and cooperation.
