James Kwak (born 1969) is a Professor of Law at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

, best known as co-founder, with Simon Johnson, in September 2008, of the economics

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"The Baseline Scenario", a commentary on developments in the global economy, law, and public policy, mostly focused on the situation in the USA. Kwak received his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' in 1990 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

on French

intellectual history Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...

in 1997 from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(1997). While he frequently writes about the subject, Kwak holds no degrees in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. He justifies this by stating that economics education below the PhD level is misleading.The Perils of Studying Economics.
/ref> Kwak has worked as a consultant for

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

and later was Director of Product Marketing at

Ariba SAP Ariba is an American software and information technology services company located in Palo Alto, California. It was acquired by German software maker SAP SE for $4.3 billion in 2012. Company beginnings Ariba (now SAP Ariba) was founded in ...

, where he led product strategy and marketing for the Platform Solutions division and the Ariba Network. He was a co-founder of

Guidewire Software Guidewire Software, Inc., commonly ''Guidewire'', is an American software company based in San Mateo, California. It offers an industry platform for property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers in the U.S. and worldwide. The company has been ...

, an independent software vendor for the property and casualty insurance industry. After receiving his JD from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 2011 he joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut School of Law in August 2011. He wrote the 2017 book ''Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality (''). He co-wrote, with Simon Johnson, the 2010 book '' 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown'' () and the 2012 book ''White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You'' (). He is also an online

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwak, James 1969 births American computer businesspeople American people of Chinese descent American businesspeople Harvard University alumni Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Connecticut faculty Yale Law School alumni