Portrait of Ha-Joon Chang
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Ha-Joon Chang

South Korean economist

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Argues that rich countries climbed with tariffs and state help before preaching free trade, and questions market orthodoxy in books such as Kicking Away the Ladder.

Ha-Joon Chang sits in the left-libertarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and slightly libertarian. The clearest positions are strongly state-led on economy, leaning progressive on culture and leaning tech-optimist on technology.

Read more about Ha-Joon Chang on Wikipedia →

Where Ha-Joon Chang sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyStrongly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authoritySlightly libertarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationSlightly nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceSlightly peace-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionLeaning secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismSlightly non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Ha-Joon Chang

Dilma Rousseff President of Brazil, 2011 to 201699%Salvador Allende President of Chile, 1970 to 197399%Lee Jae-myung President of South Korea, 2025 to present99%John Kenneth Galbraith Canadian-American economist, 1908 to 200699%Joseph Stiglitz American economist98%Robert Reich American economist and former US Labor Secretary98%Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva President of Brazil, 2003 to 2010 and 2023 to present98%Aneurin Bevan British Labour politician, 1897 to 196098%

People furthest from Ha-Joon Chang

Jair Bolsonaro President of Brazil, 2019 to 202221%Abelardo de la Espriella President of Colombia, 2026 to present23%Donald Trump US President, 2017 to 2021 and 2025 to present25%Ruhollah Khomeini Supreme Leader of Iran, 1979 to 198926%

Political views closest to Ha-Joon Chang

LabourismDraws on trade unions and working-class communities to win better wages, rights and…99%Modern monetary theoryArgues that governments issuing their own currency can spend to reach full employment,…99%Market socialismCombines worker or public ownership of firms with markets and competition.99%Social democracyKeeps a market economy but adds strong public services, unions and progressive taxes to…98%

Read more about Ha-Joon Chang

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Biographies of Ha-Joon ChangBooks on labourism

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Discott, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.