Chongqing- “The conference exemplifies a very good and right step,” said Robert C. Merton Monday, winner of 1997 Nobel Prize in Economics, at an interview during the 2019 China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit (CCI-FS 2019). He believes the big event of CCI-FS 2019 is a consequential conference. “It’s underscoring the opportunities of fintech for cooperation and integration."
Robert C. Merton, a tenured professor of Harvard Business School and MIT, academician of National Academy of Sciences, United States, and winner of 1997 Nobel Prize in Economics (Photo from the Organizing Committee of the CCI-FS 2019)
Robert Merton is also a tenured professor of Harvard Business School and MIT, and an academician of the National Academy of Sciences, United States. He said, “Part of the power of developing the digital technology and big data here (in Chongqing) is not only to reduce and improve services here in China but to be able to work across geopolitical borders.”
He praised Chongqing Municipality in Southwest China as a “lovely and beautiful city.” Merton had never been in Chongqing before and has only been a while in the city, but he was impressive about the number of buildings there. In his opinion, the combination of the infrastructure, universities, and science and technology centers means the opportunity for Chongqing to develop fintech.
When asked about trade frictions between China and the U.S., Mr. Merton talked about his opinion on the competition. He thinks competition is good to make both better. It is not a zero-sum game, but a win-win situation, for competition drives both parties.
Robert Merton also delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of CCI-FS 2019 after the interview. His topic was “ Observations on the Digital Revolution Financial Innovation and FinTech. He talked about opportunities and challenges for financial services. He thinks that innovative design solutions based on “best practices” will not be good enough to compete, and the best practice is the past. Merton shared his views on the opportunities and challenges for financial services and elaborated on four risks- trust, credit risk, innovation risk, and regulation.