Professor Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, visited The Chinese University of Hong Kong as a Distinguished Visitor of Morningside College.
Professor Ferguson gave a public lecture titled Degeneration and Regeneration, chronicling the advancement of the West and its current steady decline following the great divergence. The celebrated historian and author of The Ascent of Money argued that the decline of advanced economies and the sudden rise in power of emerging markets, particularly in Asia, is due to the adoption of six basic institutions: political and economic competition, consumerism, rule of law, a strong work ethic, scientific advancement and finally the development of modern medicine.
Master of Morningside College, Professor Sir James Mirrlees, also hosted Professor Ferguson at an intimate Master’s Tea with Morningside students and at a Communal Dinner where Ferguson spoke to Fellows, guests and Morningside students on The West and the Rest. Professor Ferguson was Morningside College’s third Distinguished Visitor this year following visits from Professor James Belich of Oxford University and Professor Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale University.