Takuo DOME
Professor, Graduate School of Economics / Special Advisor to the President, Osaka University
Director, Social Solution Initiative (SSI)
Biography
Graduated from Kyoto University, Graduate School, Department of Economics with a Ph. D. in Economics. Specialized in history of economics and economic thought. His research focuses on how people in Britain perceived economic phenomena during the Industrial Revolution, how they envisioned the future society, and how economics was formed in the process.
He received the Nikkei Economic Book Award for Political Economy of Public Finance in Britain 1767-1873 (Routledge 2004) and the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities for Adam Smith: The World of 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments' and 'The Wealth of Nations' (Chuokoron Shinsha, 2008). In 2019, he was awarded the Medal of Honor with purple ribbon.
He has been a professor at Osaka University since 2001, and in 2018 he founded and leads the Social Solution Initiative (SSI), a think-tank that brings together researchers in the humanities and social sciences at Osaka University to confront social issues and envision society in 2050.
Expectations for THINK Lobby
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that anyone can be in need of help. Such risks of putting people in ordinary life into "people in need of assistance" exist in every social issue, including natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, water shortages and energy depletion, conflicts and wars, etc. What we should seek in these times is a society where "people in need of assistance" are placed at the center, "people giving assistance" face them, empathize with them, and reach out to them, while "people giving assistance" and "people in need of assistance" interchangeably help each other. This is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015, which aim to “leave no one behind.”
I hope that the new think tank will develop a clear vision toward a society like this, work with the citizens (particularly people in need of assistance), identify what needs to be done, network globally, and propose solutions that will transform mindsets and actions of the citizens.
