Dr. Chi-Hung Liao (Charles)

There is nothing as permanent as a temporary government program.
Milton Friedman

Ph.D. Economics, University of California, Davis.
M.A. Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.E.S., Environmental Economics, Yale University, New Haven, CT
B.S., Geography and Economics , National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Welcome to my homepage! I’m an economics instructor at UC Davis, teaching courses like Introduction to Economics, Microeconomic Theory, and International Economics—along with a few other thrilling subjects. My passion is helping people think critically and rationally about the world around them. But my real day job? Much cooler. I’ve been the Chief of Research for the State of California at CDDS, and before that, I was the Principal Economist at California Department of Finance helping Governor Jerry Brown building the annual budget, peering into the crystal ball to forecast the future of U.S. and California economies.

So, why the Milton Friedman quote? After years as a government economist, I’ve watched countless well-intended policies unravel in ways that are… let’s say, budgetarily “creative.” It’s my lifelong mission to keep more good intentions from snowballing into unintended consequences.

A bit more about me: I’m originally from Taiwan, but I’ve now spent more time in the U.S. than in my hometown. In my downtime, I’m all about long-distance swimming, movies, cooking, and good conversation. I also host a podcast, Bitesize Economics (一口經濟學), where I dive into the week’s economic news and fun topics (in Chinese, sorry to non-Chinese speakers!). It’s my weekly attempt at making economics a little more… digestible.