I am chief economist at Enodo Economics, an independent macroeconomic consultancy I set up to untangle complexity, challenge the consensus and make sense of the future. Our focus is China, one of the most misunderstood economies in the world, yet one of the most important to figure out.
I have been analysing China and helping asset managers, business leaders and policymakers make sense of its economy and politics and its impact on the world for more than 20 years, four of those living in Hong Kong.
To understand the Chinese economy, you have to understand the communist mind, and I have the unlikely advantage of having grown up in Bulgaria before the Berlin Wall came down. But, having been trained by some of the greatest Western economists, I also understand how the market economy works. I am one of the few economists who really knows capitalism, communism and how the two have come together in China.
I’ve built my reputation not by giving in to the consensus but by having the courage to be different in thinking and approach. To test and to change. When I have been right – whether about China’s powerful boost to global growth and commodities in 2002 or its structural growth slowdown and the end of the commodity bull market in 2011 – this is how I have been right.
Having been brought up in communism where one had to conform, I am most proud of not being afraid to raise my head above the parapet when I have a strong conviction. So I cherish this testimonial from Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England 2003-2013, “It is increasingly rare to find an economist who eschews the conventional wisdom and is prepared to think for herself. In today’s uncertain world it is a priceless quality. Diana Choyleva is such a person.”
