Yudong Rao

Hi, welcome to my personal website! 

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Washington University in St. Louis, with prior experience at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where I worked as a PhD Intern in the Expenditure Policy Division of the Fiscal Affairs Department (Summer 2024) and as a Research Analyst in the Lending Division of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department (2019–2022).

I also build AI research infrastructure for economics and policy, including Swap Line Watch, a public AI agent for monitoring global bilateral currency swap lines and official liquidity ties.

Before my PhD, I also gained experience across several industries, including technology (IBM, 2016), journalism (CGTN America, 2018), and the film industry (Delirio Films, 2016). I completed my undergraduate studies in Accounting at the University of Iowa and earned a master’s degree from the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.

My research interests include:

• Banking, liquidity, and financial institutions

• Insurance, risk transfer, and financial protection

• Monetary and international economics

• AI agents for financial and policy applications

• Digital assets, stablecoins, and payment systems

rao.y@wustl.edu