Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email:[email protected]
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., August 31, 2012 – Williams College will host a two-day conference September 27 and 28 titled “The Future of the World Bank and the IMF: Redesign For a New (and Old) World.” The September conference seeks to inform the debate about the future of the institutions as they struggle to redefine themselves in a changing world. The panel discussions and keynote address are free and open to the public and will take place on the MainStage at the ’62 Center.
Tickets are required for admission but are free. Tickets are available through the Box Office of the ’62 Center, (413) 597-2425 or online at http://62center.williams.edu/62center/ticket_boxoffice.cfm . The Box Office will open for the season on Tuesday, September 11, at 1 p.m.
For ticketing purposes, the conference is divided into three sessions as follows:
Thursday afternoon, September 27
Thursday evening, September 27
Friday morning and afternoon, September 28
The conference will explore the themes that are critical to the future effectiveness of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), notably financial crises and regulation, poverty, and climate change, as well as the changing governance of the institutions themselves. “The Bank has a new President who is seeking to focus that institution on a few important priorities, while the current Euro crisis is bringing attention to the role of the IMF,” explains Gerard Caprio, Chair of the Center of Development Economics and William Brough Professor of Economics at Williams. “The governance of these institutions is in flux; emerging markets have less say over these international financial institutions, while the U.S. and Europe exert control greater than their economic importance today.”
The conference is sponsored by the Center for Development Economics and features many well-known economists, including Nancy Birdsall, president and founder of the Center for Global Development and a visiting professor at Williams this fall.
The full schedule is as follows:
Thursday, September 27
4 p.m. What Kind of World Bank in the 21st Century?
Nancy Birdsall, President, The Center for Global Development, and Visiting Professor, Williams College
Ishrat Husain, Dean and Director of the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, formerly Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan
Robert Wade, Professor of Political Economy and Development London School of Economics
Chair: Gerard Caprio, William Brough Professor of Economics, Williams College
8 p.m. Keynote Address: Why Nations Fail
James Robinson, David Florence Professor of Government, Harvard University
Chair: Anand Swamy, Professor of Economics, Williams College
Friday, September 28
8:30 a.m. The Global Financial Architecture and Financial Stability: What works?
Atish R. Ghosh, Assistant Director, and Chief, Systemic Issues Division, Research Department, International Monetary Fund
James Hanson, visiting professor, Williams College, formerly World Bank
Garry Schinasi, Independent Adviser, Global Financial Stability, and formerly IMF
Chair: Kenneth Kuttner, Robert F. White Class of 1952 Professor of Economics, Williams College
9:45 a.m. The Role of a Lender of Last Resort
Michael Bordo, Professor of Economics, Rutgers University
Guillermo Ortiz, President Banorte and former Governor, Banco Central de Mexico
Ted Truman, The Peterson Institute for International Economics and former Assistant Secretary of Treasury and former Director, International Finance Division, Federal Reserve Board
Chair: Peter Montiel, Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. ’41 Professor of Economics, Williams College
11:30 a.m. The Role of Research in the Bank and the Fund
Olivier Blanchard, Director of Research and Economic Counselor, IMF
Michael Kremer, Gates Professor of Developing Societies, Harvard University
Luis Serven, Senior Advisor, The World Bank
Chair: Peter Pedroni, Professor of Economics, Williams College
1:45 p.m. Environment and Development?
Ken Chomitz, Senior Advisor, The World Bank
Matt Kotchen, Associate Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy, Yale University
Andrew Steer, President, World Resources Institute, formerly Special Envoy for Climate Change, The World Bank
Chair: Sarah Jacobson, Assistant Professor of Economics, Williams College
3 p.m. The Rise of Emerging Markets and the IFIs
Uri Dadush, The Carnegie Foundation and Arvind Panagariya, Columbia University
Chair: Ashok Rai, Associate Professor of Economics, Williams College
END
For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/map
To visit the college on the Internet: www.williams.edu Williams College can also be found on Facebook: www.facebook.com/williamscollege and Twitter: twitter.com/williamscollege
Published August 31, 2012
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