CGEG Inaugurates “Strategies for Growth” Conferences in Paris

The Center on Global Economic Governance (CGEG) will soon launch the first in a series of international conferences under the three-year research project “Strategies for Growth: The Changing Role of the State.”

The first conference, to be held in Paris October 5 and 6, is titled “The Role of the State in Europe in Response to the Economic Crisis and the Quest for Growth.” It will focus on how both developed and emerging economies dealt with the recent economic crisis and the role of governments and supranational institutions in stimulating economic growth.

Experts from the academic, policy, and business worlds will come together to discuss questions such as: Should Europe have a more proactive industrial policy or is creating the right environment all that is needed? How should the state stimulate quality education, research, and innovation? Should the state interact differently with supranational/global institutions?

Michel Sapin, France's minister of finance and public accounts, will open the conference with a keynote address at the Columbia Global Center in Paris on the evening of October 5. The next day, the conference will convene at Sciences Po more than 40 international economic experts including Joseph Stiglitz, Dalia Marin, Jacques Dreze, and Jean Pisani-Ferry, as well as policymakers Leszek Balcerowicz, Miroslav Singer, and Andreu Mas-Colell.

The Center has also invited two SIPA students to take part in the roundtable conference as discussants: Katherine McGehee MIA ’15 and Oscar Pocasangre MPA ’15, both of whom are concentrators in Economic and Political Development.

“There is a clear need for new theories and studies on how to build and maintain structures of global economic governance,” said Jan Svejnar, director of CGEG and the James T. Shotwell Professor of Global Political Economy. Svejnar will continue his work on policy-oriented research related to economic globalization throughout the project.

Organized in conjunction with the Columbia Global Center in Paris and Sciences Po, the conference and research are part of an initiative by President Lee C. Bollinger to expand the work of Columbia's Global Centers, which promote and facilitate the collaborative and impactful engagement of the University’s faculty, students, and alumni with the world to enhance understanding, address global challenges, and advance knowledge and its exchange. Columbia views the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization to require major changes in how it organizes itself for the 21st century. Already deeply and extensively international, the University views a network of Global Centers as the next step in its long history as an international research university.

The project will also collaborate with Columbia Global Centers in Rio de Janeiro and Beijing. The second conference will be held at the Rio Global Center and focus on Brazil and Latin America’s economic landscape and the policies that have contributed to the region’s growth. The final conference will take place at the Beijing Global Center and examine China’s policies and strategies for continued growth as its economy is reoriented towards domestic demand.

The three-year project will end by examining strategies for growth and how emerging economies can learn from one another.

Keynote: October 5, 1:30 p.m. EDT; Watch live

Conference: October 6, from 3:00 a.m. EDT; Watch live