The Wealth Of Nations In The Post-COVID Era

April 28-29, 2022, online

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed how unprepared our societies were to a major shock. The pandemic – induced disruptions are continuing and may lead to long – term scarring of workers and firms. Building a resilient society necessitates rethinking and redesign of financial markets, fiscal and monetary policy, management of high government debt, regulation, information management, global trade and finance, and climate change. Analysis of these challenges and how to deal with them will be the focus of the conference.

Keynote speaker: Philippe Aghion (College de France and London School of Economics)

Philippe Aghion is Professor at the College de France and at the London School of Economics, and a fellow of the Econometric Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the economics of growth. With Peter Howitt, he pioneered the so-called Schumpeterian Growth paradigm which was subsequently used to analyze the design of growth policies and the role of the state in the growth process. Much of this work is summarized in their joint book Endogenous Growth Theory (MIT Press, 1998) and The Economics of Growth (MIT Press, 2009). In 2001, he received the Yrjo Jahnsson Award of the best European economist under age 45. In 2009 he received the John Von Neumann Award, and in March 2020 he shared the BBVA “Frontier of Knowledge Award” with Peter Howitt for “developing an economic growth theory based on the innovation that emerges from the process of creative destruction.