5th HenU / INFER Workshop on Applied Macroeconomics

March 29th - 31st 2019

 

From March 29th to 31st 2019, the Center for Financial Development and Stability (CFDS) at Henan University and the International Network for Economic Research (INFER) organized their 5th annual Workshop on Applied Macroeconomics hosted by Henan University.

The Global Financial Crisis has brought countries' monetary financial and fiscal vulnerabilities to the forefront of the academic debate. Many countries increased government spending, driving both domestic and foreign debt up and leaving them highly vulnerable. Unable to stop the crisis with fiscal measures, most countries eventually resorted to highly expansionary monetary policy to provide more stimulus. Both the Fed and the ECB lowered their rates to the zero lower bound and finally engaged in unconventional monetary policy. This drastically increased their government debt holdings, strengthening the linkages between monetary and fiscal issues. At the same time, global capital flows were redirected to countries which maintained positive interest rates, many of them emerging markets who now – with the Fed slowly normalizing its policy – fear a sudden stop.

 

Program

 

Keynote lectures

 

Prof. Lawrence Christiano

Alfred W. Chase Chair in Business Institutions, Northwestern University
Department of Economics, Northwestern University

 Prof. Randall Wright

Ray B. Zemon Chair in Liquid Assets in the Department of Finance, Investment and Banking at the Wisconsin School of Business
Department of Economics at University of Wisconsin Madison

Dinner Keynote

Prof. Joshua Aizenman

Robert R. and Katheryn A. Dockson Chair in Economics and International Relations
 at the Department of Economics at the USC Dornsife College of Art, Letters and Science

 

Special issue

Selected, excellent papers will be considered for a special issue in Journal of International Money and Finance on "Monetary and Fiscal Fragility in the 2020s". Those papers will be subject to additional double blinded peer review. Find more information about the submission process here.

4th HenU / INFER Workshop on Applied Macroeconomics 2018

 June 23rd and 24th 2018

 

On June 23rd and 24th 2018 the Center for Financial Development and Stability (CFDS) at Henan University and the International Network for Economic Research (INFER), organized their 4th annual Workshop on Applied Macroeconomics hosted by Henan University.

With TTIP failing to gain popular support in Europe, and CETA only barely making its way through the European institutions, Trumps protectionist agenda threatening the very existence of NAFTA, and the uncertain conditions of the Brexit looming over Europe, the role of international macroeconomic links has a role in the spotlight of attention.
On the one hand, the developed economies in the Western hemisphere are looking at the more dynamic emerging markets (in particular China), hoping for impulses to their own economy. At the same time, a wave of protectionist sentiment seems to be sweeping over the globe.
Therefore, this year’s workshop had a focus on international macroeconomics, especially topics relating to trade, exchange rate and capital market regulation.

 

Program

 

Keynote lectures

Prof. Martín Uribe

Department of Economics at Columbia University, NY

and

 Prof. Stephanie Schmitt-Grohé

Department of Economics at Columbia University, NY

3rd HenU / INFER Workshop on Applied Macroeconomics 2017

 March 17th and 18th 2017

 

During the last years dynamic macroeconomics experienced a revolution. With central banks all over the world hitting the zero lower bound and resorting to quantitative easing, the workhorse models used in quantitative macro that were built around central banks who set the interest reate, became almost impossible to apply. Almost a decade after the beginning of the Great Recession, it remains a key challenge to the profession to understand macroeconomic dynamics in a time, where the nominal interest rate is close to zero, monetary policy is based on quantities, and growth is persistently depressed.

On March 17th and 18th 2017 the School of Economics of Henan University (HenU) and the International Network for Economic Research (INFER) devoted their third joint workshop on applied macroeconomics to those and related issues.

 

Program

 

Keynote lectures

Harald Uhlig

Department of Economics, University of Chicago

and

Fabio Canova

Pierre Werner Chair, European University Institute

2nd HenU / INFER Workshop on Applied Macroeconomics

18-19 March 2016, Henan (China)

 

jointly organized by

School of Economics of Henan University (HenU)

International Network for Economic Research (INFER)

 

Ever since the outbreak of the great financial crisis, economists have to face the question why our profession failed to foresee the crisis. Thus, our understanding of business cycles and our forecasting techniques have been subject to intense scrutiny, not only from outside the profession but mainly from inside. The consensus that emerged during the so called Great Moderation, that is now considered a brewing storm rather than a phase of prosperity, has crumbled. At the same time, with a potential structural break only a few years back, new challenges arose for the analysis and prediction of business cycle fluctuation. Therefore, it is more important than ever to work on the empirical understanding of the business cycle and to improve our toolbox for forecasting, in particular forecasting in ime of crisis and forecasting crisis.

On March 18th and 19th the School of Economics (HenU) and the International Network for Economic Research (INFER) devoted their second joint workshop on applied macroeconomics to these and related issues.

 

Program

 

Conference Venue

Kaifeng Zhongzhou International Hotel

No. 9, Daliang Street, Kaifeng, Henan, China

 

Keynote lectures

Kenneth D. West

John D. MacArthur and Ragnar Frisch Professor of Economics / Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Barbara Rossi

Department of Business and Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Yoshino Naoyuki

Dean of the Asian Development Bank, Tokyo