March 2012

Registration Opens for YSI Commons in Berlin

by The Institute for... on March 23, 2012 1 comment

Registration is now open for YSI Commons, at INET's Plenary Conference, Berlin April 12-15.

Because of the overwhelming interest in our Plenary Conference Paradigm Lost: Rethinking Economics and Politics, we have created a parallel event, YSI Commons, especially for graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty. Capacity is limited to 300, first come first serve, so do not delay. All you need to do is fill out a simple web form which you can find here. Read more

Erik Berglöf - Crisis in Eastern Europe: The People's Perspective

by The Institute for... on March 22, 2012 2 comments

The global economic and financial crisis hit Eastern Europe harder than anywhere in the world. The region was shut off from global financial flows essentially overnight and some Eastern European countries lost a staggering 20% of GDP in one year. What does such a large loss in economic output do to the average household? The latest Transition Report of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provides some worrying answers. Read more

Overwhelming Response to YSI in Berlin: INET’s Class of 2012

by The Institute for... on March 15, 2012

We reserved 25 slots, but we got 563 applications. Something had to be done.

So, after carefully selecting the 25, we have been putting our energy into creating something new, that we are calling YSI Commons. The name is meant to evoke the intellectual commons that we all share, a deep and wide well that we collectively tap as a vital resource for facing the challenges of the present. And it is also meant as a reference to the venerable “common room” of traditional universities, a central axis of scholarly society and culture. Read more

READING ROOM: Demise of Chinese Exports Greatly Exaggerated

by The Institute for... on March 08, 2012

Facing rising labor costs, several major companies have shifted production from China to other Asian countries. But is China’s manufacturing sector in decline? An article from the Hong Kong based Fung Global Institute suggests that China’s manufacturing sector remains strong and that what has happened is simply a shift up the value-added chain. Labor-intensive, low value-added industries like simple garment manufacturing may have started to move out of China, but statistics suggest that higher value-added industries aren’t going anywhere. China’s manufacturing sector has shown signs that it will stay strong and continue to grow. Read more

How to Tackle the Challenge of Sovereign Debt

by The Institute for... on March 08, 2012

In a special editorial for the Globe and Mail, James Haley writes that the G20 must address the problem of sovereign debt. He explores three key issues that emerged from the recent conference titled “Sovereign Debtors in Distress: Are Our Institutions Up to the Challenge?” that INET co-hosted with its partner organization the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) at Waterloo, Ontario in Canada (a video of the talk given by Paul Martin here). Read more