The Economic Crisis and the Crisis in Economics
King’s College Cambridge, England
April 8-11, 2010

The Inaugural Conference

The Institute for New Economic Thinking convened many of the world’s most distinguished economists, academics and thought leaders at its inaugural Conference “Economics in Crisis and the Crisis in Economics” held at King’s College, University of Cambridge from April 8-11th. The conference brought together a cross-section of thinkers to discuss the fundamental roots of the recent global economic crisis and the role that the discipline of economics played. The 200 people who gathered discussed whether the old paradigm of economic policies and the theories behind them had failed, and whether a new paradigm of economic thinking needed to be developed to better suit the new demands of the 21st century.

The conference discussed a wide range of issues that INET will be encouraging the exploration of more deeply in the years ahead, including the causes and solutions to the current economic crisis, regulatory reform, systemic risk, wealth inequality, the role of central banks and the role of politics in the economy. Speakers included Dominique Strauss-Kahn (Managing Director of IMF), Joseph Stiglitz (Professor at Columbia University and Nobel Laureate), Adair Lord Turner (chairman of the Financial Services Authority), Simon Johnson (Professor at MIT and former Chief Economist of IMF), and several other Nobel Laureates.

Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) described the conference as a “truly remarkable conference – a feast of intellectual inquiries.” Bruce Caldwell, Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro said: “This is the first conference ever that brings together leading minds in the economics profession with policymakers and historians of economic thought.” Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund noted: “It is absolutely crucial for us, if we want the global economy to be run somewhat rationally to use what INET is doing here.”

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