DOCSLIB.ORG

PEFM in Focus

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
PEFM in Focus Issue 4 The Political Economy of Financial Markets January 2017 PEFM in Focus Brexit fallout Inside this issue: matter in the scheme of things, Brexit fallout 1 of interest only to those living PEFM’s vision 1 in Britain and/or those whose fortunes depend on London People at PEFM 2 remaining the world’s pre- eminent financial centre. A tale of three Cities: 2 Commemorating Max Others might see this as Watson presaging a more profound tectonic shift in the global Highlights of PEFM’s 3 economic and political order, events in 2015-16 with the possibility of new An interview with Adam 4 alliances and new enmities and Bennett Many things have happened on democratic dilemma for a prolonged period of Europe at the crossroads 6 the financial scene over the parliament which now has little unwelcome uncertainty in the past year, but all these things choice but to implement the meantime. Building on the PEFM events 2015-16 8 have paled into insignificance in people’s verdict. What remains successful two-day conference the wake of the Brexit vote on in question is the nature of the on the Future of Europe at the June 23. The referendum, divorce from Europe, and that end of April, PEFM intends to which Cameron rashly called on depends as much on what take an active part in the the basis of a weak hand but Europe (a many headed hydra) debate on how Britain and the apparently favourable opinion aims to achieve from these world should deal with the polls, revealed the Brexiteers discussions (punishment or Britain’s epochal decision to to be firmly in the majority in cooperation?) as on what leave the EU. the country, if not in Britain wants. Some may Adam Bennett and David Vines parliament. This creates a dismiss this event as a parochial PEFM’s vision The purpose of the Political reviewed under the for sustainable financial flows, not be realistic. Rather, the aim Economy of Financial Markets programme, however, goes in light of ongoing global is to bring together a programme (PEFM) is to help well beyond the design of political and economic community of experts from improve the institutional design regulatory frameworks and of developments. The second is different academic disciplines, of policy frameworks affecting financial supervision. The on the changes in ethical and and from official and private financial markets, toward purview of PEFM is moreover cultural frameworks which market institutions, so that supporting sustainable and evolving, and in light of recent might help the financial system their complementary research crisis-free growth. The events will be paying special resume a constructive role efforts and discussions can help programme is devoted to the attention in the coming year to within the economy in the develop and promulgate new interaction between official the implications of Brexit for wake of the great financial policy insights. Our aim is that, policies and financial market the political economy of crisis of 2008. over time, we can build PEFM behaviour. It explores how financial markets. The goal of PEFM is not to into an internationally incentives affecting the The programme has focussed compile a cookbook of static recognized go-to place in financial sector could be better on two themes. The first is on policy recipes. In a world of Oxford for policy-related work coordinated in the future. The the role of macroeconomic adaptive and interactive on the financial system. scope of the 'official policies' frameworks in setting the stage financial markets, that would People at PEFM In 2016, Charles Enoch and Gordon Menzies joined the PEFM team; Charles as a Visiting Academic, and Gordon as an Associate. Charles Enoch Charles Enoch accrued a total of 26 years of experience in the International Monetary Fund (from up to his retirement in 2016). Following 12 years at the Bank of England, he served first as Alternate Executive Director for the UK, and then joined the IMF staff, concluding his career as Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Department. While on the staff, he worked on more than 60 countries, mostly in the Monetary and Capital Markets Department and its antecedents. He co-edited “From Fragmentation to Financial Integration in Europe” in 2013 and “Rapid credit growth in Central and Eastern Europe: Endless Boom or Early Warning?” in 2007. Charles has an M.A. from Cambridge University and a PhD from Princeton. Gordon Menzies Gordon Menzies is Associate Professor with the University of Technology Sydney. After an undergraduate degree in econometrics, he had over a decade experience with the Australian central bank. He was sponsored by the bank to complete a masters at the Australian National University, where he won a prize for the best student. ANU subsequently nominated him for a Commonwealth scholarship to Oxford, where he studied under David Vines and Donald Hay on the Asian Financial Crisis. He holds numerous teaching awards and the 2009 Arrow Senior Prize for the best economics paper in the Berkeley Electronic Press. He is a visitor to the PEFM group at St Antony’s college and the Oxford Martin School. In Australia he is the deputy director of the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality. A tale of three cities: Commemorating Max Watson In October 2015, St Antony’s College paid a tribute to the late Max Watson (PEFM’s founder), with a celebration of his life in a “Tale of Three Cities” at the Nissan Lecture Theatre, an event chaired by David Vines (Acting Director of PEFM), Jonathon Scheele (former EC official), and David Madden (former UK Ambassador to Greece), who orchestrated contributions from the many friends and colleagues who had worked with him in Washington, Brussels and Oxford respectively. Page 2 PEFM in Focus Highlights of PEFM events in 2015-16 The programme on the Political Economy Reconstruction and Development), and of Financial Markets (PEFM) had another also by a joint presentation by Adam busy year during 2015/16, beginning with a Bennett and Robin McConnachie (Oxford tribute to the late Max Watson (PEFM’s Analytica) on the record of IMF program founder), with a celebration of his life in a work and technical assistance in the “Tale of Three Cities” at the Nissan Lecture Balkans. Gazi Erçel (former Governor, Theatre (see previous page). Central Bank of Turkey) reviewed the PEFM’s regular weekly seminars at the history of IMF relations with Turkey European Studies Centre continued to during his tenure as Governor, and Boris focus on financial market reform. Lorenzo Codogno Vujčić (Governor, Croatian National Bank), discussed recent global market trends Treasury) provided a rare insight into the from the perspective of Croatia. Italian elephant in the Eurozone room, while Jeffrey Franks (Director, IMF Office in Europe) gave an IMF perspective. Anatole Kaletsky (Co-Chairman, Gavekal Consultancy) argued (as in his recent book) that the world was evolving a new phase of financial development which he called Malcolm Knight Capitalism 4, which was essentially a less liberal model than the globalized Peter Sanfey and Adam Bennett Malcolm Knight (former General Manager deregulated model (Capitalism 3) that of the BIS) criticized the distinction preceded it. Russell Kincaid (consultant for Issues of Ethics in financial markets were between (supposedly risky) Originate to IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office) gave debated in seminars by David Pitt- Distribute model of banking versus the Watson (London Business School), who (supposedly safe) Originate to Hold model examined the purpose of the financial on the grounds that the latter can still system in society, Robert Mass (Head of result in unsafe balance sheets. Despite Compliance at Goldman Sachs) who is this, the main emphasis of recent developing an ethics code for bankers, regulatory reform has been on the former Nick Morris (Balliol College, Oxford) who model. Both models remain vulnerable to drew lessons from Chinese law, and by excessive leverage, on which better data is David Vines (acting Director of PEFM) needed. Ian Plenderleith (Morgan Stanley) and Nick Morris who discussed the surveyed developments in regulation, and findings of their recent book Capital suggested that the pendulum of regulatory Failure. oversight was swinging back towards a more highly constrained and less Anatole Kaletsky innovative financial system, such as existed before the bonfire of regulations in the an early heads-up of some of the findings 1980s. It was important to get the of the IMF’s external review of its role in regulatory balance right. David Wright the Eurozone crisis. (Secretary General of IOSCO) focussed on Collaborative work with SEESOX was unfinished business in the reform in non- featured in a book launch on Remaking the banking financial market regulation. Balkan Economy, its authors represented by Lorenzo Codogno (Visiting Professor, LSE Adam Bennett (Deputy Director of PEFM) and former Chief Economist of the Italian David Vines (left) with Nick Morris (centre) and and Peter Sanfey (European Bank for Adam Bennett Issue 4 Page 3 An interview with Adam Bennett Adam Bennett is Deputy Director of the Political Economy of Financial Markets (PEFM) program and an Associate of SEESOX at the European Studies Centre. He also lectures (on a part-time external basis) at Cardiff University. Prior to joining St. Antony’s College, Adam worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), from which he retired in 2011. He was Senior Advisor (aka Deputy Director of Department) in the IMF’s European Department during 2009-11, and before that Senior Advisor in the Middle East Department, overseeing missions to many countries in the region. During the second half of the 1990s he was chief of the IMF’s Stand-by Operations division, covering all the IMF’s big ticket programs of that era.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Brexit and the Economics of Populism Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire 4-5 November 2016
    Conference report: Brexit and the economics of populism Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire 4-5 November 2016 #CERditchley Brexit and the economics of populism Ditchley Park Oxfordshire 4-5 November 2016 Executive summary November’s conference brought together 50 leading economists and commentators to consider Brexit and the economics of populism. Was Britain’s vote to leave the EU the first rebellion in a developed country against globalisation? Was further globalisation of trade and finance compatible with political stability? To what extent should we blame the macroeconomic policy response to the financial and euro crises for rising populism? Did we need stronger institutions to regulate, stabilise and legitimise markets? Did we need more income redistribution to counter inequality, more investment, and stronger action against rent-seeking? Could governments counter anti-immigrant feeling by employing the right mix of economic and social policies? Or could immigration be limited without damaging side-effects? The participants largely agreed that globalisation had not been the driving force behind the Brexit vote. Rising inequality and economic insecurity had been factors, but reflected the deregulation of labour and financial markets, technological change and tax and housing policies, more than globalisation itself. Social and cultural factors had also played a major role in the vote. The relationship between economic wellbeing and backing for populists was loose. Brexit supporters were much older than average, had not been affected economically by immigration or suffered disproportionately from the financial crisis. Support for central bank independence was fraying, there was now broad-based support among economists for government intervention to bolster demand, and an acceptance that financial stability required the authorities to actively regulate markets.
    [Show full text]
  • Five Challenges for Europe
    Conference report: Five challenges for Europe Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire 15-16 November 2019 #CERditchley GavekalDragonomics Five challenges for Europe Ditchley Park Oxfordshire 15-16 November 2019 Summary John Springford and Christian Odendahl Last week, The Economist journalist Duncan Robinson asked Twitter users their views on the biggest problems facing Europe. Many people replied with their pet peeves: “the rise of fascism”, “Brexit”, “Russian aggression”. But there are broader, structural shifts at work. In November, our annual economics conference focused on our choice of the five biggest problems facing Europe: an ageing society, growing competition between the US and China, gridlock over eurozone reform, climate change and regional inequality. Our view is that a stuttering European economy and regional divergence are big reasons for the continent’s political troubles, and in the next decade, rivalry between the US and China, climate change and ageing will force governments to make choices that will result in winners and losers. At the conference, there were common threads in the debate on these apparently disparate subjects: how public investment, especially on curbing climate change, could balance the needs of an ageing society with the needs of young people and future generations; how to limit the damage from populism at home and abroad; and whether the EU should strengthen rules or have greater power to act strategically. The 50 leading economists at Ditchley agreed that Europe’s ageing society, which would have more over- 65s than people of working age by around 2030, required people to work until later in life. There was a lot of scope for raising the employment rates of people in their 50s and 60s, as Sweden, the UK and Germany had done.
    [Show full text]
  • Brexit and the Economics of Populism Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire 4-5 November 2016
    Brexit and the economics of populism Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire 4-5 November 2016 #CERditchley Brexit and the economics of populism Ditchley Park Oxfordshire 4-5 November 2016 Brexit and the economics of populism Was Britain’s vote to leave the EU the first rebellion in a developed country against globalisation? There were some specific British issues behind the country’s vote to reject the EU. But it would be a mistake to dismiss Britain as an anomaly. The factors driving populism in the UK – resentment at stagnant living standards and inequality, discontent about migration, hostility towards elites and a sense of powerlessness – are present across the EU. So far, it is nationalists and nativists who have profited from this trend by exploiting fears over immigration to divide societies. But how should mainstream political forces respond to what has happened? Is further globalisation of trade and finance compatible with political stability? Is there a case for less labour mobility between countries, and is that possible? To what extent should we blame the macroeconomic policy response to the financial and euro crises? Do we need stronger institutions to regulate, stabilise and legitimise markets? Do we need more income redistribution to counter inequality, more investment, and stronger action against rent-seeking? Friday, 4 November 2016 15.00-15.30 Arrival of participants and registration 15.30-16.00 Afternoon tea 16.00-16.15 Welcome and introduction: John Kerr 16.15-17.45 Session 1: Was Brexit a rebellion against globalisation? On the face of it, Britain was not the obvious candidate to mount a rebellion against globalisation.
    [Show full text]
  • George Steven Swan, the Law and Economics of Fiduciary Duty
    Swan 7-16-12 (Do Not Delete) 7/16/2012 10:52 AM OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 37 SPRING 2012 NUMBER 1 ARTICLE THE LAW AND ECONOMICS OF FIDUCIARY DUTY: WOMACK V. ORCHIDS PAPER PRODUCTS CO. 401(k) SAVINGS PLAN George Steven Swan, S.J.D.* I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... 19 II. THE PRE-2007 GREAT MODERATION ................................................ 21 A. What Was the Great Moderation? .......................................... 21 B. Did the Great Moderation Mislead? ...................................... 22 III. THE ECONOMICS IN LAW AND ECONOMICS .................................... 25 A. The Paradigm Idea ................................................................. 25 B. Macroeconomics ..................................................................... 29 1. Macroeconomists and Mathematization .......................... 29 2. Macroeconomists, Mathematization, and Modeling ........ 36 3. Macroeconomics, the Business Cycle, and the Evidence .......................................................................... 40 C. Microeconomics ..................................................................... 44 IV. SOCIAL CAPITAL AND FIDUCIARY DUTY ......................................... 49 A. Trust as Social Capital ........................................................... 49 * Certified Financial Planner™; Associate Professor, School of Business and Economics, North Carolina A&T State University; B.A., Ohio State University; J.D., University of Notre
    [Show full text]
  • Anatole Kaletsky Speaker Profile
    Anatole Kaletsky Award Winning Journalist and Financial Economist CSA CELEBRITY SPEAKERS Anatole Kaletsky has written for The Economist, The Financial Times and The Times of London before joining Reuters in 2012. Anatole is also chief economist of GaveKal Dragonomics, a Hong Kong-based group that provides investment analysis to 800 investment institutions around the world and manages US $ 500m of client funds. "Columnist of the Year" British Press Awards 200 In detail Languages Born in Moscow and educated at Cambridge, Anatole Kaletsky He presents in English and Russian. went on to Harvard as a Kennedy Scholar and was awarded a Masters in Economics. He was a full-time journalist at major Want to know more? newspapers when he expanded his activities to include economic Give us a call or send us an e-mail to find out exactly what he forecasting and financial consulting. During his 30 years as a could bring to your event. journalist, he has received many international awards and distinctions. He is also a Director of several investment How to book him? companies. His book, 'Capitalism 4.0' about the reinvention of Simply phone, fax or e-mail us. global capitalism after the 2008 crisis, was nominated for the BBC's Samuel Johnson Prize and has been translated into Publications Chinese, Korean, German and Portuguese. 2010 What he offers you Capitalism 4.0: The Birth of a New Economy in the Aftermath 2007 With his finger firmly on the pulse of UK, European and World economics few are better qualified than Anatole Kaletsky to offer The End Is Not Nigh (with Charles Gave, Louis-Vincent Gave and Steven Vannelli) expert analysis of current market trends and precise economic forecasts.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond History and Boundaries: Rethinking the Past in the Present of International Economic Law
    BEYOND HISTORY AND BOUNDARIES: RETHINKING THE PAST IN THE PRESENT OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW Rafael Lima Sakr* Abstract History and boundaries are the foundations of international economic law (IEL) as a professional and intellectual field. History is often told to support a wide variety of present projects, norms and ideas by appealing to the past. Boundary is a technique frequently used to map and defend an exclusive domain for applying the IEL expertise to a broad range of programmes, rules and theories. This article first describes how history and boundaries interact to produce a ‘traditional’ view of IEL past and present place in the world economy. This interaction structures how lawyers assert the authority and legitimacy of IEL in global economic governance. It then argues that the commitments of the traditional approach to Anglocentrism and Modernism limit lawyers’ ability to understand and solve the present-day issues, since it produces lessons only in support of the dominant programmes, norms and ideas under contestation. Consequently, it constrains, instead of empowers, lawyers’ imagination. Building on this critique, the article outlines an alternative approach devised to rethink the IEL field and, more importantly, which past or new projects, norms and theories do or do not count (or should or should not count) as part of it. It concludes with reflections on how we might go about reimagining IEL in response to the contemporary challenges to global economic governance. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 I. From the Present to the Past, the Traditional Approach to the History of International Economic Law ........................................................................................ 3 II. Between History and Boundaries: the Limits of the Traditional Approach to the History of International Economic Law ...................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Banking Crisis Solutions Old and New
    Banking Crisis Solutions Old and New Alistair Milne and Geoffrey Wood In 2007 Britain experienced its first run on a bank of any macroeconomic significance since 1866. This was not dealt with by the method that had maintained banking stability for so long: letting the bank fail but supplying abundant liquidity to the markets to prevent contagion. In this paper the authors examine why that traditional solution was not used and propose changes to Britain’s deposit insurance system, to its bank insolvency regime, and in arrangements to allow customers access to banking services should their bank be closed—so that the traditional approach can once more be used to mitigate moral hazard. (JEL E58, G21, G28) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, September/October 2008, 90(5), pp. 517-30. n the autumn of 2007 Britain experienced second, to consider how these techniques may its first bank run of any significance since need to be changed or supplemented to prevent the reign of Queen Victoria.1 The run was any similar problems in the United Kingdom. on a bank called Northern Rock. This was Iextraordinary; by the early 1870s, the Bank of England had developed techniques to prevent CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS such events. Further, it was the announcement of Northern Rock was created by the merger of support for the troubled institution that triggered two “building societies,” the Northern Counties the retail run. (We emphasize “retail” because and the Rock, on July 1, 1965. Building societies the bank had already been experiencing great were mutual organizations, owned by their difficulty in obtaining wholesale funding.) That depositors and their borrowers.
    [Show full text]
  • George Soros, a Long-Time Critic of Classical Economic Theory, for His Support of the Institute for New Economic Thinking and This Conference
    THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND THE CRISIS IN ECONOMICS April 8–11, 2010 CAMBRIDGE, UK WELCOME We are delighted to welcome you to the Inaugural Conference of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at King’s College Cambridge. Our goal in founding the Institute for New Economic Thinking is to create an environment nourished by open discourse and critical thinking where the next generation of scholars has the support to go beyond our prevailing economic paradigms and advance our understanding of the economic system as a tool to meet social objectives. The economics profession’s reputation as experts, who should be trusted to give guidance to society, has suffered significantly as a result of the recent crisis. Over the next three days we will have a series of speakers and panels to address many of the questions that surround the methods and practice of economics and we will explore a number of the issues that have been revealed as blind spots of the profession. It is important to engage in a wide-open dialogue to explore many of these dimensions on a path toward creating the fresh thinking that will support those who have responsibility for policy making, and the society that they represent, as we navigate through the difficult conditions that have grown out of the economic crisis. John Maynard Keynes, in response to the tremendous social strain of the slump in the UK and the worldwide depression in the 1930s was inspired to write his General Theory of Employment Interest and Money. That creative and courageous endeavor is an inspiration to us all as we now face the challenges to repair the fault lines of the prevailing paradigms of economic theory and method that were unmasked by the financial crisis of 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • My Philanthropy by George Soros | the New York Review of Books
    My Philanthropy by George Soros | The New York Review of Books http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jun/23/my-philanthrop... Font Size: A A A My Philanthropy JUNE 23, 2011 George Soros 1. The formative experience of my life was the German occupation of Hungary in 1944. I was Jewish and not yet fourteen years old. I could have easily perished in the Holocaust or suffered lasting psychological damage had it not been for my father, who understood the dangers and coped with them better than most others. He had gone through a somewhat similar experience in World War I, which prepared him for what happened in World War II. When the Germans occupied Hungary on March 19, 1944, my father knew exactly what to do. He realized that these were abnormal times and people who followed the normal rules were at risk. He arranged false identities not only for his immediate family but also for a larger circle. He charged a fee, sometimes quite an exorbitant one, to those who could afford it, and helped others for free. I had never seen him work so hard before. That was his finest hour. Both his immediate family and most of those whom he advised or helped managed to survive. Instead of submitting to our fate we resisted an evil force that was much stronger than we were—yet we prevailed. Not only did we survive, but we managed to George Soros in Hungary, 1946; from his father help others. This left a lasting mark on me, turning a Tivadar Soros’s memoir Masquerade , which has disaster of unthinkable proportions into an exhilarating just been reissued by Arcade adventure.
    [Show full text]
  • Building a Global Community of New Economic Thinkers
    COVER.pdf 1 9/19/11 10:16 AM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K INAUGURAL ANNUAL REPORT 2010 — 2011 www.ineteconomics.org Building a Global Community of New Economic Thinkers Institute for New Economic Thinking 570 Lexington Avenue, 39th Floor New York, NY 10022 USA 212.444.9612 [email protected] © 2011 Institute for New Economic Thinking. All rights reserved. SPREAD 2-3.pdf 1 9/19/11 10:17 AM A Message from the Executive Director Dear Friends, I am pleased to present the Institute for New Economic Thinking’s inaugural annual report to showcase I am frequently inspired as I travel around the world and meet with scholars, our activities to date, underscore our mission, and disclose our operations. policymakers, and businessmen across all spectrums and cultures. I sense a common goal and desire, a shared purpose. Many in the profession, in the The crisis of 2008 revealed to the world that the economics and nancial professions are not fullling their private and public sectors as well as in the academy, share an aching feeling responsibility to bring expertise to bear for the betterment of the human condition. Economic expertise inside that something is amiss. I have faith that many people across the gamut has incurred severe damage to its credibility. One of the positive outcomes of this is that timeless and want to contribute to making the world a better place for their children and recurring debates about how to conceive of economic research and the economy are reopening. It is future generations. within this context of the needed re-examination of the practices of the profession that INET was founded 18 months ago.
    [Show full text]
  • The Anatomy of Populist Economics Di Brigitte Granville, Anne Krueger, Jan-Werner Mueller, Michael Sandel, and Other
    PROJECT-SYNDICATE.ORG – 24 FEBBRAIO 2017 The Anatomy of Populist Economics di Brigitte Granville, Anne Krueger, Jan-Werner Mueller, Michael Sandel, and other Today’s populist movements are all following a similar economic prescription, and governments in Hungary, Poland, and the US are giving the world an early dose of what the future may hold. Will voters swallow the medicine, or will they soon start seeking a second opinion? For at least the past year, populism has been wreaking havoc on Western democracies. Populist forces – parties, leaders, and ideas – underpinned the “Leave” campaign’s victory in the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. Now, populism lurks ominously in the background of the Netherlands’ general election in March and the French presidential election in April and May. But, despite populism’s seeming ubiquity, it is a hard concept to pin down. Populists are often intolerant of outsiders and those who are different; and yet Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch populist leader, is a firm believer in gay rights. In the US, Trump’s presidential campaign was described as an anti-elite movement; and yet his administration is already practically a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs. While today’s populist resurgence comes from the nationalist right, some of the leading populist exponents in recent decades – such as Venezuela’s late president, Hugo Chávez – were firmly on the left. What they share is a zero-sum view of the world, which necessitates the creation of scapegoats who can be blamed for all problems.
    [Show full text]
  • Ditchley Notes 21 March 06
    Highlights from the CER conference on THE FUTURE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY Ditchley Park, 4-5 November 2005 In November 2005, the CER took more than 40 of Europe’s top economists, policy-makers and commentators to the Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire to discuss ‘The future of the European economy’. Participants included Graham Bishop, Jean-Philippe Cotis, Daniel Gros, Will Hutton, DeAnne Julius, Anatole Kaletsky, John Kay, Mart Laar, Richard Layard, Mario Monti, Jean Pisani-Ferry, André Sapir and Norbert Walter. A full list is attached at the end of this note. During two days, we looked at questions such as: Has Europe really performed that badly compared with the US? How can Europe improve its growth and employment record? How has eastward enlargement changed the European economy? How can we cope with globalisation? The debates were lively and of outstanding quality. Rather than trying to sum up the debate artificially, we decided to publish a few highlights from the plenary discussions and working groups. The debates took place under Chatham House rules so we do not attribute quotes, with the exception of the introductory speeches. The CER is most grateful for the support that BAT, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Unilever have provided for this event. Katinka Barysch March 2006 Centre for European Reform T: 00 44 20 7233 1199 29 Tufton Street F: 00 44 20 7233 1117 London SW1P 3QL UK [email protected] / www.cer.org.uk 2 1. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Norbert Walter Europe suffers from complacency: Europeans think they live in the kingdom of happiness. The current system offers a majority (relatively) secure jobs AND lots of leisure.
    [Show full text]