Publications

Conference Audio

  • Conference Audio | November 2012

    Hyman P. Minsky Conference on Financial Instability, Berlin

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    Debt, Deficits, and Unstable Markets

    Organized by the Levy Economics Institute and ECLA of Bard with support from the Ford Foundation, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, and Deutsche Bank AG

    This two-day conference in central Berlin will focus on the causes of financial instability and its implications for the global economy. The conference will address some of the main issues now confronting economic policymakers, including the challenge to global growth resulting from the eurozone debt crisis; the impact of the credit crunch on economic and financial markets; the larger implications of government deficits and debt crises for US, European, and Asian economic policy; and central bank independence and financial reform.

  • Conference Audio | April 2012

    21st Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies

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    Debt, Deficits, and Financial Instability

    A conference organized by the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College with support from the Ford Foundation

    In April 2012, leading policymakers, economists, and analysts will gather at the New York headquarters of the Ford Foundation to take part in the Levy Institute’s 21st Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference. This conference will address, among other issues, the challenge to global growth represented by the eurozone debt crisis; the impact of the credit crunch on the economic and financial markets outlook; the sustainability of the US economic recovery in the absence of support from monetary and fiscal policy; reregulation of the financial system and the design of a new financial architecture; and the larger implications of the debt crisis for US economic policy, and for the international financial and monetary system as a whole.

  • Conference Audio | May 2011

    The Wynne Godley Memorial Conference

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    Contributions in Stock-flow Modeling

    Wynne Godley’s work focused on the strategic prospects for the US, UK, and world economies, and the use of accounting macroeconomic models to reveal structural imbalances. This conference will provide scholars profoundly influenced by his work the opportunity to celebrate his contributions to the field of economics. Topics will include fiscal policy and stock-flow consistent models; unsustainable processes and the role of the dollar in fostering global imbalances; stability and convergence programs; trade and current account imbalances and international currencies; financial integration, intrazone credit, and stabilization in a monetary union; debt-deflation traps within small open economies; and the UK and US private expenditure function.

  • Conference Audio | April 2011

    20th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies

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    Financial Reform and the Real Economy

    A conference organized by the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College with support from the Ford Foundation

    The 20th Annual Minsky Conference addressed the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis on the real economy, and examined proposed and recently enacted policy responses: Should ending too-big-to-fail be the cornerstone of reform? Do the markets’ pursuit of self-interest generate real societal benefits? Is financial sector growth actually good for the real economy? Will the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill make the entire financial system, not only the banks, safer?

  • Conference Audio | April 2010

    19th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies

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    After the Crisis—Planning a New Financial Structure

    A conference organized by the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College with support from the Ford foundation

    From his extensive research, Hyman Minsky was convinced that economic systems are prone to financial instability and crisis, and urged that lessons be learned from the crisis of 1929–1933 so that “it”—the Great Depression—could not happen again. This year’s conference drew upon many Minskyan themes, including reconstituting the financial structure; the reregulation and supervision of financial institutions; the relevance of the Glass-Steagall Act; the roles of the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and the Treasury; the moral hazard of the “too big to fail” doctrine; debt deflation; and the economics of the “big bank” and “big government.” Speakers compared the European and Latin American responses to the global financial crisis and proposals for reforming the international financial architecture. Moreover, central bank exit strategies, both national and international, were considered.

  • Conference Audio | June 2009

    Employment Guarantee Policies

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    Responding to the Current Economic Crisis and Contributing to Long-Term Development

    A Collaborative Project of the United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC), and the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), in Partnership with The Levy Economics Institute

    On June 22 and 23, The Levy Economics Institute, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), convened an international conference to present the merits and challenges of public job creation programs as a constitutive component of an economic recovery strategy. Titled “Employment Guarantee Policies: Responding to the Current Economic Crisis and Contributing to Long-Term Development,” the conference was held at Blithewood, the Institute’s main research and conference facility, on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. More than 30 top policy advisers, members of government organizations, academics, and international development specialists met to analyze and exchange views on various public employment initiatives, drawing on existing research and the outcomes of country-level programs in South Africa, Argentina, India, Iran, and Chile.

  • Conference Audio | April 2009

    18th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies

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    Meeting the Challenges of Financial Crisis

    A conference organized by The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College with support from the Ford Foundation.

    On April 16 and 17, 2009, top policymakers, economists, and analysts gathered at the Ford Foundation’s headquarters in New York City to offer their insights and policy guidelines on the extraordinary challenges posed by the global financial crisis. Topics included current conditions and forecasts; macro policy proposals by the Obama administration and others; the rehabilitation of mortgage financing and the banks; financial market reregulation; proposals to limit foreclosures and modify servicing agreements; regulation of alternative financial products (derivatives and credit default swaps); the institutional shape of the future financial system; and international responses to the crisis.

  • Conference Audio | May 2008

    17th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies

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    Credit, Markets, and the Real Economy: Is the Financial System Working?

    The focus of this year's conference was the current economic and financial crisis in the United States and its effects on the world economy. Topics included the causes and consequences of the "Minsky moment"; the impact of the credit crunch on the economic and financial market outlook; dislocations and policy options; margins of safety, systemic risk, and the American subprime mortgage market; financial markets regulation-reregulation; the inefficiency of computer-driven markets; currency market fluctuations; and exchange rate misalignment.

    The conference was held April 17–18, 2008, at the Levy Institute's research and conference center at Blithewood, on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

    Associated Program:
    The State of the US and World Economies
  • Conference Audio | April 2007

    16th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the US and World Economies

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    Global Imbalances: Prospects for the U.S. and World Economies

    The 2007 Hyman P. Minsky Conference drew upon public discussions on the state of the United States and world economies in the context of prevailing economic trends and their implications. Topics included fiscal and monetary policies for continued growth and employment; currency markets fluctuations and the consequent exchange-rate misalignments, as well as possible cures; and the US households and trade deficits, their implications for growth and employment, and their effect on the conduct of monetary and fiscal policy. The United States’ role in the global marketplace was examined in view of the current international economic landscape.

    The conference was held April 19–20, 2007, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood, on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

  • Conference Audio | October 2006

    Employment Guarantee Policies

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    Theory and Practice

    This conference focused on those government policy initiatives that can create a safety net through public service employment for individuals who are ready, willing, and able to work but who find themselves in an economic environment that does not offer job opportunities.

     

    Unemployment and involuntary “inactivity” are structural macroeconomic problems of both developed and developing economies. The negative effects of unemployment reach beyond the immediate economic losses to individuals and their families. The effects extend to the potential growth of the economy. Protracted periods of unemployment lead to multidimensional poverty, deterioration of communities, erosion of decent job conditions, and intolerance along racial and gender divides. There appears a connection, then, between the right to work and the role of government in guaranteeing employment. This connection ought to be part of the public policy dialogue.

     

    The conference was held October 13–14, 2006, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. The International Working Group on Gender, Macroeconomics, and International Economics (GEM-IWG), a global knowledge-sharing and capacity-building network, generously provided support for the conference by securing the participation and contributions of several GEM-IWG members.

     

  • Conference Audio | April 2006

    Government Spending on the Elderly

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    The aging of the American population will be a primary domestic public policy issue during the next decades. According to Census Bureau projections, the proportion of the elderly in the total population will increase from its 2002 level of under 13 percent to slightly more than 16 percent by 2020. Concomitantly, the proportion of working-age population (20-64) is projected to decline from its current level of about 59 percent to 57.2 percent in 2020. These demographic changes imply a significant growth in the number beneficiaries in major federal entitlement programs. Apart from this growth, existing program rules and rapidly escalating health care costs are expected to lead to fiscal pressures and pose challenges for economic growth.

    The United States is not alone in facing these challenges; in fact, in most countries with advanced economies, the problem is far more severe. The challenges of coping with an aging population require action in the near term to forestall more difficult choices in the long term.

    This conference provides an assessment of forces that currently drive and will continue to drive government spending on retirees. Papers examine how the retirement and health care of older citizens might be financed and measure the potential impact of different reform proposals.

    The conference was held April 28–29, 2006, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

  • Conference Audio | October 2005

    Time Use and Economic Well-Being

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    This conference was organized as part of the Levy Institute's research and policy program of the distribution of income and wealth. Its purpose was to cover issues and topics related to time allocation. Presentations focus on utilizing time-use data in investigating the determinants of time allocation by gender and other demographic and economic characteristics (e.g., family type and employment status); valuing unpaid household work; developing measures of individual or household economic well-being that include unpaid household production; and analyzing the distribution of household production and augmented measures of household well-being. The papers also addressed problems of statistical methodology and data in dealing with these topics.

    The conference was held October 28–29, 2005, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

  • Conference Audio | October 2005

    UNDP/BDP–Levy Conference: Unpaid Work and the Economy

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    Gender, Poverty, and the Millennium Development Goals
    Organized by the Bureau for Development Policy, United Nations Development Programme, in partnership with The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College

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    The purpose of convening this conference was to share views, research, and methodologies from around the world, on women’s unpaid work and its relationship to the economy within the context of pro-poor development policies, an issue that is critical in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Women’s unpaid work consists of time spent on unpaid care for members of their families and communities. It also consists of time spent to make up for deficiencies in public infrastructure, including in the energy, health, and sanitation sectors. Such activities range from providing long- term care to the chronically ill to fetching water and firewood.

    During the last decade, an increasing number of countries have collected time-use data, and some have developed satellite accounts in order to measure the economic contributions of unpaid work. These efforts notwithstanding, unpaid work, which is disproportionately carried out by women and children, has not been sufficiently integrated in the formulation of public investment policies and pro poor alternative macroeconomic strategies. In most developing countries, efforts to reduce poverty and reach the MDGs provide a timely opportunity to draw attention to the linkages between unpaid work and economic and social development. Several presenters focused on unpaid work and its connection to employment generation policies, inequality and poverty, deterioration of economic wellbeing, and trade impact assessment. Others presented up-to-date assessments of the state of the art in the areas of conducting time-use surveys, constructing satellite accounts, and developing economic models that include unpaid work.

    The conference was held October 1–3, 2005, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

  • Conference Audio | April 2005

    15th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference

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    Economic Imbalance: Fiscal and Monetary Policy for Sustainable Growth Fiscal and Monetary Policy for Sustainable Growth

    This year’s Hyman P. Minsky Conference drew upon public discussions on the state of the United States and world economies in the context of current economic trends and their implications. Topics included fiscal and monetary policies for continued growth and employment; brutal gyrations in the currency markets and the consequent exchange-rate misalignments, as well as possible cures; and the US trade deficit, particularly its impact on employment and the conduct of monetary and fiscal policies. The international economic role of the United States was examined in view of the current international economic landscape.

    The conference was held April 21–22, 2004, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

  • Conference Audio | October 2004

    The Distributional Effects of Government Spending and Taxation

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    The conference was held October 15–16, 2004, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

  • Conference Audio | October 2003

    International Perspectives on Household Wealth

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    The main focus of this conference was on the distribution of household wealth and savings in the United States and other advanced industrialized countries. Most of the papers highlighted recent trends in wealth inequality in this set of countries during the 1990s. Comparative work on a few less-developed countries was also be presented. Other topics included the roles of entrepreneurship in wealth accumulation and asset poverty in the US

    The conference was held October 17–18, 2003, at the Levy Institute’s research and conference center at Blithewood on the campus of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Publication Highlight

Working Paper No. 746
Finance-dominated Capitalism and Redistribution of Income
A Kaleckian Perspective
Author(s): Eckhard Hein
January 2013

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