The global financial crisis caused immense hardship and suffering all over the world. To prevent a repeat, we need to rethink…
… what we know about economic theory …. We need to rethink, following this, the policies … coming from the analytical work. And then we will need also to rethink multilateralism.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (April 16, 2011)
A wholesale reexamination of macroeconomic principles in the wake of the crisis was the goal of a conference at the IMF in early March.
But, for Olivier Blanchard and others, the conference was merely “the beginning of a conversation, the beginning of an exploration.”
Here is our list of recommended reads to help you be part of the conversation.
- Blanchard kicked off the conference by posing some questions about how we might the rewrite the macroeconomists’ playbook. He later offered nine tentative conclusions—drawing on the conference discussions—that he hoped would stimulate further debate.
- We also heard from Blanchard’s co-hosts—David Romer, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz—about how the conference had been an important starting point for a balanced debate on the evolution of economic policies.
- Robert Solow was also among those who brought interesting perspectives to the conference. He offered some new policy ideas for a new world.
- The conference, and these posts from participants, also spurred a lively discussion outside the IMF, including by Anders Aslund, Paul Krugman, Mark Thoma, David Wessel, and Matthew Yglesias.
- Students and academics also welcomed the conference videos as an excellent ongoing resource.
We encourage you to join the debate by adding your comments here.
