COVID-19 Policy Responses and Implications for Our Economic Future

December 18, 2020

COVID-19 Policy Responses and Implications for Our Economic Future

A Conversation with Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz

Beyond the extraordinary health consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, the pandemic has exposed the global community’s collective incapacity to confront social and economic shocks of such a large magnitude. Renowned economics professor and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz assessed the economic responses of governments and institutions globally—their successes and failures. In this conversation Stiglitz discussed the way forward and responded to questions posed by two moderators representing both the European and North American perspectives. He also examined the lessons we should learn from the COVID-19 crisis to inform approaches to the mounting challenges associated with global warming.

This event was sponsored by Georgetown University Global Economic Challenges (GEC) Network, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Solvay), and the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

Participants

Joseph E. Stiglitz (courtesy of Daniel Baud and the Sydney Opera House)

Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz

Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz is an American economist and Columbia University professor. He is also co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress at the OECD and chief economist of the Roosevelt Institute. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001. He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Dean Joel Hellman

Joel Hellman (moderator) became dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University after 25 years working as both a scholar and practitioner. He served at the World Bank as chief institutional economist, led its engagement with fragile and conflict-affected states, and coordinated the World Bank’s response in Indonesia to the tsunami. He served as senior political counselor at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.

Professor Micael Castanheira

Micael Castanheira (moderator) is a research director with the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique and professor of economics at Solvay, the economics and management faculty of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He heads the joint Solvay/Georgetown Master in Political Economy program. His research focuses on political economy issues and economic reforms. Besides his articles in economic journals, he co-authored Structural Reforms without Prejudices (2006) and Réformer sans Tabou (2007).

Global Economic Challenges Network