5th Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
1957 E St. NW
Washington D.C. 20052

The Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) is a forum that highlights trade research at institutions in the Washington D.C. area. Its primary activity is sponsoring an annual research conference where scholars present their latest academic work. Researchers from George Washington University, American University, the Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, Georgetown University, the Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), the U.S. International Trade Commission, the University of Maryland, and the World Bank have all participated in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule
8:00 AM: Continental Breakfast and Opening Comments
8:15 AM: Paulo Bastos (WB)
Session 1: “Overcoming the Tyranny of History: Evidence from Post-Apartheid South Africa”
Discussant: Remi Jedwab (GW)
9:00 AM: Anna Maria Mayda (GT)
Session 2: “The Impact of Skilled Foreign Workers on Firms: an Investigation of Publicly Traded U.S. Firms”
Discussant: Mine Senses (JHU)
9:45 AM: Coffee Break
10:00 AM: Ryan Monarch (FRB)
Session 3: “Learning and the Value of Relationships in International Trade”
Discussant: Olga Timoshenko (GWU)
10:45 AM: Christian Volpe (IDB)
Session 4: “The Border Labyrinth: Information Technologies and Trade in the Presence of Multiple Agencies”
Discussant: Justin Peirce (FRB)
11:30 AM: Lunch
12:30 PM: Maggie Chen (GWU)
Session 5: “Learning and Reputation in Trade”
Discussant: Serge Shikher (USITC)
1:15 PM: Heiwai Tang (JHU)
Session 6: “Trade-induced Quality Upgrading: Transaction-level Evidence from Portugal”
Discussant: Andrew McCallum (FRB)
2:00 PM: Overflow and Closing Remarks
2:30 PM: End

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

3rd Annual Conference Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES)

Friday, April 24, 2015

This event is hosted by the Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development and Evaluation (gui2de)

Rafik B. Hariri Building, Rom 240
Georgetown University
3700 O St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20057

 

The Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES) is an annual research conference which highlights academic work from researchers at leading economics institutions in development economics in the Washington DC area. Researchers from George Washington University, University of Maryland, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia, the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), American University, George Mason University, and the Center for Global Development are all participants in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule

Download the conference schedule here.

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

Digital Payments/Currencies: Global Threat or Opportunity?

Thursday, April 23, 2015

9:00am to 12:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Institute for International Economic Policy and the Bretton Woods Committee will convene a seminar involving policymakers, regulators, and private and financial sector experts to evaluate the changes digital currencies and payment systems have brought to the market and the disruptive potential of a future in which they become more conventional

8:30-9:00 am – Registration and Light Breakfast

9:00-9:10 am – Welcome and Introduction

  • Welcome Remarks: Jay Shambaugh (IIEP, GWU) and Randy S. Rodgers (Bretton Woods)

9:10-10:25 am – Panel 1: What is the Value Proposition (Benefits and Risks?)

  • Edan Yago (CEO, Epiphyte)
  • Eric Piscini (Principal, Deloitte)
  • Ian Greenstreet (Chairman, Infinity Capital Partners)
  • Mark T. Williams (Professor, Boston University)
  • and Jerry Brito (Executive Director, Coin Center)
  • Moderator: Paul Vigna (Wall Street Journal and co-author, The Age of Cryptocurrency)

10:25 – 10:40 am – Coffee Break

10:40-12:00 pm – Panel 2: Rules of the Road – Regulatory Implications

  • Jennifer Shasky-Calvery (Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, U.S. Treasury)
  • John Beccia (General Counsel and CCO, Circle Internet Financial)
  • Jason Weinstein (Partner, Steptoe & Johnson)
  • Carol Van Cleef (Partner, Mannat, Phelps & Phillips)
  • David C. Mills (Assistant Director, Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems Division, U.S. Federal Reserve Board)
  • Moderator: Michael Casey (Wall Street Journal and co-author, The Age of Cryptocurrency)

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:

Trade and Development Workshop: “Information Frictions and the Law of One Price: When the States and the Kingdom became United”

Claudia Steinwender

 IES Fellow at the International Economics Section at Princeton University

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

12:30 to 2:00pm

 

Monroe Hall of Government
2115 G Street NW, Room 321
Washington, DC 20052

With the establishment of the transatlantic telegraph, information sharing in relation to international trade experienced dramatic changes and heavily impacted global markets. Looking at historical data, we can see how exporters began to respond to information about demand.

During next week’s Trade and Development Workshop, Claudia Steinwender will present her paper, Information Frictions and the Law of One Price: “When the States and the Kingdom became United”, which examines the extent to which information friction affects international trade distortion. Dr. Steinwender will explain how she built a model of international trade that is consistent with empirical evidence in which exporters use the latest news about a foreign market to forecast expected selling prices when their exports arrive.

Claudia Steinwender is an IES Fellow at the International Economics Section at Princeton University and completed her PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics. This summer, July 2015, she will be joining the Harvard Business School as an assistant professor.

Inaugural Conference on India’s Economy

Monday, April 13, 2015

8:15am to 5:00pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Indian economy is showing signs of revival after several years of slowdown. A new growth oriented government has just presented a budget to boost recovery, inflation is on the decline and India looks poised for faster growth. Yet challenges remain as India must reduce poverty, create jobs for a young and rapidly urbanizing population while increasing its resilience to global headwinds as it continues to open up to the international economy. How can India revive growth with limited fiscal space? What reforms are needed in factor markets: land, labor and finance to ramp up private investment both domestic and foreign? What additional policies and programs are needed to address poverty? How can India become more competitive in global markets, and participate in global and regional trade partnerships? How can the promise of U.S.-India partnership be taken forward concretely? The Institute for International Economic Policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, invites you to a conversation with top academic researchers, officials from the IMF, World bank, OECD, and the UN, and current and former high level policy makers in the U.S. and Indian governments.

9:00-10:30 am – Session One: Economic Outlook and Macro Economic Policies

11:00 am-12:30 pm – Session Two: Finance, Urbanization, and Growth

12:30-2:00 pm – Lunch and Keynote Speaker

  • Arun Kumar, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service “India-U.S. Economic Relations: Prospects and Promise”

2:00-3:30 pm – Session Three: Poverty Eradication and Participation

  • James Foster & Sabina Alkire (GWU, OPHI): Multi Dimensional Poverty Indicators for India
  • Vijayendra Rao (World Bank): The Anatomy of Failure: An Ethnography of A Randomized Trial to Deepen Democracy in Rural India
  • Chair: Stephen Smith (GWU)
  • Discussants: Thangavel Palanivel (UNDP) and Yue Li (World Bank)

3:45-5:00 pm – Closing Session

  • Piritta Sorsa (OECD): Stronger and Better Growth in India
  • Discussants: Swami Nathan Aiyar (Economic Times and Cato Institute), Rakesh Mohan (IMF, RBI), and Ajay Chhibber (IIEP, India) on challenges facing India today

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:


View the videos from the sessions here

12:30-2:00 pm – Lunch and Keynote Speake

 

2:00-3:30 pm – Session Three: Poverty Eradication and Participation

 

 

The I Theory of Money

Markus Brunnermeier

Princeton University

Thursday, April 9, 2015

3:00 to 4:30pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
Room 505
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Markus Brunnermeier is the Professor of Economics at Princeton University and Director of the Bendheim Center for Finance, also serving on several advisory groups including the IMF, the New York Federal Reserve, and the European Systemic Risk Board. He will join us to discuss “The I Theory of Money“: a project assessing the efficacy of an accommodative monetary policy on Fisher deflations and downturns for financial intermediaries. In particular, it can mitigate destabilizing adverse effects. Professor Brunnermeier will also focus on interest rate cuts and the moral hazard they can create. More generally, Brunnermeier researches financial markets, bubbles, liquidity, and monetary price stability, using models to incorporate friction and behavioral elements of global markets.