Poverty in India: Issues and Policies

S. Mahendra Dev 

Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research

International Economic Policy Forum

Co-hosted by the International Tax and Investment Center and the GW Department of Economics

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

12:30 pm to 2:00 pm

 

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

 

Please find the presentation from Prof. Smith here, and Prof. Dev here.

S. Mahendra Dev is the director (Vice Chancellor) of the Indira Ghandi Institute of Develpment and Research (IGIDR). He previously served as the chair of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices of the Government of India. He also worked as director at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, and as senior fellow at the Rajiv Ghandi Foundation. He has written extensively on topics such as agricultural development, food security, and poverty and public policy. He received his PhD from the Delhi School of Economics and completed postdoctoral research at Yale University’s Economic Growth Center.

Prof. Dev has more than 100 research publications in national and international journals. Oxford University Press has recently published his book  Inclusive Growth in India. He has been a consultant and adviser to many international organizations, such as UNDP, World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute, ILO, FAO, and ESCAP. He also conducted collaborative projects with IFPRI on food security and poverty. He has been a member of several government committees including the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Employment and Rangarajan Commission on Financial Inclusion.

S. Mahendra Dev

Poverty in India: Issues and Policies with S. Mahendra Dev

Originally published on November 14, 2016

Wednesday, November 16, 2016
12:30PM- 2PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Room 505

S. Mahendra Dev is the director (Vice Chancellor) of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Develpment and Research (IGIDR). He previously served as the chair of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices of the Government of India. He also worked as director at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, and as senior fellow at the Rajiv Ghandi Foundation. He has written extensively on topics such as agricultural development, food security, and poverty and public policy. He received his PhD from the Delhi School of Economics and completed postdoctoral research at Yale University’s Economic Growth Center.

Prof. Dev has more than 100 research publications in national and international journals. Oxford University Press has recently published his book  Inclusive Growth in India. He has been a consultant and adviser to many international organizations, such as UNDP, World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute, ILO, FAO, and ESCAP. He also conducted collaborative projects with IFPRI on food security and poverty. He has been a member of several government committees including the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Employment and Rangarajan Commission on Financial Inclusion.

Trade Policies in Trouble with Marten van den Berg

Originally published on November 14, 2016

Thursday, December 8th, 2016
9:00AM- 10:30am
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Lindner Commons, 6th Floor

What is behind the public discontent on trade issues? What has changed? And what can we do about it? In this lecture, Marten C. van den Berg will be answering these questions and many more in this 45 minute discussion. The public remarks will be followed by a Q&A session

Points that will be addressed:

  • Popular support for trade policy is declining rapidly in the US and Europe
  • Trade was a major subject in the Presidential race, with both candidates being vocally opposed to TPP
  • The EU trade policy was on the verge of a crisis last month, when the federal government of Wallonia threatened to block the EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CETA)

Marten C. van den Berg is Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Relations of The Netherlands. Previously, Mr. Marten van den Berg was Special Envoy of the Netherlands for the Ministerial OECD Presidency, head of the Economic Mission of the Netherlands Embassy in Washington DC and worked in various functions for both the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands. Marten van den Berg obtained his Master’s degree at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and studied at the University of Maryland and Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

New Avenues to Govern Cross-Border Information Flows

Monday, November 14th, 2016

12:00 to 2:00pm

 

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

Cross-border data flows are the life-blood of an integrated world economy.  They support manufacturing and service supply chains and enable the flow of diverse and innovative goods and services to customers all over the world. But domestic policies must allow for these flows.  In the last several years, we have seen increasing attempts to close down the flow of information across borders – through requirements for domestic location of computer facilities and explicit bans on the transfer of data into or out of countries.  While domestic policy space must be large enough to permit legitimate regulations such as privacy and consumer protection, it should also ensure that these measures are no more restrictive than necessary to accomplish these purposes. The TPP was the first trade agreement to include binding provisions regarding these flows, but it has not yet been approved by any government.  But there are additional avenues to discuss cross-border data flows. They include:

  •  the Trade in Services Agreement being negotiated at the WTO
  • the WTO E-Commerce working group
  • bilateral discussions, discussions and resolutions at meetings of international economic leaders such as the G7 and the G20.  Herein we focus on what’s happening at the multilateral level at the WTO.

Join us for a discussion with a panel of experts and advocates on these avenues.

The Institute for International Economic Policy, along with the sponsorship of the Software and Information Industry Association, is hosting a panel discussion on November 14 as part of our continuing work on digital trade.  You are invited to bring your own lunch to enjoy during the panel.

Speakers will include:

  • Sam Dupont,  Director for Digital Trade, USTR
  • Michael Joseph FerrantinoWorld Bank
  • Carl SchonanderSenior Director International Policy, SIIA
  • Deborah JamesDirector, International Programs, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Moderator: Research Professor and Cross-disciplinary Fellow Susan AaronsonPh.D. GWU

Cosponsored by the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Internet Society

9th Annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S. China Economic Relations

Click here to view videos

The U.S.-China relationship is now second to none in importance for international economic relations and policy and accordingly is a major focus of IIEP. The centerpiece of this initiative is our annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic and Political Relations

This year, key topics discussed will include China’s financial market, the state of China’s macro-economy, the China-Africa relationship, and China’s outward investments and their impacts. For more information about the conference and bios of each panelist, visit our blog

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations is available here. For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Schedule of Events

November 11, 2016

8:00 – 8:50AM Coffee and Continental Breakfast

8:50 – 9:00AM Welcome and Overview of the Conference

  • Stephen Smith, Director, Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP), Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU

9:00 – 11:00AM Panel 1: The Future of Trade Integration in the Asia Pacific

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Steve SuranovicProfessor of Economics and International Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Jeff Schott, Peterson Institute for International Economics, “Will the US Invest in or Divest from Asia-Pacific Economic Integration?” 
  • Michael Plummer, JHU, “Megaregionalism in the Asia-Pacific and Options for Shared Chinese-US Leadership”
  • Jiandong Ju, Shanghai University of Finance & Economics, “Huaxia Community: A FTA and a New Architecture for the Global Economic System”

11:00 – 11:15AM Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:45PM Panel 2:The Internet in China’s Economy

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Susan Aaronson, Research Professor of Intenrational Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Hong Xue, Beijing Normal University, “Chinese Electronic Commerce Law: the New Basic Law for Digital Economy”
  • Jingting Fan, UMD, “The Alibaba Effect: Spatial Consumption Inequality and the Welfare Gains from e-Commerce”
  • Maggie Chen, George Washington University, “International Trade on the Internet: Evidence from Alibaba”

12:45 – 2:00PM Lunch

2:00 – 3:30PM Panel 3: Trade, Migration, and Wage Premium in China

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Joseph PelzmanProfessor of Economics and International Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Chao Wei, George Washington University, The Short and Long of Trade and Migration Reforms in China (joint with Xiaodong Zhu)
  • RuiXue Jia, UCSD, “Access to Elite Education, Wage Premium, and Social Mobility: The Truth and Illusion of China’s College Entrance Exam”
  • Eunhee Lee, University of Maryland at College Park, “Trade, Inequality, and the Endogenous Sorting of Heterogeneous workers”
3:30 – 4:00PM: Coffee Break

4:00 – 5:30PM  Panel 4: China’s Macroeconomy, Urban Growth and Policy Analysis

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Remi Jedwab, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Zheng LiuFederal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (also affiliated with the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance),“Reserve Requirements and Optimal Chinese Stabilization Policy”
  • Matthew TurnerBrown University, “Highways, Market Access and Urban Growth in China”
  • Kai ZhaoUniversity of Connecticut, “The Chinese Saving Rate: Productivity, Old Age Support and Demographics

Vietnam 2035: Toward Prosperity, Creativity, Equity, and Democracy

Bui Quang Vinh

Former Vietnam Minister of Planning and Investment

Watch the event in English:

Watch the event in Vietnamese

Tuesday, November 1, 2017

2:00 to 3:30pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
City View Room, 7th Floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Download the presentation here.

Bui Quang Vinh

Countries rarely think and act long-term. The next election cycle is as far as politicians’ horizons typically extend. Vietnam has chosen a bolder, more successful approach, starting with the Đổi Mới (economic renovation) reforms in the late 1980s. Visionary leaders and a sense of shared societal purpose have allowed it a longer-term and calibrated focus on the future. Economic growth as a result has been rapid, stable, and inclusive, translating into strong welfare gains for the vast majority of the population.

But three decades of success from reforms have raised expectations for the future, especially for a young, rapidly urbanizing population that is fast joining the ranks of the global middle class. The Vietnamese people now aspire to be a modern and industrialized country, with a prosperous, creative, equitable, and democratic society.

The Vietnam 2035 report, a joint undertaking of the Government of Vietnam and the World Bank Group, captures the country’s long-term aspirations and fleshes out the supporting policy and institutional agenda. The aspirations and the reform agenda, the report argues, stand on three mutually reinforcing pillars: balancing economic prosperity with environmental sustainability; promoting equity and social inclusion to develop a harmonious middle- class society; and enhancing the capacity and accountability of the state to establish a rule of law state and a democratic society.

Minister Bui Quang Vinh, an experienced, outspoken, and highly-regarded leader within the Vietnamese political system, a strong proponent of bold institutional reform, and at the time Minister of Planning and Investment, was a guiding force behind the writing of the Vietnam 2035 report.

In this seminar, he will talk about why his government sought a long-term vision report, what made the World Bank the partner of choice, what he sees as the report’s main messages, and what now are the political economy challenges that stand in the way of implementing the report’s recommendations.

Mr. Bui Quang Vinh served as Vietnam’s Minister of Planning and Investment from 2011 – 2015. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is responsible for preparation of Vietnam’s development strategies and plans, public investment planning, some aspects of SOE reforms, poverty reduction, and oversight and coordination of ODA. Mr. Vinh was also a member of the Central Committee of Vietnam’s Communist Party and of Vietnam’s 13th National Assembly.  He served as MPI’s Vice Minister from 2010 – 2011.  During 1999-2010 he was Chairman and Party Secretary of Vietnam’s Lao Cai Province, one of Vietnam’s poorest provinces located in the northern part of the country.  He previously held various other positions there and in the old Hoan Lien Son Province. Born in Hanoi in 1953, the Minister earned an engineering degree from Vietnam’s University of Agriculture in 1975 and studied at the Agriculture Economic Institute in Moscow.

Stephen Smith, IIEP Director, will serve as Chair and Danny Leipziger, Growth Dialogue Managing Director, as a discussant for this forum.