Food Systems at a Crossroads: How to fix them and help people, economies, and the planet

Thursday, June 24, 2021
12 p.m. EDT
via Zoom

The empty grocery shelves and miles-long food bank queues we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the fragility of the highly centralized, “just-in-time” global food supply chain on which we all depend. But the food system’s weaknesses extend far beyond vulnerability to shocks. Food produced through the overuse of chemicals, in monoculture cropping systems, and intensive animal farming on land and at sea degrades natural resources faster than they can regenerate and causes over a third of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Crucially, this flawed system fails to feed the world, with billions of people chronically under- or over-nourished.

Nicoletta Batini and Bruce Friedrich in conversation with moderator Ann Florini explored the economic and financial policies needed to make food systems healthy for people and planet, alongside measures to boost ecosystem conservation to preserve the future of food security, providing several examples of successful country cases. The role of disruptive technologies and markets, like the booming sector of alternative proteins, will receive special attention.

Opening Remarks:

Picture of Sunil SharmaSunil Sharma is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Institute for International Economic Policy, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, and a Senior Associate at the Council on Economic Policies, Zurich, Switzerland. He was Assistant Director in the IMF’s Research Department from 2015-2018, and the Director of the IMF-Singapore Regional Training Institute (STI) in Singapore from 2006-2015. Before moving to Singapore in 2006, he was Chief of the IMF Institute’s Asian Division in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the IMF in 1992, Dr. Sharma was on the Economics faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Cornell University, and his current interests include rethinking capitalism and democracy, systemic hazards, complex systems, the international financial architecture, and the institutional structure and design of financial regulation.

About the Speaker:

Picture of Nicoletta BatiniNicoletta Batini is the Lead Evaluator of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Independent Evaluation Office. Prior to the IMF, she was Advisor of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Professor of Economics at the University of Surrey, and Director of the International Economics and Policy Office of the Treasury in Italy. She holds a Ph.D. in international finance (S.S.S.U.P. S. Anna) and a Ph.D. in monetary economics (University of Oxford). Today her research focuses on the economics of energy and land and sea use transitions for climate mitigation. Her new book “The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for People and the Planet” was just published by Island Press and the International Monetary Fund.

About the Discussant:

Picture of Bruce FriedrichBruce Friedrich is co-founder and executive director of the Good Food Institute. With branches in the United States, India, Israel, Brazil, Europe, and Asia Pacific, GFI is accelerating the production of plant-based and cultivated meat in order to bolster the global protein supply while protecting our environment, promoting global health, and preventing food insecurity. Bruce oversees GFI’s global strategy, working with directors and international managing directors to ensure that GFI is maximally effective at delivering mission-focused results. Bruce graduated from Georgetown Law and also holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics. Bruce was named 2021 “American Food Hero” by @EatingWell Magazine.

About the Moderator:

Picture of Ann FloriniAnn Florini is Clinical Professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, where she directs programs at the Washington, DC campus. She was previously Professor of Public Policy at Singapore Management University; founding Director of the Centre on Asia and Globalization at the National University of Singapore; and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. She has spearheaded numerous international initiatives on global governance, energy and climate policy, and cross-sector collaborations involving government, civil society and the private sector. Her many books and articles have addressed governance in China, transparency in governance, transnational civil society networks, and the role of the private sector in public affairs. Dr. Florini received her Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA and a Masters in Public Affairs from Princeton University.

 

IIEP Rethinking Capitalism and Democracy Series

The COVID-19 pandemic, like the global financial crisis a decade ago, has laid bare the cracks in the leading capitalist democracies. Fissures in the political, social, economic, and financial orders, accompanied by an increasingly stressed natural environment, pose serious and possibly existential threats to these societies, as exploding income and wealth inequality subverts the integrity and fairness of markets and elections, weak regulatory oversight increases the likelihood and severity of the next crash, and the visible effects of climate change threaten lives and livelihoods and drive migrations. The three spheres of wellbeing – political and social, economic and financial, and the natural environment, are each becoming more fragile while their complex interrelationships are producing wicked challenges. The IIEP webinar series on Rethinking Capitalism and Democracy examines these difficult questions and possible policy responses.

 

Thunderbird Finance and Sustainability Series

The global financial system is facing new pressures to become “sustainable” – not only financially stable, but simultaneously environmentally friendly and socially inclusive. These pressures have emerged in reaction to the increasing financialization of the global economy and the sector’s failure to steer investment to meet the full needs of society. Top public authorities are rethinking financial regulation, coming together, for example, in the new Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System. The private sector has already moved rapidly from CSR to considering broad ESG (environmental, social, governance) risks and opportunities in investments. Some investors are exploring natural and social capital returns, along with financial metrics. New financial technologies (“fintech”) impose yet more pressures on incumbent institutions, but also offer opportunities for the creation of “citizen-centric” finance. Thunderbird’s Finance and Sustainability webinar series explores these developments with leading practitioners and thinkers.

6th Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Friday, April 29, 2016

School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
Bernstein-Offit Building, Room 500
1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington D.C. 20036

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
8:30 – 9:00 AM: Continental Breakfast and Opening Comments
9:00 – 9:45 AM: JaeBin Ahn (International Monetary Fund):
“Reassessing the Productivity Gains from Trade Liberalization”
Discussant: Jennifer Poole (American University)
9:45 – 10:30 AM: Olga Timoshenko (George Washington University):
“Learning, Prices, and Firm Dynamics”
Discussant: Luca David Opromolla (Banco de Portugal, University of Maryland and CEPR)
10:30 – 10:45 AM: Coffee Break
10:45 – 11:30 AM: Mine Senses (Johns Hopkins University):
“Trade Shocks and the Provision of Local Public Goods”
Discussant: Erhan Artuc (World Bank)
11:30 – 12:15 PM: J. Bradford Jensen (Georgetown University, Peterson Institute and NBER):
“The Tradability of Services: Geographic Concentration and Trade Costs”
Discussant: Jose Signoret (US International Trade Commission)
12:15 – 1:00 PM: Lunch Break
1:00 – 2:00 PM: Kadee Russ (University of California-Davis, Council of Economic Advisers and NBER):
“Trade Policy in Practice: The TPP from an Insider’s Perspective”
2:00 – 2:15 PM: Coffee Break
2:15 – 3:00 PM: Maria Tito (Federal Reserve Board):
“Misallocation, Trade, and Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Data”
Discussant: Maggie Chen (George Washington University)
3:00 – 3:45 PM: Chad P. Bown (Peterson Institute and CEPR):
“Global Supply Chains and Trade Policy”
Discussant: Juan Blyde (Inter-American Development Bank)
3:45 – 4:00 PM: Coffee Break
4:00 – 4:45 PM: Claire Brunel (American University):
“Green Innovation and Green Manufacturing: Links Between Environmental Policies, Innovation and Production”
Discussant: Cristina Tello Trillo (Census Bureau)
4:45 – 5:00 PM: Closing Remarks

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.