“Economic Policy in the Presence of Globalisation” was the title of a conference held on April 25, 2008 to honour Prof. Hans-Werner Sinn, President of the Ifo Institute, on his 60th birthday. Some 300 top international economists assembled in Max-Joseph-Saal of the Munich Residenz to take part in this top-flight conference and contribute to the stimulating panel discussions.
The programme, organized by Professors Monika Schnitzer, University of Munich and Assaf Razin, Tel Aviv University, encompassed the Welfare State, Tax Competition, European Integration, Climate Change, and Skills and Schools and assembled speakers and discussants of great distinction.
Prof. Alan J. Auerbach, University of California, Berkeley, gave the introductory presentation on “The Welfare State”; discussants were Profs. Robin W. Boadway of Queens University, Canada and Sir Tony Atkinson, University of Oxford. The topic of “Tax Competition” was introduced by Prof. Peter Birch Sørensen, University of Copenhagen, and was discussed by Profs. Michael Keen, IMF, John D. Wilson, Michigan State University, and Sir James Mirrless, Nobel Laureate, University of Cambridge. Prof. Otmar Issing, University of Frankfurt and former member of the Executive Board of the ECB, gave the introductory presentation on “European Integration”; discussants were Profs. Paul de Grauwe, University of Leuven and Rick van der Ploeg, Oxford. Regarding “Global Climate Change”, Prof. Eytan Sheshinski, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, delivered remarks on the Stern Review and Prof. Hans-Werner Sinn presented his views on the Green Paradox. The concluding presentation was given by Prof. James J. Heckman, Nobel Laureate, University of Chicago, who spoke on “Skills, Schools, Synapses”, examining the reasons for the inequality of workers regarding their skills and the polarisation of society.
Prof. Kai A. Konrad, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) and Free University of Berlin, gave the luncheon speech and Georg Milbradt, Prime Minister of the State of Saxony, delivered the congratulatory address, concluding the event.
The conference was attended by well-known economists from all over the world with close academic and personal relationships with Hans-Werner Sinn and many other guests including members of various bodies of the Ifo Institute as well as many members of its staff.