CEP 21st Birthday Lecture Series

The State of the World Economy

Speaker: Olivier Blanchard, Chief Economist & Director of Research, International Monetary Fund

Dates: Thursday 4 November 2010

Time: 6.30pm

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Lower Ground Floor, New Academic Building, LSE  (map & directions)

Download Slides (PDF); Listen to AudioPodcast (mp3); View Video Recording

Overview: A strong and sustained world recovery requires two rebalancing acts. Internal, with a shift, in advanced countries, from fiscal support to private demand. External, with an increase in net exports in deficit countries, notably the US, and a decrease in net exports in surplus countries, notably China. Policy should be aimed at increasing their pace.

This event is the first in a series of lectures to celebrate 21 years of the Centre for Economic Performance.

In an interview prior to his lecture on 'The State of the World Economy', Olivier Blanchard talked to Romesh Vaitilingam about the two ‘rebalancing acts’ needed for a strong global recovery and the particular challenges facing the US, Europe and the emerging market economies.

About the Speaker: Olivier Blanchard is Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department at the IMF and has worked closely with the CEP over the last 25 years.

A citizen of France, Olivier Blanchard has spent his professional life in Cambridge, U.S. After obtaining his Ph.D in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977, he taught at Harvard University, returning to MIT in 1982, where he has been since then. He is the Class of 1941 Professor of Economics, and past Chair of the Economics Department. He is currently on leave from MIT, as Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund.

He is a macroeconomist, who has worked on a wide set of issues, from the role of monetary policy, to the nature of speculative bubbles, to the nature of the labor market and the determinants of unemployment, to transition in former communist countries. In the process, he has worked with numerous countries and international organizations. He is the author of many books and articles, including two textbooks in macroeconomics, one at the graduate level with Stanley Fischer, one at the undergraduate level.

He is a fellow and Council member of the Econometric Society, a past vice president of the American Economic Association, and a member of the American Academy of Sciences.

Download Slides (PDF)

Listen to audio podcast (mp3, 38MB, approx 81 minutes long)

View video recording (approx 81 minutes)

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For any queries email events@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 6043 .

Media queries: please contact the Press Office if you would like to reserve a press seat or have a media query about this event, email pressoffice@lse.ac.uk

If you are planning to attend these events and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, please refer to Coming to an event at LSE

For ticket information please contact the LSE Conferences and Events office

For information on future lectures in this series, please visit the CEP 21st Birthday Lecture Series webpage