Economists' Predictions and Greek Exit

Date: May 25, 2015
Time: 14.00
Place: santralistanbul Campus, E1-301

Speakers: 
Lord Meghnad Desai (Professor Emeritus at London School of Economics and Chairman of the Advisory Board of OMFIF)
David Marsh (Managing Director of OMFIF)
Asaf Savaş Akat (Professor, Department of Economics, İstanbul Bilgi University)

Deadline for registration: May 22, 2015
Please contact cigdem.meral@ibsresearch.com for registration.

This  workshop is organized by İstanbul Bilgi University, OMFIF (Official Monetary and Financial Institutions) and IBS Research and Consultancy   Can economists succeed?  Are they scientists or entertainers?  Today’s debate on the past and the future of forecasting is more lively than ever, and we all need to be a part of it.  With this in mind and Greece a focus of stress, İstanbul Bilgi University and IBS have arranged a workshop with two leading economists – one who has been exploring the failures to predict the 2008 crisis and one who warned of the inherent dangers in that far-from-ideal monetary union, the Euro. Both work with OMFIF, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, http://www.omfif.org/   Entitled “Economists’ predictions and Greek exit”, this workshop will be lively, hopefully provocative, and open.  It will be aimed at decision makers in banking, finance and fund management, as well as the academic community.
First, Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor Emeritus at London School of Economics and Chairman of the Advisory Board of OMFIF, will draw on the conclusions of his book: Hubris: why economists failed to predict the crisis and how to avoid the next one. Then, David Marsh, Managing Director of OMFIF, will discuss whether Greece may still exit its crisis or whether other countries such as Italy are bound to follow its fate. Author of The Euro - The Battle for the New Global Currency,he will address whether monetary unions are bound to fail.    PROGRAM: 14.00   Coffee and registration 14.15    Introduction by Professor Dr Asaf Savaş Akat of İstanbul Bilgi University   14.30   Lord Desai on the lessons from: Hubris: why economists failed to predict the crisis and how to avoid the next one. Q&A 15.30   Coffee/tea 15.45   David Marsh on the economic prospects for Greece and the Euro. Q&A  16.30   Debate with the two speakers, moderated by David Tonge of OMFIF Advisory Board and IBS Research 17.15   ends   There will be no charge for attendance.  Lord Desai:  Lord (Meghnad) Desai, Chairman of the OMFIF Advisory Board, is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, which he joined in 1965, and established the Centre for the Study of Global Governance in 1992. He was made a peer in 1991 taking his seat on the Labour benches. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, by President Pratibha Patil. In 2014 he received the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award, the highest award from the World Gujarati Society.    Desai has authored or edited 20 books, has written over 200 articles for academic journals, and contributes to newspapers across the UK and India. Recent books include ‘Hubris: Why economists failed to predict the crisis and how to avoid the next one’; ‘Marx's Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and Death of Statist Socialism’; and ‘The Rediscovery of India’.    David Marsh:   David Marsh is Managing Director and Co-Founder of OMFIF. He is Senior Adviser to asset management company Soditic and Chairman of the Advisory Board of independent investment bank London & Oxford Capital Markets. Marsh is a Board Member of Henderson Eurotrust, the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany and the Institute for Corporate Cultural Affairs, Deputy Chairman of the German-British Forum and visiting Professor at Sheffield University and King's College London. He was made Commander of the British Empire in 2000 and was awarded the German Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) in 2003. Between 1978 and 1995 he worked for the Financial Times in France and Germany, latterly as European Editor in London.    Marsh’s most recent books include: 'Europe's Deadlock: How the Crisis Could Be Solved - And Why It Won't Happen' ; 'The Euro – 'The Battle for the New Global Currency’; 'Germany and Europe – The Crisis of Unity'; and 'The Bundesbank – The Bank that Rules Europe'.