EDI-Levy Summer Workshop

The 2025 Summer Workshop will take place at Bard College's Annandale Campus, on June 16-20, 2025. If you are an undergraduate student interested in attending, please fill out this form. 

Applications are due on January 15th, 2025.

EDI-Levy Summer Workshop: Money, Finance, and Public Policy

June 16–20, 2025
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson

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The Open Society University Network (OSUN) Economic Democracy Initiative welcomes undergraduate applications for its summer workshop for professional development in Public Finance and Economic Policy. This EDI Workshop cosponsored by the Levy Institute is open to highly motivated undergraduate students interested in public policy or pursuing graduate work in economics. The workshop presents participants with theoretical, empirical, and policy tools to examine questions of economic instability and insecurity, as well as the financing capacity of governments to eradicate them. Undergraduates will have the opportunity of attending high level lectures at the one-day Levy Institute Conference and to interact with graduate students who are developing their master's research.

All undergraduates, regardless of whether they attend an OSUN institution, are welcome to apply. Room and board is fully funded for all participants, including ground transportation to and from JFK Airport. Some participants are also eligible for competitive travel stipends.

COVID and the climate crisis have taught us that governments must act decisively to tackle the most pressing challenges before us, and not leave solutions exclusively to private actors. These developments have led to a rethinking of the role of the state on a global scale. How shall we think about the policy options before different governments? What are their abilities to achieve them? What kind of real or financial constraints do they face? This workshop will provide attendees with a new framework for thinking about these questions and with concrete tools and techniques to explore these policy-relevant concerns. 

Objectives 

During the OSUN-EDI Summer Workshop, participants will: 

1. Develop a new framework for thinking about economic stabilization, full and meaningful employment, poverty alleviation, and policies to address climate change and COVID-related concerns. 
2. Explore current research on rethinking the role of the state in economic policy and the nature of public finance. 
3. Produce a basic stock-flow consistent analysis of government budgets, with an appreciation of institutional differences across countries. 
4. Receive training in the balance-sheet approach to government spending and taxation. 
5. Apply these methodological and analytical insights to policy-relevant questions. 

Format 
The Summer Workshop consists of mixed lectures including undergraduate and graduate students, breakout sessions, introduction to graduate-level research, workshopping ideas with peers and faculty, a trip to the FDR library, and an opportunity to interact with economists from academia, private industry, and policy circles.

Costs
Space is limited and spots will be allocated subject to a successful application. For all accepted applicants, room and board are covered, including ground transportation to and from JFK Airport. Some OSUN participants are also eligible for competitive travel stipends. Any other travel-related costs are the responsibility of the participant, including but not limited to visa fees; ground transportation to/from your departing/returning airport; ground transportation from the airport if you miss the free shuttle bus to campus.

Contact
Write to [email protected] with any questions.

Student Testimonials

Dayana Milieva, Bard College Berlin:
“This was a remarkable academic experience that I will always cherish, not only because I got to learn from professors with unique areas of interest and career paths, but also because it introduced me to outstanding students from all around the world. I am grateful to have met like-minded young people, whom I can with certainty call future leaders whose intellect, effort, and dedication will undoubtedly change the world.”

Nice Cailie Ineza, Ashesi University: 
“I'm a computer science student with interests in many other areas, including the economy. On the third day of the workshop, I had come to the conclusion that my major shouldn't be limited to IT… Every conversation was engaging for me. I suppose I'd consider the possibility of specializing in one of these subjects in addition to my major.”

Henry Edun, Buffalo State University:
“My favorite part of the workshop was towards the end when we got into groups and collaborated to present our policies to policymakers. This experience changed me a lot and opened my eyes in ways I didn’t think of at the start of the week.”  
Anisa Zulfova, American University of Central Asia:
“This experience was a transformative opportunity, challenging my preconceptions and expanding my economic thinking well beyond the confines of traditional "mainstream" theories taught in university classrooms.”