OSUN-EDI Summer Workshop

Public Finance and Economic Policy
COVID-19 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 students with a new framework for thinking about these questions and with concrete tools and techniques to explore these policy-relevant concerns.

Workshop Schedule

June 6th-10th, 2022 | Bard College

Sunday, June 5
Students arrive at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Monday, June 6

9:00 - 9:15 AM: Welcome Address | Jonathan Becker (Vice Chancellor, OSUN and Executive Vice President, Bard College)
9:15 - 10:00 AM: “Connecting Human Rights with Economic Policy” | Pavlina R. Tcherneva (Director, OSUN Economic Democracy Initiative, Bard College)
10:00 - 10:15 AM: Coffee Break
10:15 - 11:00 AM: “A New Approach to Public Finance” | Pavlina R. Tcherneva (Bard College)
11:00 - 11:45 AM: “The Spectrum of Monetary Sovereignty” | Fadhel Kaboub (Denison University, Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity)
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM: Breakout Groups    
12:45 - 1:45 PM: Lunch
2:00 - 2:45 PM: “The Last Colonial Currency: The Case of the CFA Franc” | Ndongo Samba Sylla (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation)
2:45 - 3:30 PM: “"The Case of Palestine: Material Excesses of an Occupied Economy" | Sophia Stamatopoulou-Robbins (Bard College)
3:30 - 3:45 PM: Coffee Break
3:45 - 4:30 PM:  “The Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Economic Policy, Monetary Sovereignty, and the Impact of Sanctions” | Oleksandr Valchyshen (University of Missouri - Kansas City)
5:30 - 8:00 PM: Welcome BBQ , hosted by Leon Botstein, President of Bard College 

Tuesday, June 7
9:00 - 10:00 AM: “Introduction: The Sector Balances Approach” | Yeva Nersisyan (Franklin & Marshall College)
10:00 - 10:30 AM: “Deriving the Sector Balances: A Step-By-Step Guide” | Yeva Nersisyan (Franklin & Marshall College)
10:30 - 10:45 AM: Coffee Break
10:45 AM - 12:30 PM: Lab - Constructing Sectoral Balances | Liudmila Malyshava, Oleksandr Valchyshen, Patricia Pino, Matt Robinson, Sam Levey, Kyle Mohr
12:45 - 1:45 PM: Lunch
2:00 - 3:15 PM: Student Presentations | Yeva Nersisyan (Franklin & Marshall College)
3:15 - 3:45 PM: Coffee Break
3:45 - 4:30 PM: “Spotlight on the Eurozone” | Dirk Ehnts (TU Chemnitz; Pufendorf Gesellschaft)
4:30 - 5:00 PM: Lab - Deriving Sectoral Balances for Home Countries    
5:00 - 5:30 PM: Discussion    

Wednesday, June 8
9:00 - 10:00 AM: “Balance Sheet Operations: Connecting Stocks and Flows” | Eric Tymoigne (Lewis & Clark College)
10:00 - 11:00 AM: Lab - Basic Balance Sheet Operations | Eric Tymoigne, Dirk Ehnts, Oleksandr Valchyshen, Matt Robinson, Sam Levey, Kyle Mohr
11:00 - 11:15 AM: Coffee Break
11:15 - 11:45 AM: Review Exercises | Kyle Mohr and workshop faculty
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM: “Money Pyramid, Balance Sheets, and Monetary Sovereignty" | Kyle Mohr (EDI, Bard College)
12:45 - 2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00 - 3:00 PM: "Balance Sheet Mechanics of Fiscal and Monetary Policy: Coordination and Consolidation" | Eric Tymoigne
3:00 - 4:00 PM: Lab - Government Spending and Taxation | Eric Tymoigne and workshop faculty
4:00 - 4:15 PM: Coffee Break
4:15 - 5:15 PM: Special Topics | Yeva Nersisyan, Oleksandr Valchyshen, Dirk Ehnts, and Fadhel Kaboub
5:15 - 5:45 PM: Group photo at Reem-Kayden Center 

Thursday, June 9
9:00 - 9:45 AM: “Full Employment and Macroeconomic Policy” | Pavlina R. Tcherneva (EDI, Bard College)
9:45 - 10:30 AM: “The Job Guarantee: History, New Deal, and Civil Rights Legacy” | Fadhel Kaboub (Denison University; Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity)
10:30 - 11:15 AM: “Experiences with Public Employment Programs from around the World” | Jordan Ayala (EDI, Bard College)
11:15 - 11:30 AM: Coffee Break
11:30 AM: Depart for Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Library    
1:00 - 2:00 PM: “FDR Library Keynote Address: Aspirational Law and the Economic Bill of Rights” | Philip Harvey (Rutgers Law School)
2:00 - 4:00 PM: Tour of FDR House and Library    

Friday, June 10
9:30 - 10:15 AM: "China: A Global Economic Power on the Rise” | Yan Liang (Willamette University)
10:15 - 10:45 AM: Coffee Break
10:30 - 11:30 AM: "China's Sector Balances and Balance Sheets” | Yan Liang (Willamette University)
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Student Breakout Groups 
12:45 - 1:45 PM: Lunch
2:00 - 2:45 PM: “Africa: Development, Monetary Sovereignty, Economic Dependence” | Ndongo Samba Sylla (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation)
2:45 - 3:30 PM: "Public Spending in Latin America: The Peruvian Case” | Patricia Pino (Kings College London)
3:30 - 3:45 PM: Coffee Break
3:45 - 4:30 PM: "An Alternative Framework for Global Public Policy" | L. Randall Wray (Bard College, Levy Economics Institute)
4:30 - 5:00 PM: Summer Workshop Concluding Remarks | Pavlina R. Tcherneva (EDI, Bard College)
6:00 - 9:00 PM: Farewell Dinner  

All sessions on Bard College campus will be held in Reem-Kayden Center for Science and Computation - RKC 103 - Laszlo Z. Bito ‘60 Auditorium

Organized and hosted by the OSUN Economic Democracy Initiative, this five-day workshop is for undergraduate students interested in public policy to tackle economic instability and insecurity, and in understanding the financing capacity and policy space available to governments to pursue these aims. 

Application period closed for 2022

June 6-10, 2022
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA

All undergraduate students, regardless of whether they attend an OSUN institution or not, are welcome. Applicants from partner OSUN institutions are eligible for financial assistance and are especially encouraged to apply. OSUN students pursuing the Certificate in Applied Economic Policy, may substitute their summer workshop participation for one of the certificate’s courses.

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 students with a new framework for thinking about these questions and with concrete tools and techniques to explore these policy-relevant concerns.

Learning objectives
During the OSUN-EDI Summer Workshop, students will:

  • 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.
  • Explore current research on rethinking the role of the state in economic policy and the nature of public finance.
  • Produce a basic stock-flow consistent analysis of government budgets, with an appreciation of institutional differences across countries.
  • Receive training in the balance-sheet approach to government spending and taxation.
  • Apply these methodological and analytical insights to policy-relevant questions.
Format
The Summer Workshop consists of a mix of traditional lectures, breakout discussions, group projects and assignments, and applied economic analysis.

To apply
Please submit the following to [email protected]:
  1. Your application form
  2. Your current transcript
  3. A letter of motivation
  4. A short email recommendation from your faculty or advisor.
Space is limited, spots will be allocated subject to a successful application. For all accepted applicants, tuition, room and board are covered. OSUN participants are eligible for travel assistance, in addition to tuition and room and board.

For priority consideration, applicants are strongly encouraged to apply by December 31, 2021.

For more information, contact EDI at [email protected].