Economic Policy celebrates 20 years at the forefront of economic policy debate

Economic Policy celebrated its 20th anniversary at the Bank of England with a special Panel Meeting and dinner in October 2005. Governor Mervyn King, author of a paper published in the inaugural issue in 1985, gave the opening address while Chief Economist Charles Bean, who served on the first editorial team, was a keynote speaker.

Other top economists from around the world joined them in a lively and incisive debate on current policy issues, fuelled by eight paper presentations on topics as diverse as the international monetary system, higher education and road pricing. Senior editors, managing editors, panel members and members of the press were joined by a number of distinguished guests. Among them past editors and authors including David Begg (Imperial College), Olivier Blanchard (MIT), Barry Eichengreen (UCB), Stephen Nickell (LSE) and Charles Wyplosz (HEI, Geneva).

Papers and discussions

The following papers were presented at the October 2005 20th Anniversary Panel Meeting at the Bank of England; they appear below in their final version, as printed in Economic Policy.

pict0064 Price Setting and Inflation Persistence
Ignazio Angeloni (Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze), Luc Aucremanne (National Bank of Belgium) and Matteo Ciccarelli (European Central Bank)
Discussion (PDF): Hélène Rey
Discussion (PDF): Pierre Cahuc
pict0033 European Unemployment: The Evolution of Facts and Ideas
Olivier Blanchard (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Discussion (PDF): Charles Bean
pict0044 Has the Inflation Process Changed?
Guy Debelle (Reserve Bank of Australia) and Steve Cecchetti (Brandeis University)
Discussion (PDF): Manuel Arellano
pict0035 The International Monetary System in the last (and next) 20 years
Barry Eichengreen (University of California Berkeley and CEPR) and Raul Razo-Garcia (University of California Berkeley)
Discussion (PDF): Giancarlo Corsetti
pict0036 Road Pricing: Lessons from London
Gordon Fraser (University of Cambridge) and Georgina Santos (University of Oxford)
Discussion (PDF): Neil Gandal
Discussion (PDF): David Newbery
pict0060 Guide to Reform of Higher Education: a European Perspective
Bas Jacobs (University of Amsterdam) and Frederick van der Ploeg (European University Institute and CEPR)
Discussion (PDF): Esther Duflo
Discussion (PDF): Pierre Pestieau
pict0059 Improving Fiscal Policy in the EU. The Case for Independent Forecasts
Lars Jonung (European Commission) and Martin Larch (European Commission)
Discussion (PDF): Carlo Favero
Discussion (PDF): Philippe Martin
pict0037 Competition Economics and Antitrust in Europe
Damien J. Neven (Graduate Institute of International Studies and CEPR)
Presentation (PDF): Damien J. Neven
pict0053 European Monetary Union: The Dark Sides of a Major Success
Charles Wyplosz (Graduate Institute of International Studies and CEPR)
Discussion (PDF): Stephen Nickell

 

Download a summary of the discussions that followed each paper presentation.

A celebratory spirit marked the event.

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(Left) Hans-Werner Sinn and Richard Portes exchanging a joke with Mervyn King.
(Middle) Enjoying good company: Richard Portes, David Begg, Charles Bean, Jenny Holland, Georges de Ménil.
(Right) Charles Bean speaking at dinner.

pict0051 pict0056 pict0057

(Left) Current and past editors mingle: Barry Eichengreen, Richard Baldwin, David Begg, Paul Seabright, Olivier Blanchard.
(Middle) Economics can certainly be fun: Richard Baldwin and Richard Portes.
(Right) Colleagues at LSE and the Bank of England, Charles Bean and Steven Nickell relax between presentations.