Transatlantic economic challenges in an era of growing multipolarity

On 27 September Bruegel hosted a conference in Berlin on transatlantic economic challenges with Vitor Gaspar, Finance Minister of Portugal, and Wolfgang Schäuble, Finance Minister of Germany giving the key note speeches.

The conference focused on the new global challenges currently facing Europe and the United States. Countries outside the European Union and United States now account for about half of the world economy, and their share is growing rapidly. Their increasing role and concomitant demands for greater influence over the global governance pose a series of challenges to the European Union and the United States, as illustrated by the eclipse of the G8 by the G20. The rise of outside actors of potentially equal, or even greater, economic weight will invariably force a rethink of not only how the European Union and the United States should act externally toward the new rising economic poles but also of the substantive contents of the EU-US bilateral economic and political relationship.

Three current policy topics were selected, on which Bruegel and the Peterson Institute experts presented conference papers, followed by remarks by discussants from Europe and the US. Each discussant offered a critique of the paper presented and broader perspectives on the transatlantic relationship, as seen from his or her geographic perspective. The conference concluded with a panel discussion.

Event materials

Transatlantic economic challenges in an era of growing multipolarity, e-book including all the conference papers here

Summary of the event here

Listen to the podcast of the event

Agenda

9:00-9:30 Welcome: Jean Pisani-Ferry, Bruegel

Opening address: Vitor Gaspar, Minister of Finance Portugal here

9:30 – 11:00 Panel 1: Europe, the U.S., and the International Monetary System

Chair: Jacob Kirkegaard, PIIE

• Papers: Ignazio Angeloni & André Sapir (Bruegel) here; Joseph Gagnon (PIIE) here
• European discussant: Otmar Issing (University of Frankfurt, Center for Financial Studies)
• US discussant: Adam Posen (Bank of England&PIIE)

11:15 – 12:45 Panel 2: The Growth Challenge in Europe and the U.S.

Chair: Jean Pisani-Ferry, Bruegel

• Papers: Zsolt Darvas (Bruegel) here; Michael Mussa (PIIE) here
• European discussant: Malgorzata Kalużyńska (Polish Government)
• US discussant: Rajshri Jayaraman (ESMT)

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 – 14:45 Keynote Address: Wolfgang Schäuble, German Federal Minister of Finance here

14:45 – 16:15 Panel 3: The Debt Challenge in Europe and the U.S.

Chair: Zsolt Darvas, Bruegel

• Papers: Alan Ahearne & Guntram Wolff (Bruegel) here; Jacob Funk Kirkegaard (PIIE) here
• European discussant: Clemens Fuest (Saïd Business School - University of Oxford)
• US discussant: Michael Burda (Humboldt University)

16:30 – 18:00 Concluding Panel

Chair: Guntram Wolff, Bruegel
Jean Pisani-Ferry (Bruegel), Adam Posen (Bank of England&PIIE), Antonio Cortina (Banco Santander), Malgorzata Kalużyńska (Government of Poland), Charles Collyns (US Treasury)

Photos