The Long-Term Budget Challenge: Public Finance and Fiscal Sustainability in the G-7
This conference, sponsored by the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Institute for Research on Public Policy, will bring together scholars and policy experts who can address the nature and scope of public finances and fiscal sustainability issues in individual countries and relevant cross-national themes and perspectives.
Overview
To watch the webcast, follow the links in the See Also box to the right of this screen.
Thursday, June 2:
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. WELCOME DINNER AT THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER
ONE WOODROW WILSON PLAZA, 1300 PENNSYLVANIA AVE, NW
Welcome: Michael Van Dusen, Deputy Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Hugh Segal, President, Institute for Research on Public Policy
Keynote Address: Pete Peterson, Senior Chairman of The Blackstone Group and author of Running on Empty: How the Democrats and Republicans Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (via video)
Friday, June 3:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. REGISTRATION AT THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER
Welcome: Kent Hughes, Director of the Program on Science, Technology, America and the Global Economy, Woodrow Wilson International Center
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. PANEL ONE
Chair: Kent Hughes
Fiscal Outcomes and
Economic Performance: Alfredo Pereira, College of William and Mary
Read a paper by Alfredo Pereira and Pedro G. Rodrigues: Public Debt and Economic Performance
Commentary: Peter Heller, International Monetary Fund
Read a paper by Peter Heller and David Hauner of the IMF: Characterizing the Expenditure Uncertainties of Industrial Countries in the 21st Century
Political Development and
Fiscal Outcomes: James D. Savage, University of Virginia
Commentary: Marco Buti, European Commission
Read a paper by James D. Savage: Political Development and Fiscal Outcomes.
11:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. LUNCH AT THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER
1:00 p.m. – 3:00p.m. PANEL TWO
Chair: Hugh Segal
Japan: Edward J. Lincoln, Council on Foreign Relations
Read a paper by Edward J. Lincoln: Japan: Long Term Budget Challenges
Commentary: Tetsuo Kabe, Embassy of Japan
Read a paper by Tetsuo Kabe: Japan's Fiscal Challenges and Options for Fiscal Consolidation
United Kingdom: David Heald, University of Sheffield
Read a paper by David Heald: Fiscal Sustainability: the Case of the United Kingdom
Commentary: David Chote, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
France: Didier Blanchet, National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies
Read a paper by Didier Blanchet: Social Expenditures and Fiscal Sustainability: the Case of France
Commentary: Selma Mahfouz, French Ministry of Economics and Finance
Read the commentary by Selma Mahfouz.
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. PANEL THREE
Chair: Gary Hufbauer
Germany: Jürgen von Hagen/Klaus Bünger/Rolf R. Strauch, University of Bonn
Read the paper by Hagen, Bünger, and Strauch: German Public Finances: Recent Experiences and Future Challenges
Commentary: Bernhard Manzke, Deutsche Bundesbank
Italy: Giuseppe Canullo, University of Ancona
Read a paper by Giuseppe Canullo, High Public Debt and Population Aging: Two Challenges for the Italian Budget
Commentary: Daniele Franco, Bank of Italy
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. DINNER AT THE EMBASSY OF CANADA
501 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW
Welcome: Hugh Segal, President, Institute for Research on Public Policy
Keynote Address: John P. Manley, P.C., Senior Counsel, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, and Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Government of Canada
Saturday, June 4:
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. PANEL FOUR AT THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER
Chair: To Be Determined
Canada: Thomas J. Courchene, Queen's University
Read the paper by Thomas J. Courchene: Balanced Budgets: A Canadian Fiscal Value
Commentary: Kevin Lynch, International Monetary Fund
Read the Commentary paper by Kevin Lynch.
United States: Dennis S. Ippolito, Southern Methodist University
Read the paper by Dennis Ippolito: The United States: The Past and Future of the Entitlement State
Commentary: Rudolph Penner, Urban Institute
Read Rudolph Penner's commentary.
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. LUNCH AT THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER
12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. PANEL FIVE
Roundtable Discussion: Perspectives on Fiscal Sustainability
Chair: Martin Frost, Former member, U.S. House of Representatives
Commentators: James F. Hollifield, Southern Methodist University
Rainer Münz, Hamburg Institute of International Economics
Read the paper by Rainer Münz: Dimensions and Impacts of Demographic Aging: The Case of Europe and Its Public Pension Systems
Ludger Schuknecht, European Central Bank
Read the paper by Ludger Schuknecht: Perspectives on Fiscal Sustainability.
Vito Tanzi, Inter-American Development Bank
Read Vito Tanzi's paper: The Coming Fiscal Crisis
Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.