Tag: MIT

Next MIT Class on Global Crisis: Tuesday, December 2nd

Tomorrow, Tuesday December 2, at 4:30pm (please note special start time for this week), we will webcast our next MIT class on the global crisis.  The session will run until 7pm, as usual, with a break around 5:30pm.

This is the last class on the crisis that we will broadcast & record, at least for now.  (There will also be a class on Tuesday, December 9, which will review the crisis to date; I’ll post summary materials but that session will not be recorded.)

On December 2nd, I plan for us to cover the following topics:

  1. The Citigroup Bailout, including whether this is or is not good value for the taxpayer (search this website for Citigroup to see readings).  Robert Rubin’s interview with the Wall Street Journal on Saturday is also essential reading (the WSJ article requires a subscription; the blog naked capitalism provides a free summary and some reactions worth discussing.
  2. The situation in Europe, which continues to worsen.  We’ll review the latest developments in the real economy and indications of various kinds of pressures (think: Italy, but the UK, Spain and other countries may well come up).
  3. Prospects for global financial system reform.  We can see fairly clearly the strategy of President-Elect Obama’s team with regard to fiscal policy, and we can infer some implications for monetary policy.  But what is their likely global strategy, with or without the IMF?  How does this fit with what the rest of the G7 or emerging markets or any other influential players want?  Can we see a full overhaul of the global system coming soon?  If not, why not?  (Search for Global Reform on this website for readings.)

Feel free to post questions here or email to us, through this website.  We’ll cover as many as possible in the classroom discussion.

Details on the webcast and some potentially useful background follow: Continue reading “Next MIT Class on Global Crisis: Tuesday, December 2nd” →

MIT: Class #1 on Global Crisis

Here are the slides I used in the first class, which ran from 4pm to 7pm yesterday.  Tell me if anything about them is unclear.

We went in the deep end.

1. The global crisis is having an impact everywhere – including, the students tell me, making conditions harder for microfinance in Africa or India (I asked: how far flung are the implications?).

2. The bank (and other) recapitalizations have helped, but they have also created additional vulnerabilities.  We talked a great about what is happening in the eurozone, and the kind of policies which can turn that situation around.

3. And right now the risks for emerging markets are serious.  Of course, many of them have sizable reserves and the IMF can help (and is helping).  But scale of this change of sentiment and capital movement out of emerging markets and into … mostly the dollar (and US Treasuries in particular) threatens to overwhelm all normal flood barriers.

If you have questions for the MIT students, please post them here.  We’ll discuss in class, and get back to you as effectively as possible.