Welcome to the UNU Conversation Series: Economic Crisis
On the occasion of the United Nations Conference on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development, to be held at the UN Headquarters in New York from 24-26 June 2009, the United Nations University,
a think-tank for the United Nations and its member states, presents a multimedia intellectual forum on the economic crisis, the “UNU Conversation Series”. The objective is to bring clarity to some of the key issues at the center of the economic crisis, to explain what is at stake and what should be done to overcome the problems that we currently face. With this in mind, the United Nations University brings together some of the most important intellectual and policy voices from around the globe, including Olivier Blanchard, Janos Bogardi, Francois Bourguignon, Noam Chomsky, Richard Cooper, Evsey Gurvich, Robert Johnson, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Wim Naude, Léonce Ndikumana, Eisuke Sakakibara, Luc Soete, Joseph Stiglitz, Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, to name a few.
Welcome and Introduction
Prof. Dr. Konrad Osterwalder, Rector, UNU,
UN Under-Secretary General
José A. Ocampo, Prof. at Columbia University, argues that Latin America is particularly affected by the economic crisis, but not as severely as in the past. He also makes suggestions on the reform of the international economic system. Tags: Latin America, Reform of the International System Background Reading…
Simon Johnson, Prof. at MIT Sloan School of Management, discusses the somewhat symbiotic relationship between Wall Street and Washington, and how it is crucial for American democracy that “too big to fail” banks do not prevail. Tags: Wall Street, Washington, Corruption, Upcoming Struggles Background Reading…
Dr. Evsey Gurvich, Head, Economic Expert Group, looks into how the economic and financial crises have been affecting Russia, particularly focusing on the role of commodity exports and the banking system. Tags: Financial Crisis, Economic Crisis, Russia, Ruble, Oil Prices, Bailout. Background Reading…
Robert Wade, Professor, Development Studies Institute, stresses the fact that the current economic crisis is rather less a producer of inequalities than the product of inequalities that have particularly increased in the past decades. Tags: Financial Crisis, economic crisis, human rights, poverty, inequalities, wages Background Reading…
Yu Yongding, Former Dir., Inst. of World Economics & Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explains China’s central position in the current international system and its role in the future (ENGLISH VERSION). Tags: China, Foreign Currency Reserve, Chinese Domestic Market, Exports, U.S. Dollar. Background Reading…
Yu Yongding, Former Dir., Inst. of World Economics & Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explains China’s central position in the current international system and its role in the future (CHINESE VERSION). Tags: China, Foreign Currency Reserve, Chinese Domestic Market, Exports, U.S. Dollar. Background Reading…
UNU Wishes to Thank…
pattiedesign, co-producer, video production, website designer; Jin Zhang, Programmer Manager, UNU-NY Office, Executive Producer;
Brian Clayton, Junior Professional Fellow, UNU-NY Office,
Sydney Kinnear, Junior Professional Fellow, UNU-NY Office,
and Ranita Ragunathan, Junior Professional Fellow, UNU-NY Office, Research Assistants; June Oishi, Junior Professional Fellow, UNU-NY Office,
Coordination;
Na Yan, Online Community Developer, UNU-NY Office and
Alejandro Andrade, Junior Professional Fellow Media, UNU-NY Office, Production Assistants;
Office of the President of the United Nations General Assembly;
United Nations Television, UN Department of Public Information;
United Nations Web Cast Unit; UN Department of Public Information;
United Nations Broadcast Conference Support Section;
Ahmad Fawzi, Director, News and Media, UNTV;
Kenneth McCaleb, TV Producer, UN TV, UNU Rector's Office, UNU Media Studio, UNU C3
