2022 SAET Conference Goldsmith Lecture - Joseph Stiglitz

What economic theory really says about the role and conduct of economic policy?

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

10.45 am – 11.45 am

Manning Clark Hall, Cultural Centre Building 153, Kambri, ANU

Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia University, USA)

Chair: Larry Samuelson (Yale University, USA)

In recent decades, there have been notable advances in both macroeconomic and microeconomic theory, but unfortunately, many of these advances are predicated on models and assumptions that are distant from actual economies, and provide less guidance that one would have hoped. This talk considers three examples: Macroeconomics, based on DSGE models; climate policy based on IAM models, or incentive models, based on the conventional model of consumer behavior. In the first case, the models supported policies that led to the Great Recession and provided little guidance on how to respond; in the second case, they have put economists at odds with the rest of the scientific community, which is worried about any increases in temperature beyond 1.5 to 2 degrees C; in the latter case, excessive reliance on material incentives has sometimes resulted in poorer performance. There are alternative theoretical approaches, however, that hold out the promise of better and more relevant guidance for the conduct of economic policy.

Do you have anything you’d like to share with your fellow economics classmates? If so, send us an email: rse.enquiries@anu.edu.au.

Kind regards,

Research School of Economics
H.W. Arndt Building
25A Kingsley Street
The Australian National University
Acton ACT 2601
www.rse.anu.edu.au