Annual Symposium
2024 Symposium
Friday, November 15, 2024
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Robert A. Jones ‘59 Conference Room
“Prosperity and the Future of Global Finance”
Join us for an enlightening discussion on “Prosperity and the Future of Global Finance” featuring Nancy Birdsall, founding president of the Center for Global Development, and Umar Serajuddin, Manager at the World Bank’s Development Data Group. This event will explore innovative approaches to make global finance more responsive to developing countries’ needs, drawing on the speakers’ extensive experience in economic development and international financial institutions.
Guest Speakers:
Nancy Birdsall is a prominent American economist and the founding president of the Center for Global Development (CGD). With over 25 years of experience in economic development, she has held leadership positions at the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. Birdsall’s research focuses on income distribution, economic growth, and regional public goods in development. She has authored numerous books and articles, contributing significantly to development economics. Currently a Senior Fellow and President Emeritus at CGD, Birdsall continues to influence global development policy. Her expertise spans globalization, inequality, and international financial institution reform, making her a leading voice in addressing global economic challenges.
Umar Serajuddin is a Manager at the World Bank’s Development Data Group, leading the Indicators and Data Services unit. He spearheads the Bank’s Open Data initiative and oversees the World Development Indicators (WDI). Umar manages teams publishing key global public goods, including global poverty numbers, Statistical Performance Indicators, and the World Integrated Trade Solutions. He coordinates the Bank’s SDG monitoring initiatives and the production of the Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals. Previously, Umar worked as a poverty economist for the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia regions. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and has published work on poverty, inequality, and social protection. His is also a Middlebury College graduate, class of 1996.
Overview
Each year, the program in International Politics and Economics hosts a symposium that brings experts to speak on a unified topic of substantive interest to IPE majors, faculty, the broader college, and the public.
Instituted in 2012, the event has covered such varied topics as China’s rise on the world stage, various responses to the global economic crisis, and environmental policy’s relationship to inequality.
The program invites experts from a range of disciplines, including economics, political science, business, sociology, geography, and many others. These experts come from a variety of institutions, both liberal arts colleges and universities, but the symposium also includes scholars at think tanks, in government positions, and at nongovernmental organizations who specialize in issues related to the topic. The goal of each symposium is to consider the political and economic dimensions of a pressing issue from varying perspectives represented by the speakers.
The symposium takes place in late fall and offers a Friday afternoon dedicated to discussion of the topic selected that year. Students moderate each talk and the audience engages the speakers with questions in the presentations. The program in International Politics and Economics welcomes topic suggestions. For more information, topic suggestions, and feedback, please contact the International Politics and Economics program director.