On Friday, November 6th, ISET-PI researcher, Charles Johnson spoke at a conference organized by the New Economic School in Tbilisi. The conference, “The Freedom of Money” focused on market-based solutions to monetary policy problems. Charles’ speech was entitled, “Greece, Europe’s Indebted South and How to Deal with Sovereign Debt Crises.” In his speech, he outlined the history of the Greek crises, and why problems with Europe’s institutions caused year-on-year bad lending to Europe’s south, eventually causing the Greek crisis. Charles also offered policy options for countries with sovereign debt crises. He showed evidence as to why austerity – cutting public spending – is counterproductive in times of recession and how it has a multiplier effect in losses to national income. Charles concluded his talk by showing why greater political and fiscal solidarity in the EU can solve ongoing debt crises and prevent new ones from forming in the future.

In addition to his presentation, Charles also moderated a discussion on “The Knowledge Problem” in monetary policy, in which speakers explored ways to collect better data and conduct more throughout analysis about the global financial system.
ISET-PI would like to thank and congratulate the New Economic School for organizing and hosting an excellent conference.