Winning back the people: The Berlin Summit
27/05/2024 – 29/05/2024
PLACE
Landgut Stober
LANGUAGE
English
In the global super election year of 2024, populists are threatening to experience a new upswing almost everywhere – whether in the USA, the EU or in East Germany. What makes so many citizens so dissatisfied? What could help win people back and restore their trust in liberal democracy? At the Berlin Summit at the end of May, world-leading thinkers such as Dani Rodrik, Mariana Mazzucato and Adam Tooze discussed this over three days on invitation of the Forum – under the title ‘Winning back the people’. Can a new kind of economic policy help to repair the damage caused by poorly managed globalization and excessive market liberalism? Does Bidenomics have the potential to function as a new paradigm and counteract populism? How can a new industrial and modern climate policy work?
This event is supported by the Canopus Foundation, IMK, INET, in collaboration with Harvard´s Reimagining the Economy and YSI.
Check out the gallery of the event – HERE.
On the brink of the next populist surge?
Whether in the US, the UK, Italy or France, populists have gained massive popularity almost everywhere over the past ten years – and mistrust in established democratic institutions has risen sharply. Now the next wave is looming: whether with the possible re-election of Donald Trump in November – or even before that in the EU and in East Germany. Can the trend still be stopped? To answer this question, it is important to find out where this resentment of people – which acts as a time phenomenon across borders – comes from. What has recent research found out about this? Are the findings from the period immediately after Trump’s election victory in 2016 confirmed, according to which regional socio-economic upheavals were the decisive factor? Does this still apply today? After decades of the market-liberal paradigm, do we need a policy that once again gives people a much stronger sense of being in control of their own destiny instead of being exposed to globalization or technology shocks?
Leading populism researchers discussed the causes of increasing discontent at the Berlin Summit on 28 May in the session ‘On the brink of the next populist surge? – The state of empirical findings’. The latest studies from the USA were also presented.
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
Will Bidenomics (ever) help Biden? If not, what will?
The US economy is growing, unemployment is at a record low – and since taking office, the US President has launched a whole series of major programmes such as the IRA or the CHIPS Act, which are intended to benefit the climate transition as well as those in structurally weak regions and the middle class who have been hit by economic shocks in the past. Why does all this not benefit Joe Biden in the polls? What does this mean for ‘Bidenomics’, which is being touted as the new paradigm? Has high inflation overshadowed the positive effect? And does it just take more time for the policy to work? Or do Americans lack deeper confidence in their financial future despite all the seemingly good economic data? And do we need a different policy?
For the Berlin Summit, Forum Fellow Robert Gold is investigating the extent to which measures such as the IRA still have the potential to reach the people and influence the election. The preliminary results were discussed on 28 May on a panel with US experts: ‘Will Bidenomics (ever) help Biden? If not, what will?’.
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
New industrial policy – Advances and challenges
In the heyday of market liberalism, industrial policy was considered taboo – because the state didn’t know any better. Then came several shocks that showed that it is not ideal to leave important trends solely to the markets. It also seems increasingly questionable whether the climate turnaround will succeed without a green industrial policy. Since then, research into a new type of industrial policy has been revitalized – strongly influenced by researchers such as Dani Rodrik and Mariana Mazzucato. There are also a number of practical tests. In China, the industrial policy strategy ‘Made in China 2025’ was launched, in the USA the CHIPS Act and IRA. In Germany, too, the state is trying to attract industries that are considered strategically important, such as chip factories, through subsidies and other measures. But what does a good industrial policy that avoids the mistakes of the past look like? When exactly and how should the state set the direction?
Dani Rodrik spoke about this at the Berlin Summit on 28 May. In the session ‘New Industrial policy – Advances and challenges’, Chicago economist Ufuk Akcigit and Germans Dalia Marin and Jens Südekum exchanged ideas. The practical pitfalls were the subject of a discussion with Saarland’s Finance Minister Jakob von Weizsäcker and State Secretary Franziska Brantner from the Federal Ministry of Economics.
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
Modern Climate Policy – Lessons from the US for Europe
When President Biden passed the IRA in 2022, the law made headlines around the world. With the provision of USD 370 billion in public funds for clean energy, it marked a paradigmatic shift away from the traditional belief in a primarily market-oriented climate policy via the pricing of CO2 emissions. In the meantime, the state IRA has triggered a boom in private investment in renewable energies, battery technology and electromobility, which is also creating a number of jobs. In view of this momentum, the question now arises as to whether Biden’s radical climate course via state subsidies is suitable as a new model – and what Europe and Germany can learn from it. It is true that similar subsidy programmes have been launched in this country. However, Germany and the EU are sticking to CO2 pricing and emissions trading as a fundamental element of their climate policy – although experience has shown time and again that the intentionally higher prices quickly meet with resistance from the population.
At the Berlin Summit on 29 May, leading experts discussed whether Biden’s course is suitable as a role model in the session ‘Modern climate policy – Lessons from the US for Europe´.
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
16:00
The election year 2024 – Is there a new economic vision to regain popular support?
with BRANKO MILANOVIÇ (CITY UNIVERSITY NEW YORK), CHRISTINE HERNTIER (MAYOR OF SPREMBERG), HAROLD JAMES (PRINCETON UNIVERSITY), LISA PAUS (FEDERAL MINISTER FOR FAMILY AFFAIRS), THOMAS FRICKE (FORUM NEW ECONOMY)
EXCLUSIVE EXPERT ROUND-TABLES – by invitation only
KEYNOTE MARIANA MAZZUCATO*
On the brink of the next populist surge? – The state of empirical findings
With TERESA GHILARDUCCI* (THE NEW SCHOOL), ERIC LONERGAN (AUTHOR), DAVID DORN (UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH), CATHERINE FIESCHI* (EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE)
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
Will Bidenomics (ever) help Biden? If not, what will?
With ROBERT GOLD (KIEL INSTITUTE), THOMAS FERGUSON (INET, NEW YORK), TREVOR SUTTON (CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS), LAURA VON DANIELS (SWP, BERLIN), SIMON JÄGER (MIT)
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
European elections ahead – The next shock?
With JEROMIN ZETTELMEYER (BRUEGEL BRUSSELS), SERVAAS STORM (TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DELFT), ANTONELLA STIRATI (UNIVERSITY OF ROMA TRE), SHAHIN VALLEE (DGAP), SEBASTIAN DULLIEN (IMK)
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
New Industrial Policy – Advances and challenges
With DANI RODRIK (HARVARD UNIVERSITY), UFUK AKCIGIT (UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO), DALIA MARIN (TU MUNICH), JENS SÜDEKUM (UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF), EMILY SINNOTT (EIB), JAKOB VON WEIZSÄCKER (MINISTER OF FINANCE SAARLAND), FRANZISKA BRANTNER (FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS & CLIMATE ACTION), KATRIN BENNHOLD (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
Shifting paradigms in a troubled world – the strategy challenge
With HAROLD JAMES (PRINCETON UNIVERSITY), JO SWINSON (P4NE), DANI RODRIK (HARVARD UNIVERSITY), MAJA GÖPEL (MISSION WERTVOLL), STORMY-ANNIKA MILDNER (ASPEN INSTITUTE BERLIN)
Modern climate policy – Lessons from the US for Europe
With ISABELLA WEDL (FORUM NEW ECONOMY), MICHAEL GRUBB (UCL LONDON), JONAS MECKLING (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY), JEAN PISANI-FERRY (SCIENCES PO PARIS), PHILIPP STEINBERG (FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND CLIMATE ACTION), FRAUKE THIES (AGORA THINK TANKS)
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
10:30
START OF PUBLIC SUMMIT
INTRODUCTION TO THE SUMMIT & PRESENTATION OF BERLIN SUMMIT DECLARATION BY THOMAS FRICKE
A MESSAGE BY MARIANA MAZZUCATO*
11:00
KEYNOTE
ADAM TOOZE
(COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY) – On winning back the people in poly-crises times with PETRA PINZLER
11:30
LESSONS FROM THE CRISES (PART ONE)
The inflation shock – taming uncertainty
With MARK BLYTH (BROWN UNIVERSITY) & ORSOLA COSTANTINI (UNCTAD)
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
12:20
LESSONS FROM THE CRISES (PART TWO)
Making government action more efficient
With THIEMO FETZER (UNIVERSITIES of BONN/WARWICK), ANNE-LAURE DELATTE (UNIVERSITÉ PARIS-DAUPHINE), BILL JANEWAY (CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY)
Find the summary from the session – HERE.
12:30
IN PARALLEL
After Neo-liberalism: towards an institutionalism paradigm
With MICHAEL JACOBS (UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD) & PETER BOFINGER (WÜRZBURG UNIVERSITY)
13:00
LUNCH BREAK
14:00
From glorious globalization to a world in crises – and back?
with ADAM TOOZE (COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY), ROB JOHNSON (INET), DANIELA SCHWARZER (BERTELSMANN FOUNDATION), MORITZ SCHULARICK (KIEL INSTITUTE FOR THE WORLD ECONOMY), NICOLA BRANDT (OECD BERLIN)
15:30
NEW ECONOMY MARKET-PLACE
Open space with stands & instant presentations showcasing new ideas
17:00
CLOSING KEYNOTE BY BRANKO MILANOVIC (CITY UNIVERSITY NEW YORK)