Now that COVID-19 is in retreat, and the "special economics" of the pandemic no longer apply; and now that inflation concerns have resurfaced powerfully - what kind of macroeconomics do policymakers need to know? And how should they be taught it?

Macroeconomic concepts and theories are valuable for policy makers. Yet there has been a wide gap between undergraduate courses and the professional level at which macroeconomic policy is practiced. And PhD-level textbooks rarely address the needs of a policy audience. So advanced macroeconomics has not been easily accessible to current and aspiring practitioners. Advanced Macroeconomics: An Easy Guide is a rigorous yet accessible book fills that gap. It was born as a Masters course that each of the authors taught for many years at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. And it draws on the authors’ own extensive practical experience as macroeconomic policymakers.

You can download this new seminal textbook, Macroeconomics for Policymakers: an easy guide, availble for free from LSE's open access publishing platform, LSE Press.  

Meet our speakers and chair

María Antonieta Alva (@ToniAlvaL) is the former Minister of Economy and Finance, Peru. She has been working in Peru’s public administration for over 10 years. In 2017, she was appointed General Director of Public Budget at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, where she conducted Peru’s public budget and the formulation of the Public Budget Acts of 2018 and 2019. Between 2014 and 2017, she was the Chief of Strategic Planning and Budget at the Ministry of Education. Previously, she worked at the General Directorate of Public Investment and the General Directorate of Public Budget at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Filipe Campante (@FilipeCampante) is the Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of International Economics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and at the Department of Economics at the Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. From 2019 to 2021, he served as the Vice Dean for Education and Academic Affairs at SAIS. Campante is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and was previously Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he holds a PhD from Harvard University, an MA from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, and a BA from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, all in economics.

Ilan Goldfajn (@igoldfajn) was Governor of the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) from May 2016 until February 2019. In 2017, he was elected Central Banker of the Year by The Banker magazine; and the year after, he was named Best Central Banker by Global Finance magazine. Mr. Goldfajn’s experience in the private sector include positions as Chief Economist and Partner of Itaú Unibanco, founding Partner of Ciano Investimentos, and Partner and Economist at Gávea Investimentos—three leading financial institutions in Brazil. More recently he was the Chairman of Credit Suisse Brazil’s Advisory Board. He has also worked as a consultant to a number of global financial organizations including the World Bank, the United Nations, and the IMF. He has taught economics at various universities in Brazil and the United States. Mr. Goldfajn will assume his role as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on January 3, 2022.

Federico Sturzenegger (@fedesturze) is Full Professor at Universidad de San Andrés, Visiting Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and Honoris Causa Professor at HEC, Paris. His work focuses on macroeconomics and international finance and has been published in leading academic journals such as the American Economic Review and the Journal of Economic Literature. He was previously President of Banco Ciudad, a representative in Argentina’s National Congress, and served as Governor of the Central Bank of Argentina. Born and raised in Argentina, he holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT.

Andrés Velasco (@AndresVelasco) is Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics. He is also a Research Fellow of CEPR and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Earlier he held professorial roles at the Harvard Kennedy School, Columbia University and New York University. He served as the Minister of Finance of Chile between 2006 and 2010. In 2017-18 he was a member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance. He holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University. 

More about this event

The LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance.

LSE Press (@LSEPress)is a publisher of high quality, open access research in the social sciences. Through rigorous peer-review and the use of innovative digital approaches we promote the widest possible engagement with social science research. Based in the Library of the London School of Economics, LSE Press works with authors to develop and launch publications that reflect the LSE founding purpose and mission.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEMacroeconomics

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from What Kind of Macroeconomics is Useful When Formulating Policy?

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