Loading Events

Event Recap

This conference discussed a series of papers that–by using a common conceptual framework and building a comparable date set–narrated the history of the 11 largest Latin-American countries since 1960. That period was plagued by macroeconomic crises of a different nature: defaults, devaluations, balance of payment crises, banking crises or sudden stops, to name the most common ones. The events of the last five years made clear that developed economies are in no way immune to these events. While bad macroeconomic fundamentals like chronic deficits and high public debt appear many times as potential causes for the crises, this does not seem to always be the case. Indeed, as a large literature review has shown, expectations and multiplicity may play a key role in these events. The case studies discussed in the conference served as laboratories to test alternative theories and strengthen our understanding of economic crises. This conference was part of a long-run project, funded by the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago.

You can view photos from the event here.

Agenda

Monday, December 11, 2017
Registration
Opening Remarks
Lars Peter Hansen, The David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and Statistics, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business; Director of BFI's Macro Finance Research Program
The Case of Brazil
Márcio Garcia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro
Discussant: Marco Bassetti
Discussant: Randall S. Kroszner, Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics, Booth School of Business
Break
The Case of Bolivia
Carlos Gustavo Machicado, Institute for Advanced Development Studies
Discussant: Manuel Amador
Discussant: Simon Cueva
Break
The Case of Mexico
Felipe Meza, Centro de Investigación Económica, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
Discussant: Rodolfo Manuelli
Discussant: Enrique G. Mendoza
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Registration and Breakfast
The Case of Peru
Cesar Martinelli, ITAM, Mexico
Saki Bigio
Break
The Case of Chile
Rodrigo Caputo, Central Bank of Chile
Discussant: Jose De Gregorio
Discussant: Pedro Videla
Lunch and Presentation: The Latin-America Debt Crisis Revisited
Timothy J. Kehoe, University of Minnesota; Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
The Case of Venezuela
Diego Restuccia, University of Toronto
Discussant: Luigi Bocola
Discussant: Fabrizio Perri
Break
The Case of Uruguay
Gabriel Oddone, Universidad de la Republica
Discussant: Ariel Burstein
Discussant: Andrew Powell
Break
The Case of Paraguay
Javier Charotti, Central Bank of Paraguay
Discussant: Joao Ayres
Discussant: Andy Neumeyer
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Breakfast and Registration
The Case of Argentina
Francisco Buera, University of California, Los Angeles; Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Discussant: Ricardo Lopez Murphy
Discussant: Marcelo Veracierto
Break
The Case of Colombia
David Perez Reyna, Universidad de los Andes
Discussant: Fernando Alvarez
Discussant: Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria
Lunch and Presentation: Stopping Inflation
Juan Pablo Nicolini, Senior Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
The Case of Ecuador
Julían Díaz, Loyola University Chicago
Discussant: Cristina Arellano
Discussant: François Velde