NOTICE

As the global health situation involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) evolves, the MFR Program under the auspices of the Becker Friedman Institute, and with guidance from the University of Chicago’s Office of the Provost, is transitioning this summer 2020 four-day event to a virtual format via Zoom videoconferencing. 

On July 28-31, 2020, the Macro Finance Research Program (MFR), under the auspices of the Becker Friedman Institute (BFI), virtually hosted the 2020 MFR Summer Session for Young Scholars for PhD students working on their dissertations at the interplay of macroeconomics and finance.

The MFR Program is led by Lars Peter Hansen, the David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, Statistics, and the Booth School of Business, and the recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics. Throughout the four days of this summer session, faculty from the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business surveyed and and discussed recent research on a variety of topics in the macro-finance field, including:

The event was designed for early-career professionals and doctoral students in economics and related fields who are interested in developing enhanced macroeconomic models with linkages to the financial sector. It provided an opportunity to learn about, discuss, and advance work on macro models with financial sector linkages and related topics. The goal in gathering elite researchers and promising young scholars through this event was to exchange ideas and to construct better, more comprehensive models for assessing systemic risk stemming from activities in the financial sector that can impact the economy. Emerging scholars can play an important role in that effort. This event engaged these young scholars in that mission and provided access to methods, insights, expertise, and contacts that can enhance their efforts.

The program also provided the opportunity for advanced students to present their current research during structured poster sessions each day of the program. It included lectures by University of Chicago faculty as well as other MFR Program affiliated scholars, including:

• Wenxin Du on “The Role of the US Dollar in Global Capital Markets”
• Lars Peter Hansen on “Uncertainty Spillovers for Markets and Policy”
• Zhiguo He on “Intermediary Asset Pricing: Theory and Evidence”
• John Heaton on “Dynamics of the Wealth Distribution: Asset Pricing and Macro Effects”
• Anil Kashyap on “Macroprudential Regulation”
• Ralph Koijen on “A Demand System Approach to Understand Global Financial Markets”
• Yueran Ma on “Expectations in Finance and Macroeconomics”
• Thomas J. Sargent on “Risk Aversion or Mistaken Beliefs?”
• Amir Sufi on “Inequality and Indebted Demand”
• Harald Uhlig on “Cryptocurrencies and Central Bank Digital Currencies”

Additionally, the Summer Session program featured panel discussion on important macro financial policy challenges we currently face and the potential role of research in addressing those problems. The panel will be moderated by MFR Program Director, Lars Peter Hansen. The panelists included::

• Anil Kashyap, Professor of Economics and Finance, UChicago Booth School of Business
• Luc Laeven, Director-General, Research Department of the European Central Bank
• Hyun Shin, Economic Adviser and Head of Research, Bank for International Settlements

The application process for student participation in the 2020 MFR Summer Session for Young Scholars is now closed.