Scholar in Residence Lectures

Bașak Kuș, this year’s MPIfG Scholar in Residence, is to give a three-part lecture series exploring how governments assess and manage risks. The Wesleyan University professor will show in her talks the critical role economic thinking plays in mitigating crises, whether financial, climate, or of democracy. The series begins on May 28 with “Counting Backwards from the US Financial Crisis: On Economists, the Protective State, and ‘Not Using the Power of the Crown’”, in which Kuș considers the 2008 US financial crisis and how neoliberal deregulation led financial institutions to take excessive risks. Her talk on June 4 – “There Is More to It Than the Repeal of Glass-Steagall: Drifting, Micro, and Information-Based Financial Regulation” – looks at the influence of economic theories on US regulatory policy since the 1970s and the shift to private risk regulation in the government’s approach. Closing the series on June 18, “From Finance to Climate: ‘Economistic Fallacies,’ ‘Organized Irresponsibility,’ and ‘Tragic Individualization’ en Route to Democratic Crisis” explores the economic ideas that have influenced climate risk mitigation and their implications for democracy. Registration for the talks is through the MPIfG website or by email to info@mpifg.de.