Leading Economists and Policymakers to Discuss Financial Governance Reform at Levy Economics Institute Conference in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, September 26-27

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Sept. 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In September, the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College will gather top policymakers and economists at the conference "Financial Governance after the Crisis" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to explore global financial governance reform and growth challenges in the wake of the financial crisis. The conference is cosponsored by the Levy Institute and the Multidisciplinary Institute for Development and Strategies (MINDS), with support from the Ford Foundation and in conjunction with its Project on Financial Instability, which draws on Hyman Minsky's extensive work on financial governance and the role of the state. The conference will take place Thursday and Friday, September 26 and 27 at the Everest Rio Hotel in Rio de Janeiro.

Invited speakers include Paul McCulley, chairman, Global Society of Fellows, Global Interdependence Center, and former managing director, PIMCO; Paulo Nogueira Batista, executive director for Brazil, International Monetary Fund; Esther Dweck, chief economic adviser, Brazilian Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management; Nelson H. Barbosa Filho, professor of economics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and former secretary of economic policy, Federal Government of Brazil; and Frank Veneroso, president, Veneroso Associates, LLC.

The conference will address, among other issues, designing a financial structure to promote investment in emerging markets; the challenges to global growth posed by continuing austerity measures; the impact of the credit crunch on economic and financial markets; and the larger effects of tight fiscal policy as it relates to the United States, the eurozone, and the BRIC countries. The conference will include presentations by Leonardo Burlamaqui, program officer, Ford Foundation, and professor, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro; Rogerio Sobreira, executive director, MINDS; Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, president, Levy Institute; Jan Kregel, senior scholar, Levy Institute, and professor, Tallinn University of Technology; Albert Keidel, senior fellow, Atlantic Council of the United States, and adjunct professor, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute; Kevin P. Gallagher, professor of international relations and coordinator, Global Policy Program, Boston University; Fernando J. Cardim de Carvalho, professor of economics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Luiz Fernando de Paula, professor of economics, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro; Roberto Frenkel, principal research associate, Center for the Study of the State and Society (CEDES); Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, emeritus professor, Getulia Vargas Foundation; José Gabilondo, professor of law, Florida International University; Katharina Pistor, professor of law, Columbia Law School; L. Randall Wray, senior scholar, Levy Institute, and professor, University of Missouri–Kansas City; Éric Tymoigne, research associate, Levy Institute, and professor, Lewis & Clark College; Martin Rapetti, researcher, CEDES; and Felipe Rezende, professor of economics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986 through the generous support of the late Bard College trustee Leon Levy, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. The Institute is independent of any political or other affiliation, and encourages diversity of opinion in the examination of economic policy issues while striving to transform ideological arguments into informed debate.

The Multidisciplinary Institute for Development and Strategies (MINDS) is a network in which historical analysis, economic sociology, institutional, evolutionary, and Post-Keynesian economics are building blocks to forge a comprehensive (interdisciplinary) understanding of globalization in both its sources and its effects, and by convergent approaches in the fields of economics of innovation, competition and new regulatory devices, comparative institutional analysis, conflict sociology, business organization and strategy, macrofinance, the developmental state as a key player, international organizations, and social inclusion strategies and policies.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

To view the conference program, please visit: http://www.levyinstitute.org/conferences/rio_2013/index.php

Press registrations should be made by calling Mark Primoff at 845-758-7412 or by sending an e-mail to primoff@levy.org.