The Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI) is pleased to present two upcoming events for the Fall 2023 semester. Both these events will be held at Social Science Matrix, 820 Social Sciences Building, on the UC Berkeley campus. Please register to attend, using the links below.
Please note that the talk by Jedediah Purdy, “Thinking Democratically,” was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. This event will likely be rescheduled to a later date.
Industrial Policy at the Crossroads
September 12, 3pm-6pm
Join us on September 12, 2023 from 3pm-6pm for back-to-back panel discussions on U.S. industrial policy. Featuring Todd Tucker (Director, Industrial Policy and Trade program, The Roosevelt Institute), Laura Tyson (Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School, Haas School of Business), John Zyzsman (Professor Emeritus, Political Science), Paul Pierson (John Gross Distinguished Professor of Political Science), and Steven Vogel (Il Han New Professor of Asian Studies and Professor of Political Science and Political Economy).
Peter Spiegler, “Marketcrafting”
October 3, 4pm-5:30pm
Join us on October 3, 2023 from 4:00pm-5:30pm for talk by Peter Spiegler, Senior Researcher at The New Institute of Political Economy, focused on the report “Marketcrafting,” which Spiegler co-authored with Chris Hughes.
We are witnessing a sea change in policy, toward an embrace of the state shaping markets toward certain social and economic ends. This talk, celebrating the launch of Spiegler and Hughes’s report, argues for a specifically progressive marketcrafting vision that can achieve major policy goals in a just and equitable manner while also minimizing inflationary impacts.
Simon Johnson: Power and Progress
October 10, 4pm-5:30pm
Progress depends on the choices we make about technology. New ways of organizing production and communication can either serve the narrow interests of an elite or become the foundation for widespread prosperity. Please join us on October 10 as Simon Johnson, Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT Sloan School of Management, discusses his recent co-authored book Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, based on a thousand years of history and contemporary evidence. Johnson will be joined in conversation with Brad DeLong, Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley.