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Going for Growth 2009: Structural reforms to promote long-term economic growth Presentation Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel OECD Chief Economist Discussant Adam Posen Deputy Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Event Description:

Going for Growth 2009 comes at a time when crisis management is high on government agendas, as policy makers look for ways to restore our economies to health. Accordingly, the Going for Growth report includes a special chapter that discusses those structural reforms that are most likely to raise aggregate demand in the short run as well aggregate supply in the long run. While major steps have been taken to stimulate short-run demand, it remains important to undertake structural reforms that will strengthen economic growth over the longer term. This new report highlights the most appropriate structural reforms to improve labor productivity and utilization in each of the thirty OECD countries and the European Union.

The set of internationally comparable indicators provided here enables countries to assess their economic performance and structural policies in a broad range of areas. In addition, this issue contains four analytic chapters covering:

• Taxation and economic growth
• Infrastructure investment, growth and public policy
• Reform of product market regulation
• The effect of population structure on employment and productivity

Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel, Chief Economist of the OECD, will present the findings of the report. 

Biographies:

Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel took up the position of OECD Chief Economist and Head of the Economics Department in September 2008.  A national of both Germany and Chile, he spent the previous 12 years as Chief of Economic Research at the Central Bank of Chile.  Before that he was Principal Economist in the Research Department of the World Bank. Since 2004 Mr. Schmidt-Hebbel is Full Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Chile. In 2007-2008 he was President of the Chilean Economic Association. He has worked closely with international organizations (IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNESCO, UN, IPRI, AERC and others), central banks (New Zealand, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica), governments, and universities, providing key policy advice on a wide array of topics ranging from macroeconomics and growth policies, to pension systems and capital market reforms, institutional organization and policy design.  Mr. Schmidt-Hebbel has been widely published in the field of macroeconomics, monetary policy, international finance, economic growth, and development.  He speaks fluent Spanish, English, German, Portuguese, and basic French.  Mr. Schmidt-Hebbel holds a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a MA in Economics from the Catholic University of Chile.

Adam Posen is Deputy Director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC, where he has been a Senior Fellow since 1997. His research covers macroeconomic and financial policies, European and Japanese political economy, and central banking issues. Dr. Posen is the author of five books, including The Euro at Five: Ready for a Global Role?; Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience (with B. Bernanke, et al); and Restoring Japan’s Economic Growth; and has published a number of widely-cited studies in monetary economics and political economy. He has been a consultant to the US Council of Economic Advisers, Departments of State and of Treasury, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and to central banks and leading investors worldwide.   As PIIE’s Deputy Director, he oversees finances, fundraising, administration, outreach, publications, and recruitment for the Institute’s $9.5 million budget and 50-person staff.