The Great Inflation 2.0 Unconference

Balancing Crises, Updating Policies to Avoid Stagflation in the EU

About the event

The event will take place in a world café format with introductory remarks followed by parallel sessions of discussion on 4 topics related to inflation, taking place from 15:00 to 17:00. Each discussion table will consist of introduction and open space discussion of participants. Rapporteur/chair of the table will moderate the discussion and summarise inputs at the end of the session. Guests are expected to switch tables at the end of each session. 

The aim and scope of the initiative are both to gain insights from the participants according to their degree of expertise on the topic and for the ELF Secretariat to gather knowledge for upcoming events on the subject. Moreover, given the informal way the event is organised, the overall goal is also to inform Member Organisations’ representatives and guests on the topic and to present the second issue of the Future Europe Journal. 

Each session will be presided by an expert, with the role to provide the initial input for the respective discussion. Experts in the audience are welcome to share their perspectives and ask questions. We intend to allow for a moment of debate – as it is the basis of liberalism itself – during each session, moderated by an expert. 

Programme

15:15 – 15:45 Setting the scene – “What is Inflation?”

Keynote Speech

Prof. Juan Castaneda – Director of the ‘Vinson Centre for the public understanding of economics and entrepreneurship’, University of Buckingham

15:45 – 16:45 World café session – 15 mins each x 4 rounds– 1h; 15 min break after 2 rounds

Tables: 

1 – The rising inflation and the ECB policy

Moderator: Prof. Marina Albanese, Univeristà di Napoli “Federico II” 

• Are institutions fit for the Great Inflation 2.0? 
• ECB policy of low interest rates and monetary strategy 
• Are existing fiscal policies fit for the future ahead? 

• Bond buying 

2 – Inflation: supply shock 

Moderator: Dr Antonios Nestoras, Head of Policy and Research, ELF 

• What the inflationary trends mean in the Union’s context 

• External factors and various crises (Covid-19, reduced production, War in Ukraine etc.) 
• The problem of supply chain and resilience  

3 – Energy  

Moderator: Valeriya Izhyk, Working Group Coordinator, Council of European Energy Reguators & Katarzyna Rumiancew, Warsaw Enterprise Institute 

• Energy crises contributing to inflation: what can we do? 
• Looking forward to the next (winter) crisis: how to deal with this? 

4 – Stagflation and recession  

Moderator: Matthew Lesh, Head of Public Policy at the IEA 

• Cost of living – dealing with the now 
• The economy and reality: impact on our lives 
• What can be done? Is there a way out? 

5 – The view from the MS  

Moderator: Christian Năsulea, Director of IES Europe, Professor of Economics at Bucharest University 

• Is inflation affecting post-pandemic recovery  
• Effects on national economies? 

• Responses at national level 

17:00 – 17:30 Conclusive remarks  

Rapporteurs summarise the findings 

Closing by Daniel Kaddik, Executive Director, ELF 

17:30 – End of the event