Economics and Institutions in a Changing World

What do the increasingly contesting political and economic power shifts mean for the world order, for Europe and our institutions? And what can economic science tell us about that? We take this question as a starting point for a seminar with Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, drawing on Paul Krugman's recent publications on trade and import tariffs, the differences in productivity on both sides of the ocean and on artificial intelligence.

We address recent challenges in global trade relations, spurred by tariffs and changes in global economic and political power. We narrow in on the role of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, and the impact on skills for the labour market, income and productivity. We also delve into how productivity is measured and what that means for Europe. We bring all this together in two broader questions: how should economic thinking adapt to a changing, contested world order? And: what would 'The New Economy of Europe' look like?

Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman won the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on trade patterns and economic geography. He taught at MIT, Princeton and since 2015 at the City University of New York Graduate Center where he is a Distinguished Professor of Economics. For nearly 25 years he was also an influential op-ed columnist at The New York Times. Today, he writes on his Substack newsletter, where he comments regularly on the global economy.  

The seminar opens with a lecture by Paul Krugman, followed by in-depth reflections and questions from scholars, and an interactive Q&A.

This event is organised by the Utrecht University School of Economics, Institutions for Open Societies' communities Future of Work & Changemakers, in collaboration with EHERO-EUR and TRSA.