Tag Archives: Study Center Gerzensee

Moving On

After 12 years of service Dirk Niepelt resigns as the director of the Study Center to take up a post as Full Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Bern. The Governing Board and Foundation Council

thank him for the outstanding achievements of the centre under his leadership. He has played a major role in building up the Study Center Gerzensee as a place of learning and a venue for academic research and dialogue, in preparing it to meet future challenges, and in bolstering its international presence.

Dirk Niepelt will be succeeded by Martin Brown who is currently Full Professor of Banking at the University of St. Gallen.

With his academic record, management experience and extensive network in economics, Martin Brown is ideally suited to lead the Study Center in accordance with the wishes of its founder, to ensure the high quality of its activities, and to put it on the best possible footing to address the requirements of the future. The Governing Board and the Foundation Council congratulate Professor Brown on his appointment.

SNB press releases EN, DE.

Coronavirus: Effects on Course Program in Gerzensee

The Central Bankers Course ”Monetary Policy, Exchange Rates, and Capital Flows” has been postponed to 2021.

Doctoral courses currently take place as usual, subject to the following restrictions:

  • Participants are not allowed to attend Study Center Gerzensee events nor enter the Center’s premises for 14 days after returning from areas where the Coronavirus has spread. As of 2 March 2020, these areas are China, South Korea, Singapore, Iran, and Northern Italy defined as Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and all other Italian regions further north.
  • Participants with symptoms of any mild or severe sickness are not allowed to attend Study Center Gerzensee events nor to check in at the Study Center.
  • Participants who experience symptoms after check in must stay in their hotel room and wait for instructions by local authorities.

“Fiscal and Monetary Policies”

The Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control has published a special issue with the papers of the conference on “Fiscal and Monetary Policies” that the Study Center Gerzensee co-organized with the JEDC, the St. Louis Fed, the University of Bern, and the Swiss National Bank.

This earlier post contains a link to the conference program.

Conference on “Aggregate and Distributive Effects of Unconventional Monetary Policies” at the Study Center Gerzensee

Jointly with the Council on Economic Policies and the Swiss National Bank, the Study Center Gerzensee organized a conference on Aggregate and Distributive Effects of Unconventional Monetary Policies. The program can be viewed here.

Conference in Honor of Bob King at the Study Center Gerzensee

Jointly with the Journal of Monetary Economics and the Swiss National Bank, the Study Center Gerzensee organized a conference in honor of Bob King, long-term supporter of the Study Center.

Program: PDF.

Jaume Ventura’s discussion of a paper on trade and growth by Alvarez and Lucas: PDF.

My discussion of a paper on debt and debt constraints by Bhandari, Evans, Golosov, and Sargent: PDF.

Conference on “The Swiss Debt Brake – Ten Years On” at the Study Center Gerzensee

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Swiss “Debt Brake,” the Study Center Gerzensee organized a conference on fiscal institutions, joint with the Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, the Federal Finance Administration and the Universities of Lucerne and St. Gallen. The program can be viewed here (PDF).

A few tidbits: Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (President of the Swiss Confederation) emphasized the importance of “rigor and flexibility” as well as democratic legitimacy for the success of the Swiss debt brake rule.

Against the background of his experience at the Congressional Budget Office, Barry Anderson (National Governors Association) stressed the importance of the personality of the head of an independent fiscal institution: What is needed, in his view, is a low key technician who avoids the limelight.

Guido Tabellini (Bocconi University) argued that a successful budgetary framework needs to be consistent with the political system. Rules on the local level can be stricter and simpler because of transfers on the national level and national enforcement possibilities. Enforcement requires public support and thus, understanding by voters.

Similarly, Joakim Sonnegård (Swedish Fiscal Policy Council) argued in favor of self-enforcing mechanisms and institutionalized memory of bad times.

Addendum:

Conference papers published in the Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (2013 II; summary).

Anniversary of the Study Center Gerzensee

The history of the “New Castle,” the home of the Study Center Gerzensee, goes back to 1700 when a belvedere – built in French baroque style on the slopes of the Belpberg in the community of Gerzensee – was raised by Samuel Morlot. Over the centuries, many families owned the property before the Swiss National Bank acquired it in 1980. Four years later, the foundation Study Center Gerzensee was established and the Swiss National Bank transferred the manor house and surrounding real estate to the foundation. The first courses at the Study Center took place in 1986.

A brochure (in German) that was published on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Study Center reviews the history of the “New Castle.”