Open lecture ‘ Stress Test for Public Finances – Policy-Responses to the Financial and Economic Crisis in the OECD ’ by Uwe Wagschal

On October 10 an open lecture ‘Stress Test for Public Finances – Policy-Responses to the Financial and Economic Crisis in the OECD’ by  Professor Uwe Wagschal (University of Freiburg, Germany) will be held at HSE. The event is organized by the School of Public Administration.

Prof. Wagschal's talk will focus on the consequences of massive monetary and fiscal stimulus for the public purse. In this talk he will compare fiscal packages in 28 OECD-countries aimed to combat an economic downturn following the collapse of Lehman brothers in 2008. Based on a unique indicator, he argues that the economic and financial crisis has had dramatic consequences for public finances and budget consolidation efforts throughout the OECD-world. Results from regression analysis show that population size and openness of economy have reduced the scope for discretionary measures. The theoretical approaches informing our analysis are the different schools of public policy research, e.g. the parties-do-matter approach, institutional theories, globalization and socio-economic theory. In addition, Uwe Wagschal also explores public choice arguments, especially the impact of elections.

Uwe Wagschal is Professor of comparative political science at the University of Freiburg, Germany. He holds a diploma in economics and a PhD in political science from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Prior he was also a lecturer at the University of Zurich, Professor of Empirical Political Science and Policy Analysis at the University of Munich (LMU, 2002-2003), and Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Heidelberg (2005-2009), where he also served as chairman of the Department of Political Science. His professional career further includes visiting fellowships at the Universities of Amsterdam, Hull (UK), and Colchester (UK). Uwe Wagschal served as a Senior Political Scientist und Senior Economist for the think tank Avenir Suisse (2001-2003). He is the author of numerous books and articles on public debt and budget consolidation, tax policy, direct democracy, political economy, and statistics for political scientists. Among his recent books is Culture and Politics. Milton Park: Routledge (together with Jan-Erik Lane).

Start time: 15.00

Address: 20 Myasnitskaya, room 522

In case you don't have HSE picture ID to enter HSE please contact Tim Jaekel at tjekel@hse.ru before Monday, 10th of October 2016.