From 12th to 14th December, the Rector of the University of Warsaw, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, participated in the international conference The 11th International Workshop on New Structural Economics and accompanying academic events devoted to contemporary economic, political and military turbulence and to the role of the state in the economy. The visit took place at the invitation of Peking University.

The conference brought together scholars from Chinese universities (Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong), as well as from Singapore, South Korea and Africa, and economists representing, among others, the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, the University of Notre Dame, Washington University and the University of Copenhagen.

At the invitation of the organisers, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak delivered two lectures focusing on the role of artificial intelligence in shaping future labour markets and on sources of development financing for developing countries in a period of economic turbulence, deglobalisation, disintegration and the reconfiguration of financial markets. In his presentations, he also addressed challenges arising from the limitations and dysfunctions of the Washington Consensus.

The debate on the role of the state in the economy, particularly in conditions of growing geopolitical and economic uncertainty, is today one of the key challenges facing economics. It requires both a new theoretical approach and international research cooperation,” emphasised Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak.

On 14th December, the second part of the conference was held, devoted to the tenth anniversary of the Institute of New Structural Economics, founded by Prof. Justin Yifu Lin, former Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank. The Institute conducts research, among others, on the role and scope of state intervention in the economy, strategies for economic development, sources of financing for structural policies, energy and climate policy, and societal well-being.

In this part of the conference, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, who is a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of New Structural Economics, participated – together with Prof. Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate in Economics – as the sole keynote speaker representing the Institute’s International Council.