
Politics and Economics in a Volatile World
February 3, 2011 · 6:00-7:15PM
Columbia University, Presidential Room, Faculty House
- Grzegorz W. Kolodko, Professor, Kozminski University
Discussants
- Patrick Bolton, Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business, Columbia Business School, and Professor of Economics, Columbia University
- Andrzej Rapaczynski, Daniel G. Ross Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Grzegorz W. Kolodko, one of the world’s leading authorities on economics and development policy, discusses his new book, Truth, Errors, and Lies: Politics and Economics in a Volatile World, published by Columbia University Press.
Professor Kolodko will discuss the politics and economics of development, with a special focus on future challenges. Taking a dynamic approach to the political economy of globalization, he asks what lies ahead for the world in next decades and what we should learn from the past.
About Truth, Errors and Lies: Politics and Economics in a Volatile World
Deploying a novel mix of scientific evaluation and personal observation, Kolodko begins with a brief discussion of misinformation and its perpetuation in economics and politics. He criticizes the simplification of complex economic and social issues and investigates the link between developments in the global economy and cultural change, scientific discoveries, and political fluctuations. Underscoring the necessity of conceptual and theoretical innovation in understanding our global economic situation, Kolodko offers a provocative study of globalization and the possibility of coming out ahead in an era of worldwide interdependence. Deeply critical of neoliberalism, which sought to transfer economic control exclusively to the private sector, Kolodko explores the virtues of social-economic development and the new rules of the economic game. He concludes with a look at our near and distant future, questioning whether we have a say in its making.