New Atlantic Capitalism

Jacob Kirkegaard presents on the prospects of a labor market recovery in the EU and the US at demosEUROPA’s New Atlantic Capitalism 2011.

From demos:

The discussions started with the session on the Determinants of Transatlantic Economic Relations, basing on the comprehensive paper presented by Stormy-Annika Mildner and Daniela Schwarzer from SWP. Starting with the general background, they analyzed four case studies – immediate crisis management, macroeconomic imbalances, financial regulation and transatlantic integration.

At the official dinner, hosted by Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida, Head of EU delegation to the United States, we had the pleasure to discuss with Jared Bernstein, economic advisor to Vice-President Joe Biden. Our guest presented an overview of the economic policy of President Obama administration and answered the questions about the state of US economy as well as the possible upcoming downturns.

Second day of the conference started with the discussion with Mr. Jörg Decressin, Assistant Director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund. His presentation on the current state of global economy presented different indicators and perspectives for growth and also discussed the underlying trends and policy developments.

Subsequent session was devoted to the prospects of labour market recovery in the EU and the US and was based on the paper and presentation by Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, researcher from the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Our speaker analysed the trends in employment and unemployment indicators both in EU and the US and also presented the systemic challenges in job creation in both economies basing on the date from the sector level. Mr. Kirkegaard concluded with an assessment of the main challenges for US and the EU to avoid the jobless recovery.

Then, we have moved to discussing the notion of inclusive growth. Basing on the paper prepared by Professor Iain Begg and presented by Fabian Zuleeg, the session analyzed the different meanings of “inclusiveness” and its applications for the economic models of Europe and the US.

The final session of the meeting was devoted to the new sources of growth on both sides of the Atlantic. The paper by Sherle Schwenninger gave an overview of the US policy of economic recovery and outlined possible headwinds and the steps to overcome them. Then, the discussion moved to the impact of China and its economic development on transatlantic economy.

The participants of the NAC meeting were:

Barry Anderson, Member of the Board of Directors of the The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; former head of the Budgeting and Public Expenditures Division, OECD, Krzysztof Blusz – Vice-President of the Board, demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard – Research Fellow, Peterson Intitute for International Economics, Stormy-Annika Mildner– Senior Fellow in the Directing Staff, Research Division The Americas, SWP, Sean Mulvaney – director of the Economic Policy Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Klaus-Peter Müller – Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank AG, President of the Association of German Banks, Eulalia Rubio, Research Fellow in Notre Europe in Paris, Professor Krzysztof Rybiński – Rector of the University of Economics and Computer Sciences in Warsaw, Daniela Schwarzer – Head of the Research Division EU Integration, SWP, Sherle R. Schwenninger – Director, Economic Growth Program and American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, Bruce Stokes – Senior Transatlantic Fellow, GMF, Paweł Świeboda, President, demosEUROPA, Ignacy Święcicki, Executive Assistant, demosEUROPA, Fabian Zuleeg – Chief Economist, European Policy Centre.