The 6th CASE International Conference took place 20-21st of November 2009 at the Falenty Center in Warsaw.  The Return of History: From Consensus to Crisis CASE International Conference hosted two days of high level debate.  The event brought together more than 50 experts from all over the world to discuss the global financial and macroeconomic crisis. 

CASE proudly welcomed David Robinson, Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Department, as the first key note speaker at the conference.  Robinson discussed the role of global imbalances played in the crisis and how they will continue to impact recovery.  In his presentation, Robinson emphasized the need for the world economy to search for an alternative force of growth for the recovery to come.  He explained that the United States consumer will no longer continue to fuel global growth as it has in the past. 

Jacek Rostowski, Finance Minister of Poland, and a key note speaker at the conference, commended the world’s response to the global financial crisis for avoiding a major shift back to protectionist policies.  He also questioned the need for the expansive stimulus packages used by United States and other nations.  He explained that international recovery has already begun, even before the large part of the promised stimulus has been spent or begun to take effect on the economy. 

The role counter fiscal monetary policy, lessons for monetary policy and financial regulations, energy security, and the financial crisis in transition and developing economies, were the four themes covered by the conference sessions.  Each session was led by the session chairmen and included speakers and several commentators to draw connections between the varied perspectives of the panel members.  Panelists presented research and publication in the respective topics.  Expert presentations addressed topics such as the role of China and its policy responses during the crisis, presented by Dr. Wing Thye Woo of UCLA, to development obstacles in the CIS, discussed by Ben Slay, UNDP, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) usage and projections for increasing energy security, analyzed by Karen Sund (Sund Energy).  Each session enjoyed a lively round of questions from the audience. 

Conference presentations are available on the conference website (www.caseconference.eu). 

Selected papers presented by experts at the international conference will shortly be released as CASE Publications, in the CASE Network Studies and Analyses, CASE Network Reports, and CASE Network E-briefs series.  In line with the tradition of past international conferences, in the coming months, CASE will also release a post-conference publication including expert research from the event. 

[download conference program]