Second Annual Cato Papers on Public Policy Conference

Conference
June 7–8, 2012

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001

Inaugurated last year, the Cato Papers on Public Policy is a volume of highly innovative articles by recognized national experts on contemporary economic and public policy issues - with a particular focus on critically evaluating the limits of government policies. In conjunction with the volume's creation, which will be published in November, the papers are initially presented and discussed at a public conference by the authors, a distinguished group of discussants, invited academics from around the country, local economists from government and think tanks, and members of the public. The topics that will be discussed at this year's Conference include:

• Evidence to dispute the conventional wisdom that U.S. CEOs, top executives, and corporate governance are being paid more and more, and not being penalized for poor performance. 
• The 500% increase in the rate of imprisonment between 1970-2000 and an empirical approach to measuring how deterrence and incapacitation can affect crime reduction.
• The effectiveness of the Term-Auction Facility program, one of the main tools used by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.
• Analyzing how the French failure to monetize gold inflows in the late 1920s and early 1930s contributed to the overall reduction in world gold reserves and impacted the world price level.

Conference Schedule

Thursday, June 7
1:15 – 1:30 p.m.	Introduction and Welcome Jeffrey Miron Harvard University and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.	An Evaluation of the Term Auction Facility Plan Watch the Event in QuickTime (M4V) Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3) Efraim Benmelech, Harvard University Discussants:   Simon Gilchrist, Boston University   Ross Levine, Brown University
3:00 – 3:30 p.m.	Break
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.	The French Gold Sink and the Great Depression Watch the Event in QuickTime (M4V) Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3) Douglas Irwin, Dartmouth College Discussants:   Charles Calomiris, Columbia University   James Hamilton, University of California, San Diego
5:00 – 6:00 p.m.	Wine and Cheese Reception
Friday, June 8
8: 00 – 8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
8:30 – 10:00 a.m	The General Equilibrium Effect of Mass Incarceration Watch the Event in QuickTime (M4V) Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3) Justin McCrary, University of California, Berkeley Sarath Sanga, Yale University Discussants:   Steve Durlauf, University of Wisconsin   Bruce Sacerdote, Dartmouth College
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.	Break
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.	Some Facts About CEO Pay and Corporate Governance Watch the Event in QuickTime (M4V) Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3) Steve Kaplan, University of Chicago Discussants:   Carola Frydman, Boston University   Luke Taylor, University of Pennsylvania