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Conference

New Challenges to the Free Economy

(from Left and Right)

Date and Time
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Location
Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
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Featuring
Ryan Bourne

R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, Cato Institute
Jason Furman

Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Former Director, Congressional Budget Office

Hal Varian

Chief Economist, Google

Adam S. Posen

President, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Susan Houseman

W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Casey B. Mulligan

Professor, University of Chicago

Elisabeth Kempf

Professor, Harvard Business School

Joshua D. Wright

Executive Director, Global Antitrust Institute at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

Aurelien Portuese

Executive Director, Global Antitrust Institute at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

Arvind Panagariya

Professor of Economics and Indian Political Economy, Columbia University

Robert Atkinson

President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Matthew Mitchell

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute & Senior Research Affiliate, WVU

James Broughel

Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center

Bryan Caplan

Professor of Economics, George Mason University, and New York Times bestselling author of Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration

Alan Cole

Senior Economic Policy Analyst, Committee for Economic Development

Marc Goldwein

Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

A Cato special conference—New Challenges to the Free Economy (from Left and Right)—will bring together leading economists and policymakers to discuss the ascendant political threats of progressivism and national conservatism to the free economy.

This all-day event will feature keynote addresses from former President Obama CEA chair Jason Furman and former director of the Congressional Budget Office Douglas Holtz-Eakin as well as panels exploring topics as diverse as antitrust populism, protectionism, business politicization, prospects for the regulatory state, and the unsustainability of the public finances.

Conference Schedule

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8:15 - 9:00 AM

Registration and Light Breakfast

9:00 - 9:10 AM

Welcoming Remarks

Peter Goettler
President and CEO, Cato Institute

9:10 - 10:15 AM

Session 1: Fighting Back against Antitrust Populism

Chaired by

Aurelien Portuese
Director, Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Jennifer Huddleston
Policy Counsel, NetChoice

Hal Varian
Chief Economist, Google

Joshua Wright
Executive Director, Global Antitrust Institute at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

10:15 - 10:30 AM

Break

10:30 - 11:25 AM

Session 2: Resisting the Protectionist Tide

Chaired by

Scott Lincicome
Director, Herbert. A Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute

Susan Houseman
Vice President and Director of Research, Upjohn Institute

Arvind Panagariya
Professor of Economics and Indian Political Economy, Columbia University

Adam Posen
President, Peterson Institute for International Economics

11:30 AM - 12:25 PM

Session 3: The Politicization of Business: What Gives?

Chaired by

Emily Ekins
Vice president, director of polling, Cato Institute

Robert Atkinson
President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Elisabeth Kempf
Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Matthew Mitchell
Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute. Senior Research Affiliate, WVU

12:30 - 1:45 PM

Luncheon Address

INTRODUCED BY

Jeffrey Miron
Vice President for Research, Cato Institute and Director of Graduate and Undergraduate studies, Department of Economics, Harvard University

Jason Furman headshot

Jason Furman
Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard University

2:00 - 3:15 PM

Session 4: Does the Regulatory State Fuel Populism?

Chaired by

Vanessa Brown Calder
Director of Opportunity and Family Policy Studies, Cato Institute

James Broughel
Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center

Bryan Caplan
Professor of Economics, George Mason University

Casey Mulligan
Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

3:15 - 3:30 PM

Break

3:30 - 4:30 PM

Session 5: Unsustainable Fiscal Policy—The One, True Bipartisan Commitment

Chaired by

Ryan Bourne
R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, Cato Institute

Romina Boccia
Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy, Cato Institute

Alan Cole
Senior Economic Policy Analyst, Committee for Economic Development

Marc Goldwein
Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

Jeffrey Miron
Vice President for Research, Cato Institute

4:30 - 5:30 PM

Closing Speech

INTRODUCED BY

Ryan Bourne
R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, Cato Institute

Douglas Holtz-Eakin photo

Douglas Holtz‐​Eakin
President, American Action Forum

5:30 - 6:30 PM

Reception

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