Leading Economists and Policymakers to Discuss Money, Finance, and Economic Strategies in Fractured Times at the Levy Economics Institute’s 32nd Annual Conference, June 16

Keynote Speaker Is US House Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17)

On Monday, June 16, the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College will host “Money, Finance, and Economic Strategies in Fractured Times,” its 32nd annual conference as an in-person event on the Bard College campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The 32nd Annual Levy Economics Institute Conference gathers top policymakers, economists, and analysts to discuss the most pressing issues of today’s economic landscape. The conference’s keynote speaker is US House Representative Ro Khanna, who represents California’s 17th Congressional District, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, and is serving his fifth term. Participants in the conference will engage in panels on Minskyan analyses of current sources of financial fragility; new directions in public finance; visions for the next progressive policy agenda; climate finance, balance-of-payments constraints, and the global economy; and more. Learn more about the conference and registration here.

Prior to serving in Congress, keynote speaker US House Representative Ro Khanna taught economics at Stanford University and served as deputy assistant secretary of commerce in the Obama administration. Khanna graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago and received a law degree from Yale University. Other featured speakers include Daniel Alpert, Westwood Capital; Leila Davis, University of Massachusetts Boston; Rogerio Studart, Brazilian Center for International Relations; Talmon Joseph Smith, New York Times; Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Levy Institute; James K. Galbraith, University of Texas at Austin; L. Randall Wray, Levy Institute; Ryan Cooper, The American Prospect; Alan Minsky, Progressive Democrats of America; Gennaro Zezza, Levy Institute; Yan Liang, Willamette University; Ndongo Samba Sylla, International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs-Africa); Fadhel Kaboub, Denison University.

The 32nd Annual Levy Economics Institute Conference will take place on June 16, 2025. The program is scheduled to run from 8:45 am to 5:30 pm, with a dinner to follow. Registration for the full conference is $50 for students and $150 for professionals/non-students, and includes lunch and dinner. Register and get more information here. If you wish to attend only the keynote address to be delivered by US Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) at 2:00pm in Bard College’s Olin Hall, you may register free of charge here—the keynote is free and open to the public, but registration is required for entry.

32nd Annual Levy Economics Institute Conference

Money, Finance, and Economic Strategies in Fractured Times

Preliminary Conference Program

Monday, June 16, 2025

8:15 am to 5:45 pm

Session 1: Beyond Minsky Moments

• Daniel Alpert, Westwood Capital | How Minsky’s Money Manager Capitalism Will Frustrate the Purported Goals of US Economic Nationalism
• Leila Davis, University of Massachusetts Boston | The Evolution of Minsky Regimes in the US Nonfinancial Corporate Sector
• Rogerio Studart, Brazilian Center for International Relations | Financing Development in Times of Climate Crisis: A Minskyan Approach
• Moderator: Talmon Joseph Smith, The New York Times

Session 2: Economic Policy in the Age of Trump

• Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Levy Institute | Pocketbook Economics and the American Voter
• James K. Galbraith, University of Texas at Austin | What Is Economic Policy For?
• L. Randall Wray, Levy Institute | Should We Worry About the Deficit(s)? An MMT-Minsky Perspective
• Moderator: Ryan Cooper, The American Prospect

Keynote Address: Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17)

• Moderator: Alan Minsky, Progressive Democrats of America

Session 3: US Policy and the Global Economy

• Gennaro Zezza, Levy Institute | Prospects for the US Economy
• Yan Liang, Willamette University | How China Organizes Finance Domestically and Keeps Foreign Capital at Bay
• Ndongo Samba Sylla, International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs-Africa) | Critically Thinking About Monetary Sovereignty and Balance-of-Payments Constraints in Africa
• Fadhel Kaboub, Denison University | Global South Joint Industrial Policies
• Moderator: TBA

About the Levy Economics Institute

The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986 through the generous support of the late Bard College trustee Leon Levy, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. The Institute is independent of any political or other affiliation, and encourages diversity of opinion in the examination of economic policy issues while striving to transform ideological arguments into informed debate.