Brookings: Experts - Kislaya Prasad

A Year in Turmoil: An Address By Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0400

Event Information

September 15, 2009
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC

September 2008 was a month of falling financial market dominoes: the federal take-over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, followed one week later by the Lehman Brothers failure, the Bank of America agreement to save Merrill Lynch, and the first taxpayer lifeline to American International Group (AIG). The expression “systemic risk” became the new clarion call for policy-makers and regulators as they took unprecedented steps to avoid a collapse of the global financial system.

On September 15, one year after the Lehman collapse, the Brookings Institution hosted a forum to explore the tumultuous events of last September, where financial markets stand today and the status of regulatory reforms designed to prevent the next financial crisis. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave the keynote address, followed by a panel that included Brookings Senior Fellow and Director of the Initiative on Business and Public Policy Martin Baily; Co-director of Economic Studies Ted Gayer; Senior Fellow Eswar Prasad, Glenn Hutchins—co-founder and co-chief executive of Silver Lake; and AEI Resident Scholar Vincent Reinhart.

Brookings President Strobe Talbott gave introductory remarks, and Brookings Vice President and Co-Director of Economic Studies Karen Dynan moderated the panel.

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A Year in Turmoil: An Address By Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke

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Uncorrected Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

Participants

Panelists

Ben Bernanke

Chairman, The Federal Reserve Board

Moderator: Karen Dynan

Vice President and Co-Director, Economic Studies

Ted Gayer

Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Economic Studies

Glenn Hutchins

Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive, Silver Lake

Vincent Reinhart

Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Global Perspectives on the U.S. Financial Crisis

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:30:00 -0400

Event Information

October 10, 2008
9:30 AM - 11:30 AM EDT

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC

The impact of the U.S. financial crisis has rippled across the globe, prompting concerns about the growth of emerging markets, the future for developing countries and the need for enhanced regulation and a new global financial architecture. On October 10, in advance of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Global Economy and Development and the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings hosted a discussion on the global implications of the U.S. financial crisis.

The Honorable Wayne Swan, MP, treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia, provided keynote remarks on “Adapting our Architecture to Challenging Global Times.” James Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank, and chairman and chief executive officer of Wolfensohn & Company, provided introductory remarks. A panel discussion focused on the global impact of the financial crisis followed. Additional panelists included Brookings Senior Fellow Eswar Prasad, Brookings Senior Fellow and Director of the Latin America Initiative Mauricio Cárdenas, and Brad Setser from the Council on Foreign Relations. Brookings Senior Fellow Homi Kharas moderated the discussion.

Transcript excerpts:

The Honorable Wayne Swan, MP

“Blind faith in markets is of course no substitute for being hard-headed. And blind faith in complete regulation all of the time is also no substitute for being hard-headed. The answer lies not in more or less regulation, but in better regulation.”

Eswar Prasad, Senior Fellow

"Not surprisingly, the instinct of the average policymaker in emerging markets right now is to batten down the hatches, disappear into a deep hole, and stay there until everything blows over. But I think the time for that has past in some sense…"

Mauricio Cárdenas, Director, Latin America Initiative

"Certainly some countries will suffer more, Mexico and Central American being a case of larger impacts, but the region as a whole is a lot more resilient…"

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20081010_crisis

Participants

Moderator

Panelists

James Wolfensohn

Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn & Company LLC
Former President of the World Bank

The Honorable Wayne Swan, MP

Treasurer, Commonwealth of Australia

Brad Setser

Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Physician Social Networks and Geographic Variation in Medical Care

Gary M. Fournier, Kislaya Prasad and Mary A. Burke — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 00:00:00 -0400

This paper shows how social influences on individual decisions help resolve a public health puzzle--the inordinate effect of geography on treatment. To explain geographical variations, we construct a model in which physician choices are subject to social influence. Small regional differences in the patient population mix give rise to divergent treatment patterns--the treatment a patient receives depends on where she lives. The empirical analysis uses data from Florida on coronary patients and their doctors. The data reveal significant geographic variation in the treatment rates. We find empirical support for the claim that local social influences determine treatment choice.

Introduction

This paper deals with a general question and a specific puzzle. The general question is related to the effect of the social environment on individual decisions. Are medical decisions influenced by social and cultural forces and, if they are, what is the cost to society of departures from strict scientific standards? The specific puzzle in question is the well—documented effect of geography on treatment. The treatment that a patient receives depends, beyond reasonable limits, on where she lives. We use the idea that decisions are subject to social influence to provide an explanation of this public health puzzle. Conversely, the rich detail with which medical decisions are documented presents us with a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of the effects of the social environment on individual choices. For, if medical decisions are influenced by social and cultural forces, why should other kinds of decisions be immune?

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Authors

Gary M. Fournier
Kislaya Prasad
Mary A. Burke

Publication: CSED Working Paper 33