economics through amacrofying glass

summer school

1 - 14 August 2011Bucharest

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about Econosofia and Economics through a

Macrofying Glass

Econosofia is for the present the only club that proposes to reunite students with a vested interest in economics, geopolitics and finance. Founded in 1998, its core activity resides in forming the future specialists of the Romanian economic environment.

Among its traditional yearly projects, we count the Economics through a Macrofying Glass Summer School, the Econosofia Debate Sessions and, starting from this year we inaugurate the monthly Econosofia Conference.

Over the last 12 years, Econosofia has maintained close ties with numerous partners of the public domain, as well as with famous analysts of the economic world, Professor Lajos Bokros, PhD, former World Bank Director, Lucian Croitoru of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), Valentin Lazea also of BNR, Nicolae Chidesciuc or Tony Lybek of the IMF.

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executive summary

Economics through a Macrofying Glass (EMG) is a traditional Econosofia project, whose main goal is the improvement of knowledge of macroeconomics, geopolitics and public and monetary policies of the Romanian economic field student elite. In its 7 past editions, the project underwent annual changes and improvements, resulting in last year’s summer school form. For its 8th edition, EMG aimed at formimg, enlarging and maintaining active the community of future economists.

As such, the objectives of the project were the following:

- to complement the education received in university; - to encourage and reward performance; - to strengthen the links between students and their potential employers; - to create a network of high potential students; - to ensure the continuous development of generations of students in the macroeconomic field; - to become the main event for those passionate about macroeconomics in the academic environment; - to accustom the students with the process of writing research papers and to encourage them to be more active in this respect by offering prizes to the best contributors.

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executive summary

To better achieve these goals, EMG took the form of a summer school in 2010 and again in 2011. This year it took place between the 1st and the 14th of August 2011, in Bucharest. During these 14 days the students had the opportunity to interact with prominent economists from the banking sector, from institutions such as the IMF and the National Bank of Romania and attend an advanced course on macroeconomics, presented by our main guest, Lajos Bokros, PhD.

The overall theme of the summer school was “Modern methods of economic growth” with sub-topics such as “The sustainable development of China”, “The global financial and economic crisis and its impact on the world economy and society”, “BRICS’s role in picking up recovery”, “EU and Eurozone competitiveness issues and rescue mechanisms”, “Structural reforms in transition economies” and “Romania: future challenges” which were discussed thoroughly.

In addition to the course and the seminars, the participants together with Econosofia members worked in teams to produce research papers to deepen their understanding of the subjects discussed. Mr. Bokros chose the best one, which was awarded and will be published in the Econosofia Journal.

The 16 participants were selected from a total of roughly 40 applicants. The selection process consisted of an application form and an interview. At the end of the project every participant received a diploma, while the authors of the chosen best paper were awarded prizes such as books and subscriptions to high quality economic publications.

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Partners

Gold partner: OTP Bank

OTP Bank continued the partnership started last year, sponsoring this year’s edition with 1400 euros, as well as consumables for the welcoming package the students received.

Silver partner: Mazars Mazars has been our partner since 2009, encouraging our activities with a sponsorship of 500 euros, prizes for the winners of the research paper contest and various printing needed in promoting the project.

Logistics partners:

Publica Publica offered the participants the opportunity to buy books written by famous economists such as Keynes and Friedman at a discounted price and prizes in books to the winners of the research paper contest.

Coca-Cola HBCCoca-Cola HBC contributed to the project with a sponsorship consisting of roughly 200 l of beverages (Coca Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Dorna mineral water)

Maastricht School of Management The Maastricht School of Management kindly supported the well-going of the project by offering us a place for the seminars held during the first week of the summer school.

The Romanian Banking Institute (RBI)The Institute kindly offered us their conference room facilities for the second week of our project.

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guests and schedule

Lajos Bokros teaches macroeconomics and public policy at CEU and he has been our key guest since 2002. Professor Bokros has a vast ex-perience in the fields of macroeconomics and public finance, which he gained as Director at The World Bank, Economic adviser to the DPM of Poland, Minister of finance in Hungary, Chairman and CEO at Budapest Bank, Chairman and CEO at Budapest Stock Exchange. His fields of inter-est include Macroeconomic Issues and Policies, Inter Governmental Fiscal Relations and Economic Policy Alternatives.

Valentin Lazea, chief economist at the National Bank of Romania since 1999, studied at Sussex University in Brighton and at the IMF Institute In Washington DC. He was also state secretary in the Ministry of Finance.

Tony Lybek is a senior economist in the Monetary and Financial Systems Department (MFD) of the IMF. He joined the Danish central bank, where he worked in the Foreign Department (managing international reserves) and the Monetary Policy Department. In 1992 he joined the Fund, where he has worked in the Fiscal Affairs Department, European II Department and MFD. He specializes in central bank legislation and payment systems, but covers a broad range of financial sector issues.

Lucian Croitoru is the advisor of the governor of the National bank of Romania on monetary policy issues. He has published papers like “Three relevant Unemployment rates” or “Monetary Policy and Banking Indus-try”. His opinions on monetary policy and strategies, economic outlook, potential output have been published on The Economist, Ziarul financiar, Wall Street and Capital.

Niels Schnecker is a financial consultant and Senior Partner of Schnecker van Wyck and Pearson. A former economic consultant at the White House, he studied both law and economics in France, where he received his PhD in Economics from University of Sorbonne.

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Monday, August 1st

Tuesday, August 2nd

Wedensday, August 3rd

9.00-10.30 Lajos Bokros, PhD

Lajos Bokros, PhD

Lajos Bokros,PhD

10.30-11.00 Coffee Break Coffee Break Coffee Break11.00-12.30 Lajos Bokros ,

PhDLajos Bokros , PhD

Lajos Bokros, PhD

12.30-13.00 Lunch Lunch Lunch13.00-14.00 Lunch Lunch Lunch14.00-15.00

15.00-16.00 Continental stories

Mr. Valentin Lazea (NBR)

Mr. Diósi (OTP)

16.00-17.00 Continental stories

Mr. Valentin Lazea (NBR)

Mr. Diósi (OTP)

17.00-18.00 Outdoor team build-ing game (Moxa park)

18.00-20:00 Informal activity - the Phaenician

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Thursday, August 4th

Friday, August 5th

Saturday, August 6th

Sunday, August 7th

Lajos Bokros, PhD

Lajos Bokros , PhD

Coffee Break Coffee BreakLajos Bokros , PhD

Lajos Bokros , PhD Informal activ-ity - “Guess Who”

Team work - research paper

Quick lunch Lunch Lunch LunchLunch Lunch

Ms. Kreibich (German embassy in Romania)

Outdoor activi-ties

Team work -research paper

Mr. Schnecker & Mr. OlsonMr. Schnecker & Mr. Olson

Informal activity “The newspaper”

Mr. Lybek

Deadline: Bibliog-raphy + references

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Monday, August 8th

Tuesday, August 9th

Wedensday, August 10th

9.00-10.30 Lajos Bokros, PhD

Lajos Bokros, PhD

Lajos Bokros,PhD

10.30-11.00 Coffee Break Coffee Break Coffee Break11.00-12.30 Lajos Bokros ,

PhDLajos Bokros , PhD

Lajos Bokros , PhD

12.30-13.00 Lunch Lunch Lunch13.00-14.00 Lunch Mr Chidesciuc

(ING)Lunch

14.00-15.00 Mr Chidesciuc (ING)

15.00-16.00 Mr. Copaciu Mr. Anghel (BCR)

16.00-17.00 Mr. Anghel (BCR)

17.00-18.00 Deadline:research paper chapters

Team work (research paper)

18.00-20:00 Final Dead-line: research paper

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Thursday, August 11th

Friday, August 12th

Saturday, August 13th

Sunday, August 14th

Lajos Bokros, PhD

Lajos Bokros , PhD

Coffee Break Coffee BreakLajos Bokros , PhD

Lajos Bokros , PhD

Departure

Lunch LunchLunchLucian Croitoru (NBR)

Petru Rares (RBI) Best papers and prizes

Mr. Șincu(Mazars)

Feedback session

Farewell party

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applicants

Target Group

The EMG participant: - is a bachelor/master student with a strong focus on macroeconomics and public policy; - is available, responsible, motivated, communicative and open-minded; - has an analytical way of looking at processes and a sharp insightful mind; - has a solid knowledge of English (both spoken and written).

Admission Process

The admission process consisted of two steps: completing an application and passing an interview.

The application formPart 1 Contact details (name, faculty, studying year, e-mail, telephone number etc.)What magazines, newspapers and websites do you usually read to keep up to date?Briefly describe any extra-curricular activities you have taken part in (seminars, conferences, trainings).Tell us what recommends you to take part in our summer school.Part 2Name one fault of the current global financial architecture and give a solution. (100 - 150 words)

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applicants

Choose a country and a particular sector, within its economy, which can contribute the most to the country’s long term economic growth. Explain your choice. (100 - 150 words)

Write a brief essay (300 – 350 words) on the adoption of the Euro touching upon the following: - Benefits and risks of a single currency - The EMU’s current state

Is the economy out of sync? Y/NIs the economy sinking? Y/N

InterviewExcerpts from the list of questions: - How is a financial crisis transmitted? - What is the difference between liquidity and solvability? - Why is deflation a bigger problem than inflation? - What could lead to a breakdown in the Monetary Union? What would be the immediate consequences of such a breakdown? - What measures can be taken by the governments of the EU members to avoid situations similar to Greece’s? - How does the current account deficit influence the exchange rate? - Can you find some any points in China’s current economic development model? - If you were to choose between state intervention/regulation and a laissez-faire politics, allowing the market to regulate itself, what solution would you choose for a faster rehabilitation of the financial system?

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First Name Last Name Faculty YearBianca Alexandrescu AES-FIBSE M2Valeria Burdea AES-IBE B2Stefan Coman AES-FIBSE B2Adriana Crosman AES-FE M2Georgiana Czenk AES-FIBSE B3Teodor Dumitrescu AES-FIBSE B2Sergiu Fintineru AES-FA B3Iulian Lolea AES-FIBSE B1Daniel Moraite AES-FIBSE M2Madalina Musca AES-FIBSE B2Radu Popa Earlham College B3Simina Puscasu AES-FIBSE B2Radu Mircea AES-FIBSE B3Andra Sanduleasa AES-IBE B2Mihaela Stepan AES-CSEI B1Alexandra Tauluca AES-IBE B2

Mircea Cernea AES-CSEI B3Andreea Avramescu AES-CSEI B1Cezara Suman AES-CSEI B1Razvan Raducanu AES-IBE M1Andra Anoaica AES-CSEI B1Georgiana Pandioniu AES-FIBSE B3

Abbreviations: AES – Academy of Economic Studies, IBE – Faculty of International Business and Econom-ics, CSEI - Cybernetics, Statics and Economics Informatics, FE – Faculty of Economics, FIBSE - Finance, Insurance, Banking and Stock Exchange, B for Bachelor and M for Master’s degree, followed by a number which represents the year.

List of participants

In additon to the external participants the following Econosofia members worked on the research papers:

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promoting the project

Well prepared participants aside, a high quality project needs to be equally well promoted, both within the academic environment and outside of it. First and foremost we used classic methods of getting the message across:

- printed materials distributed in student campuses; - online and offline media coverage; - e-groups; - on campus flash movie depicting the topics to be discussed; - social media tools (an EMG facebook page as well as posts on Econosofia’s facebook and twitter accouts (over 2000 subscribers in total).

Apart from the these classic methods, we also promoted the summer school through less conventional ways such as: - the EMG coffee break (students were offered free coffee and the opportunity to play a game in which they took on the responsibilities of Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Fed) and Econosofia certificates of acknowledgement for the students going to reexaminations to improve their grades. - a pre-event conference organized several months before the summer school actually started; - a post event videoconference to be organised in partnership with the British Council

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Pre-event conference On May 16, 2011 we organised a pre-event conference in order to promote the project through more direct means. The panel was called “The sustainability of Romania’s debt” and was moderated by Gabriela Radu. The conference had an attendance of 50 participants and the guests were Lucian Croitoru (consultant of Mugur Isarescu, the Chairman of NBR), Ionut Dumitru (Chief-Economist at Raiffeisen Bank), Niels Schnecker (consultant) and Anca Paliu Dragu (economist at the IMF).

Conference poster

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online media coverage

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social media coverage

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offline media and print coverage

The summer school was promoted through the following printed and online materials in the faculties of the Academy of Economic Studies and its surroundings.

book sign

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poster

diploma

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flyers

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Press advertisment

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E-mails sent to a data-base of 80 e-groups, with aproximately 60.000 users:

Hey, tu.Bine te-am gasit!Incepe vara, incepe EMG.Te anuntam ca formularul de inscriere il gasesti pe site (emg.econosofia.org) si atasat acestui mail. Ai timp pana pe 17 iunie, ora 23:59 sa il mod-elezi, prelucrezi si sa il trimiti la adresa emg@econosofia.org.EMG este scoala aceea DE VARA la care vom dezbate anul acesta: Is the economy out of sync and, if so, is it still sinking?, descoperim metode moderne de crestere economica si ne intrebam ce a schimbat criza in so-cietatea in care traim. Echipa, din care speram sa faci si tu parte, are un Dirijor principal - Lajos Bogros, fost director al Bancii Mondiale, professor la CEU si membru in Parlamentul European. Acompaniaza Lucian Croitoru - consilier BNR, Tonny Lybek - FMI, Nicolae Chidesciuc - economist sef ING, Valentin Lazea - economist sef BNR, Anca Paliu Dragu - FMI, Lucian Anghel- economist sef BCR, Ionut Dumitru - economist sef Raiffeisen, presedintele Consiliului Fiscal.

Spor si inspiratie iti dorim!

Sa auzim de bine,Econosofia.

Proiectul Economics through a Macrofying Glass Summer School este sustinut de catre BCR (partener gold) si Mazars (partener silver)

*Each partner had its name link to its website.

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Pofta de EMG.

A sti, a descoperi, a crede, a spera, a vedea.Avem o problema: sa ne explicam simplu lucrurile complexe ce se intam-pla in jurul nostru- societate, oameni, dar mai ales economie, ca principal domeniu de interes al nostru. Si noi, Econosofia, am vazut aceasta prob-lema si, reuniuti sub umbrella aceleiasi pasiuni, economia, i-am pregatit un leac, o scoala de vara ce poarta numele de EMG, adica Economics through a Macrofying Glass decriptat spus. Cu carnet de scoala si premi-ant cu coronita, EMG e deja marisor, numara deja sapte editii.Cortina se trage pe 1 august pentru doua saptamani, in Bucuresti, iar actori principali sunt 25 de studenti, cu dorinte, pasiuni si vise cu iz de economie si politici publice. Cum un spectacol de marca are nevoie de un regizor fabulos, l-am ales, si ne-a ales, pe Lajos Bokros, professor la CEU si fost Di-rector al Bancii Mondiale. Dar noi lucram si credem in puterea unei echipe asa ca apelam la economist, analisti economici si consultanti financiari de notorietate si cu relevanta recunoscuta la nivel international(global): Lu-cian Croitoru, Valentin Lazea si Mihai Copaciu(BNR), Tony Lybeck si Anca Paliu Dragu(FMI), Ionut Dumitru(Raiffeisen Bank, Consiliul fiscal), Nicolae Chidesciuc(ING, CFA), Lucian Anghel(BCR), Niels Schnecker(consultat).

Toate cele bune si te asteptam cu drag,EconosofiaShedding light on Economics!VIP- Voluntari pentru Idei si ProiecteCredem in oameni exceptionali!

Proiectul Economics through a Macrofying Glass Summer School este sustinut de catre BCR (partener gold) si Mazars (partener silver)

*Each partner had its name linked to its website.

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Media partners

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Budget and expenses

The project had an initial budget of roughly 10 000 Euros, but went through severe restructuring due to lack of sponsorship. Thus, the struc-ture of the summer school changed, and the participants were no longer offered accommodation during the summer school. They were offered two options: to find accommodation on their own in Bucharest or to stay at the Academy of Economic Studies dorms, at Moxa, either way, paying for their own staying.

The expenses for printing needed in promoting the project, the prizes for the authors of the best research paper, as well as the protocol expenses were assured by in-kind partnerships.

Thus, our main expenses were in assuring transportation, accommoda-tion and the fee for our main guest, Mr. Bokros. The following two charts show the main components of the budget, by revenues and expenses, in-kinds aside. The logistics part of the costs was almost insignificant.

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Sources of funding

Project expenses

Mazars17%

OTP42%

Econosofia41%

Chart Title

Fee & transport prof. Bokros

70%

Accomodation prof. Bokros

19%

Retroactive banks

comissions1%

Communication1%

Printing1%

Protocol8%

Logistics0%

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testimonials

Faptul că ASE a reușit să găsească o scuză pentru a nu vă găzdui dezbaterile mă încurajează să cred că tot ce v-am spus este corect. Competiția este încă o componentă care lipsește în multe domenii. (Lucian Croitoru)

Much work still to be done to get Euope out of the crisis - you can make a difference! (Sonja Kreibich)

Dear Econosofia, many thanks for being part of this great idea. (Tony Lybek)

Sunt extrem de încântat de faptul că am întâlnit tineri fo-arte inteligenți interesați de economie. Sper să ajungă rapid să conducă România. (Lucian Anghel)

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the EMG 2011 organizing team Mircea Cernea – Project Manager

Roxana Popescu – Co-project ManagerVlad Vasilescu – Sales Coordinator

Gabriela Radu – Marketing and PR CoordinatorAndreea Avramescu – PR Specialist

Luiza Pandioniu – PR ExecutiveAndra Anoaica – Marketing Specialist

Georgiana Pandioniu – Marketing ExecutiveTheodor Vlădășel – Marketing Executive

Cristina Radu – Sales ExecutiveAnca Isbășoiu – Sales Executive

Răzvan Răducanu – Head of BudgetingCristina Epure – Human Resources Executive

Many thanks to: Adina Tănase, Maria Pepine, Nicoleta Gologan and Ștefania Apostol.

www.emg.econosofia.orgemg@econosofia.orgwww.econosofia.orgwww.vipromania.ro

Mircea Cernea, Project Manager(+4) 0724 671 883, mircea.cernea@econosofia.org

ECONOSOFIA, CLUB OF VOLUNTEERS FOR IDEAS AND PROJECTS, FRUMOASEI STREET, NO 31, ACADEMY OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES, ROOM 27, DISTRICT 1,

BUCHAREST, IBAN CODE: RO 35 RNCB 0082 04441 6126 0001, FISCAL CODE: 11875028