CPB Lectures

CPB has been organising 'CPB Lectures' since 2008. Every year, a renowned guest speaker is invited to hold a lecture on a current topic. Since 2015, these lectures have also been open to a wider audience.

CPB Lecture 2023 "Redesigning EU fiscal rules: how to account for climate action?

The discussion about European fiscal rules has heated up again. It is clear that the current rules system is no longer adequate. But what is the alternative? And how can we ensure that within the alternative system necessary “green investments” will take place? Keynote speaker this year was Jeromin Zettelmeyer, director of Bruegel, an European think-tank.

You can watch this lecture on CPB’s YouTube channel  via video

CPB Lecture 2022 "The economist as a plumber? Hidden normativity in economic policy advice"

‘The economist as a plumber? Hidden normativity in economic policy advice’. This was the theme of the annual CPB Lecture. This year our guest was Diane Coyle, professor at the University of Cambridge. Diane Coyle is the co-director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, and author of the book ‘Cogs and monsters: what economics is, and what it should be’, chosen as the best economics book by the Financial Times in 2021.

You can watch this lecture on CPB’s YouTube channel  via video 1 en video 2.

CPB Lecture 2021 "The Future of Work"

What jobs have disappeared and which have been created, and what are the developments that can be expected? Who are the winners and losers on the labour market? And what are the policy challenges? These were the topics of the 2021 CPB Lecture, which was delivered by David Autor (MIT), on 23 September 2021.

David Autor, Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is also one of the directors of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future and the NBER Labor Studies Program. His lecture, ‘The Future of Work’, had a special focus on the role of policy.

In a co-lecture, Egbert Jongen, programme leader on the subject of labour at CPB, discussed the impact of technological developments on the Dutch labour market, the extent to which technological change in the Netherlands will lead to the creation and disappearance of jobs, and the policy challenges.

View the presentations and download the slides.
 

CPB Lecture 2020 "Machine learning for economic research and policy"

The CPB Lecture 2020 was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and was therefore not held until 22 April 2021. It was delivered by Guido Imbens (Professor of Economics at Stanford University). He spoke about the application of machine learning. 

After Guido Imbens' presentation, Mark Kattenberg (CPB) spoke in a co-lecture about sensible applications of machine learning in policy research. Mark Kattenberg is a CPB researcher and coordinator of the Data Science Team (DST). DST explores the possibilities of machine learning in applied policy research, studying questions such as whether machine learning could be used to improve projections of, for instance, unemployment, even in uncertain times of crisis. Another issue referred to identifying the ethical risks of using machine learning in relation to sensitive topics or data.

At the end of the CPB Lecture, Misja Mikkers (Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) and Tilburg University) talked to Jeroen Hinloopen (CPB Deputy Director) about his experiences with machine learning in NZa’s policy research. Misja Mikkers is chief economist at NZa and a Professor at Tilburg University.

View the presentations and download the lecture by Mark Kattenberg.
 

CPB Lecture 2019 "Inequality in the Labor Market - Causes, Consequences and Policy Options"

The theme of this lecture was inequality and was delivered by Magne Mogstad (Gary S. Becker Professor at the University of Chicago). The year 2019 was also the year in which Jan Tinbergen, founder of CPB Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis, won the Nobel Prize in Economics, 50 years earlier (in 1969). Tinbergen was very interested in income inequality, as it is strongly related to inequality on the labour market.

In a co-lecture, Egbert Jongen (CPB) discussed income inequality in the Netherlands in relation to migration background. Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Wouter Koolmees, closed the lecture. 

The subject of this lecture is elaborated on CPB’s YouTube channel by Magne Mogstad and Egbert Jongen.

 

CPB Lecture 2018 "Circular economy: economy and ecology in balance"

The theme of the 2018 CPB Lecture was the circular economy and was delivered by Don Fullerton (Professor of Finance at the University of Illinois). Don Fullerton has built an impressive track record in the field of environmental policy effectiveness and efficiency through his work at Berkeley, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon and elsewhere. During his lecture, he outlined what a more circular economy means for the economy, the environment and related policies. 

Watch Don Fullerton on the circular economy on CPB’s YouTube channel

 

CPB Lecture 2017 "The future of the European financial system"

The theme of the 2017 CPB Lecture was the European Central Bank's unconventional monetary policy.  The use of central bank reserves will drastically change the European financial landscape, in the coming years. The lecture was delivered by Ricardo Reis (Professor of Empirical Macroeconomics at the London School of Economics). Ricardo Reis is editor of the Journal of Monetary Economics and advisor at the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis, New York and Richmond.

The lecture can be viewed on CPB’s YouTube channel


CPB Lecture 2016 "Political economy"

The 2016 CPB Lecture on Political Economy was delivered by James Robinson (Professor at the University of Chicago and author of ‘Why Nations Fail’, which he wrote in 2012 with Daron Acemoglu). In his lecture, he focused on the role of political institutions in advanced economies and, in particular, the interaction between these institutions and economic growth.

After the lecture, Arjan Lejour presented ‘Political Economy of tax reforms’, a study into the factors that determine whether such reform would be successful in the Netherlands. CPB has investigated why some of the major tax reforms are translated into policy while others are not.

The lecture can be viewed on CPB’s YouTube channel

 

CPB Lecture 2015 "The Scourge of Long-Term Unemployment"

The 2015 CPB Lecture was delivered by Professor Alan B. Krueger (Princeton University). The assembly was officially opened by Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Lodewijk Asscher. After Professor Krueger’s lecture, CPB presented a policy paper on the consequences of long-term unemployment.

The lecture can be viewed on CPB’s YouTube channel

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