Events at CERGE-EI

A new CERGE-EI series presenting the research of outstanding young economists who have recently received the John Bates Clark Medal. The first speaker in the series is Oleg Itskhoki of Harvard University, a leading macroeconomist working on international trade and finance.

Please register here to reserve your place, as capacity is limited.

The Optimal Macro Tariff

Can tariffs protect jobs, strengthen industry, and reduce trade deficits? This public lecture introduces new economic research showing that tariffs do much more than change the price of imported goods. They also affect exchange rates, international capital flows, and the balance between a country’s debts and assets in the global economy.

Focusing on the United States, the talk explains why the effects of tariffs are often very different from what political debates suggest. Rather than simply making a country stronger, tariffs can shift adjustment into financial markets and currency movements, with uncertain consequences for growth, inequality, and global stability. The lecture offers an accessible introduction to the hidden economic forces behind today’s trade conflicts.

The John Bates Clark Medal Talks lecture series at CERGE-EI was supported by Pale Fire Capital.