Olli Rehn: The Political Economy of the European Response to the 2008 Economic Collapse

Conversations Host Harry Kreisler welcomes Olli Rehn, Vice President of the European Commission, for a discussion of Europe's response to the 2008 Economic Collapse. Topics covered include a comparison of the U.S. and European institutional situation at the time of the Lehman collapse and the divergence of response; Europe's complex institutional structure; why political/economic analysis is necessary for understanding Europe's policy making; why timing, power and sequencing of priorities are so consequential; the role of the commission and its goals; the use of language in navigating the divisions between political and technocratic solutions with specific references to matters such as fiscal consolidation versus stimulus.