Participants in order of appearance

Gerardo della Paolera is President of The American University of Paris (AUP) and a member of the Economics faculty. He holds an A.M. in Economics (1985) and a PhD in Economics (1988) from the University of Chicago. Before joining AUP, Dr. della Paolera was the Founding President and Rector of Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1990 to 2001. In addition to his extensive experience in educational administration, Dr. della Paolera is also a world-renowned expert on Latin American economic history: He was a Visiting Professor at Doshisha University in Japan (2002), the London School of Economics and Political Science (2002), Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University (1998 and 1999), Northwestern University (1997), the International Monetary Fund (1997), the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella (1990-91), and the Centro de Estudios Macroeconómicos (1990). He has given seminars in Argentina, Chile, China, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and U.S.A., and participated in over 30 conferences worldwide. He has published a dozen papers in peer-reviewed journals and he is the author of the best article published in the Journal of Economic History in 2000: “Economic Recovery from the Argentine Great Depression: Institutions, Expectations, and the Change of the Macroeconomic Regime” (Arthur Cole Prize 1999-2000). Furthermore he was Chief International Economist of the Banco Río de la Plata S.A. – New York Branch (1988- 89) working extensively on projects involving Sovereign Debt for Equity Swaps. He was one of the framers of the Argentine Private Development Fund (APDT), a consultant for HIID (Harvard Institute for International Development) and assisted the Macroeconomic Stabilization plan of Bolivia during 1990-1993. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Fundación Pent in Buenos Aires and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Graduate School of Business at the Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina since 2003.

Juergen B. Donges, born in Seville, is Professor of Economics at the University of Cologne. He is Co-Director of the Institute for Economic Policy since 1989 and since 2002 also of the Otto-Wolff-Institut für Wirtschaftsordnung. Before accepting a position in Cologne he had been affiliated to the Kiel Institute for World Economics for around 20 years, since 1972 as Department Head and since 1983 as Vice President. He has been a member of the German Council of Economic Advisers (Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung) from 1992-2002 and Chairman during the last two years. He published a large number of monographs and essays, among them also numerous inquiries into the economic development of Spain.

Manfred Feldsieper studied economics, history and indologie in Genf, Mainz and Kalkutta. He earned his degree in Economics and his doctorate in Mainz. Afterwards he worked as a Research Fellow with the German Council of Economic Advisers. Since 1974 he is a Professor at the University of Cologne, teaching mainly Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy. He has been to Kabul, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Peking and Fortaleza as Visiting Professor. For more than 10 years he has been dedicated to the Latin America Studies course which was introduced in1989. He established Cologne as a leading research centre on Brazil with the support of several graduates in Latin America Studies.

Salvatore Dell’Erba, born in Taranto, Italy, currently participates in the Advanced Studies Program of the Kiel Institute for World Economics. He got a B.A. in Economics, Statistics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University in Milan. He also attended Summer Schools at the Leonard Stern School of Business, New York University, the Copenhagen Business School and Lancaster University. From October 2004 to January 2005 he has been an intern at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva. His research interests include macroeconomics, and among other topics the real and nominal convergence of EU Member States.

Werner Baer is the Jorge Lemann Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He received his PhD from Harvard University and taught previously at Yale University and Vanderbilt University. He has also been a Visiting Professor in Brazil at the University of São Paulo, The Vargas Foundation of Rio de Janeiro, the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and at IBMEC/Rio. He is the author of the well-known book Brazilian Economic Growth and Development as well as of many articles and monographs on Brazilian and Latin American economic development.