Development Economics
Mercatus Events

Access Academia: Out of the Ivory Tower and onto the Hill

Jan 24, 2007
11:30am – 12:45pm
<p> <strong>B-339 Rayburn House Office Building House Office Building, Interns not Invited</strong> </p>

Featuring:

The Honorable Timothy Roemer
Distinguished Scholar 
Mercatus Center

Session A
Trade, Aid and Enterprise: Fighting Poverty in Africa
Karol Boudreaux
Senior Fellow
Mercatus Center

Click Here to view Ms. Boudreaux's PowerPoint presentation.

Session B:
Government Accountability: Moving Beyond the Rhetoric
The Honorable Maurice McTigue
Vice President
Mercatus Center

Click Here  to view the Honorable Maurice McTigue's PowerPoint presentation.

Session C:
The Economics of Hedge Funds: Principles and Policy
Houman Shadab 
Senior Research Fellow
Mercatus Center

Click Here  to view Mr. Shadab's PowerPoint presentation.

Click Here to view Mr. Shadab's Handout on the relationship between pensions and hedge funds.

Many universities and academics are known for their inaccessible scholarship, which their nickname of ‘ivory towers' readily demonstrates.  However, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University provides a unique window into that scholarship by uniting the worlds of policy and academia through a variety of educational programs.  The Mercatus Center's affiliation with George Mason University enables it to be the premiere provider of university-based resources to Capitol Hill.  As a welcome to incoming Congressional staffers and a welcome back to the thousands of staffers who have already attended the Mercatus Center's educational courses, Mercatus hosted a series of welcome events entitled Access Academia, including a luncheon and accompanying reception to kick-off the new Congress. 

  • What examples of successful entrepreneurship exist in Africa?
  • Official development assistance has had insufficient results in Africa, can local enterprise provide a more sustainable means to fight poverty?
  • What constrains entrepreneurship and what might U.S. policy makers consider as they focus on poverty alleviation in Africa
  • Can Congress find a mechanism to discipline the budget process? Is it PAYGO? What incentives and characteristics does PAYGO bring to the process that were not present in the past? Is an even wider institutional reform necessary to overhaul the budget process?
  • What incentives are created by the process of accountability and what rules are necessary to make an accountability process     effective?
  • What actions does Congress need to take to arrest declining public confidence in the institution of Congress? 
  • The unique nature, benefits, and challenges of hedge funds
  • The impact of regulation on hedge funds and financial markets
  • The role of hedge funds in the changing world of global capital

 

 

Development Economics
Enterprise Africa