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Outstanding Event

The man of the hour

Fare Thee Well, Hans-Werner Sinn

A fitting crowning for a towering career. A good part of Germany's political and business elite and part of the world's economic pantheon gathered in Munich to honour Hans-Werner Sinn, an economist who, as many of those present asserted, has dominated economic policy debate at home and abroad like no other in recent decades.

Organised by Mr Sinn's fellow Executive Board member Meinhard Knoche, the day started with an international scientific symposium on public policy, academically coordinated by Robin Boadway, emeritus at Queen's University, and Carsten Eckel, Dean of the LMU Economics Faculty.


Opening words


Robin Boadway


Carsten Eckel

The words of welcome were delivered by Bernd Huber, LMU President, Assaf Razin, Cornell University, Robert Haveman, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Rick van der Ploeg, University of Oxford. A scientific laudation was delivered by Kai Konrad, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Policy, and a Keynote speech by Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.


Bernd Huber


Assaf Razin


Robert Haveman


Rick van der Ploeg


Kai Konrad


Full House


Jens Weidmann


Jens Weidmann


Jens Weidmann on Sinn and Economics


Keep it coming


An attentive audience: Kai Konrad and Clemens Fuest


Lots of humour amid the praise

The first panel dealt with the deficits and cures for the European Monetary Union. Moderated by Harold James, Princeton University, it featured Henning Bohn, University of California, Santa Barbara, Otmar Issing, University of Frankfurt, and Frank Westermann, Osnabrück University.


Harold James


Henning Bohn


Otmar Issing


Frank Westermann


Discussing the cures


The whole family at the coffee break

After the coffee break, the second panel was devoted to free trade and the various initiatives to make even freer. Moderated by James R. Markusen, University of Colorado at Boulder, it featured Avinash K. Dixit, Princeton University, Sascha O. Becker, University of Warwick, and Peter H. Egger, ETH Zurich.


James R. Markusen


Avinash Dixit


Sascha O. Becker


Peter H. Egger


Now I've got this question for you...


Trading views

After the lunck break, Panel 3 sought to draw lessons for public policy. Under the moderation of Oliver Hart, Harvard University, it featured ir Partha Dasgupta, University of Cambridge, Philippe Aghion, London School of Economics, and Xavier Vives, IESE Business School.


Oliver Hart


Sir Partha Dasgupta


Philippe Aghion


Xavier Vives


Couldn't resist: a question from the audience


The full panel

The fourth and final panel addressed the issue of public debt. Led by Michael P. Devereux, University of Oxford, it presented the views of Joel B. Slemrod, University of Michigan, Barbara Wolfe, University of Winsconsin-Madison, Vito Tanzi, formerly IMF, and Alan J. Auerbach, University of California, Berkeley.


Michael P. Devereux


Joel Slemrod


Barbara Wolfe


Vito Tanzi


Alan J. Auerbach


Now that was a good one

Once the international symposium was concluded, the official farewell ceremony started. Introduced by Bernd Huber, President of the LMU University of Munich, and Peter-Alenxander Wacker, Chairman of both the Board of Trustees and the Adiministrative Council of the Ifo Institute, it featured two ceremonial lectures, by Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's Finance Minister, and Martin S. Feldstein, Harvard University and President Emeritus of NBER, respectively.


Bernd Huber


Peter-Alexander Wacker


Wolfgang Schäuble


Wolfgang Schäuble


H.-W. Sinn and Wolfgang Schäuble


Greeting Gerlinde Sinn


Martin S. Feldstein


Martin S. Feldstein


Soaking in the lecture

The musical interlude was followed by a retrospective of Hans-Werner Sinn's quarter-century at the LMU and the ifo Institute, with the views and reminiscences of Otto Wiesheu, a former Bavarian State Minister of Economics, Agnar Sandmo, Norwegian School of Economics, and Monika Schnitzer, LMU University of Munich


Otto Wiesheu


Agnar Sandmo


Monika Schnitzer

The day was wrapped up with a pleasant dinner.


Meinhard Knoche hands over a very special book on Hans-Werner Sinn: See the book


At the Munich Residenz


Milling before the dinner


Bavarian Vice-Premier Ilse Aigner


Ilse Aigner


Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer

 

My time is just about up: Hans-Werner Sinn and his successor, Clemens Fuest