Re-thinking and understanding the proper role of finance in society is critical. Without hardly any thought, a Wall Street/finance-centric mentality has captured the policy making process which too often simply assumes and believes that what is good for Wall Street is good for America. However, finance is supposed to serve society and support increasing jobs, wages and living standards. That is going to require a re-balancing because finance has overshadowed the real economy and, indeed, become a lethal threat to it and society more broadly: tens of millions of Americans are still working to recover from the 2008 financial crash that touched every corner of our society and will cost more than $12.8 trillion.

Almost the entire economics profession supported and were cheerleaders for the policies that lead to those cataclysmic events. So, has the economics profession rethought and changed the failed policies and models of the past? Has the teaching or practice of economics changed? In short, no, which is why the Institute of New Economic Thinking (INET) was created in 2010.

INET recently held a conference at the OECD in Paris, France titled, Liberté, Égalité, Fragilité: New Economic Thinking 2015. The conference centered on inequality, financial instability, and economic teachings, themes that are important abroad and here at home. You can find videos from the conference here.

Don’t miss the upcoming conference in Washington, hosted by INET and an independent committee that includes Anat Admati of Stanford University, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu of the International Monetary Fund, Gudrun Johnsen from the University of Iceland and Signe Krogstrup of the Swiss National Bank, that will highlight the role of finance in society. Speakers include Senator Elizabeth Warren, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

To learn more about and register for the conference, click here.

You can also watch a livestream of the conference on May 5th and 6th here.