Conferences & Symposia

2024 Symposium

Wisconsin International Law Journal presents:

Central Banking in a Time of Crisis: An International & Interdisciplinary Perspective

Date: April 12, 2024

See registration information below.

Overview

This conference brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines and countries to discuss the structure, powers, and independence of central banks, and how they respond to crises such as the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change.

In a crisis, a central bank is supposed to maintain its neutrality in the credit market by lending freely at a punitive rate to banks. This arrangement means that the loans will be temporary, and that banks will maintain their role as primary decision-makers in the allocation of credit. But time and again, the Federal Reserve and other central banks have violated the rules of this playbook in order to restore stability to financial markets during crises. Such departures have prompted charges of hypocrisy, politicization, and calls for banks to acknowledge their political power to intervene on behalf of various causes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve used its Section 13(3) authority, which allows it to provide liquidity to non-bank commercial entities. Since the Federal Reserve doesn’t typically loan commercially, this authority is only available in times of crisis when at least five governors find that “exigent and unusual circumstances” exist. The use of the Section 13(3) power during the pandemic led to the creation of many new facilities, some of which extend credit to the real economy. Many critics have argued that the creation of these facilities went beyond the authorized powers of the Fed, therefore requiring congressional approval.

Prompted by these developments, this conference asks the following questions: What is the true role of a central bank, and how is such a role defined by law and politics? How do other central banks differ in their governance and authority, particularly in times of crisis? Have these crises pushed central banks beyond their proper boundaries, or have they revealed that such boundaries were never meaningful in the first place? And finally, do the answers to these questions suggest that the structures of the central bank are in need of reform or even a radical overhaul?

April 12, 2024

8:00-8:30 A.M.	Check In
8:30-9:00 A.M.	Welcoming Remarks Neiha Lasharie Editor-in-Chief, Wisconsin International Law Journal Daniel Tokaji Fred W. & Vi Miller Dean and Professor of Law University of Wisconsin Law School Sarah Verzal Senior Program Editor, Wisconsin International Law Journal
9:00-10:00 A.M.	Keynote Address Peter Conti-Brown Associate Professor of Financial Regulation The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
10:00-10:15 A.M.	BREAK
10:15 A.M.-11:30 A.M.	Panel 1: Central Bank Independence: Law, Politics or Policy? Moderator: John Ohnesorge George Young Bascom Professor of Law Director of the East Asian Legal Studies Center University of Wisconsin Law School Panelists Gene Park Professor of Political Science and International Relations Loyola Marymount University Kenya Amano Post-Doctoral Fellow, Weatherhead Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Harvard University Dan Rohde S.J.D. Candidate & Fellow in Law and Political Economy Harvard Law School Jean-Paul Veiga da Rocha Professor of Law University of São Paulo
11:30-1:00 P.M.	LUNCH
1:00-2:15 P.M.	Panel 2: Legitimacy, Central Banking, and the Hierarchy of Money Moderator: Jason Yackee Foley & Lardner Bascom Professor of Law University of Wisconsin Law School Panelists Aditi Sahasrabuddhe Assistant Professor of Political Science Brown University Aaron James Professor of Philosophy University of California, Irvine Menzie Chinn Professor of Public Affairs & Economics University of Wisconsin-Madison
2:15-2:30 P.M.	BREAK
2:30-3:45 P.M.	Panel 3: New Challenges for Central Banks Moderator: Joshua Braver Assistant Professor of Law University of Wisconsin Law School Panelists Vivienne Lawack Deputy Vice Chancellor and Professor of Law University of the Western Cape Nicolas Jabko Professor of Political Science Johns Hopkins University Roberto Robatto Assistant Professor of Finance Wisconsin School of Business
3:45-4:15 P.M.	Closing Remarks Joshua Braver Assistant Professor of Law University of Wisconsin Law School

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Past Symposia

More information on all Symposia can be found on the University of Wisconsin Law Library’s Digital Repository’s WILJ Symposiums.

2020-Present

2023 WILJ Symposium Program: Immigration & Access to Legal Resources for Migrants & Refugees
2022 WILJ Symposium Program: Climate Change and Law – Global to Local Legal and Policy Challenges
2021 WILJ Symposium Program: International Law and Racial Justice
2021 WILJ Symposium Recordings: International Law and Racial Justice
2020 Wisconsin International Law Scholars Conference Program: Limits and Potential of Human Rights in Pursuit of Climate Justice

2010-2019

2019 WILJ Symposium Program: Lawyers and Lawyering in China and Russia: Common Challenges
2018 WILJ Symposium Program: Sustainable Development Goals and International Law: Intersections of Environmental Law, Human Rights, and Environmental Justice
2017 WILJ Symposium Program: Regional Human Rights Systems in Crisis
2016 WILJ Symposium: Stamping Privacy’s Passport: The Role of International Law in Safeguarding Individual Privacy
2015 WILJ Symposium: International Law Walks the Line: Border Disputes and Resolution for the 21st Century
2014 WILJ Symposium: Creation of International Law: Exploring the International Law Components of Peace
2013 WILJ Symposium: A Comparative Perspective on Social Justice Lawyering in Asia: Conditions, Practices and Possibilities
2012 WILJ Symposium Poster: Renewable Energy & Climate Change: Opportunities & Challenges
2010 WILJ Symposium: Personal Reminiscences of David Trubek

1999-2009

2009 WILJ Symposium Program: Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities for International Law ( 2009 WILJ Symposium Flyer)
2008 WILJ Symposium Program: Dialogue on Cross-Border Health Care
2007 WILJ Symposium Program: Islamic Law in a Globalized World: Implications for Contemporary Finance Law
2006 WILJ Symposium Program: Humanitarian Intervention After 9/11
2005 WILJ Symposium Program: Economic Globalization and Corporate Governance
2004 WILJ Symposium Program: Speaking Law to Power: International Law and Foreign Policy
2003 WILJ Symposium Program: The Newly Established International Criminal Court
2002 WILJ Symposium Program: Access to Medicines for the Developing World: International Facilitation or Hindrance?
2001 WILJ Symposium Program: A Right to Democracy?
2000 WILJ Symposium Program: National Merger Enforcement, Transnational Mergers, and the Global Economy
1999 WILJ Symposium Program: Regulation of International Capital Markets