Skip to content

Conference

Rethinking economic policy in an age of geopolitical rivalry

A conversation between Laura Tyson and Laurence Boone

Add to calendar 2026-03-26 18:00 2026-03-26 19:30 Europe/Rome Rethinking economic policy in an age of geopolitical rivalry Elinor Ostrom Room - BTC 104 Palazzo Buontalenti YYYY-MM-DD
Print

Scheduled dates

Mar 26 2026

18:00 - 19:30 CET

Elinor Ostrom Room - BTC 104, Palazzo Buontalenti

Organised by

The EUI's Florence School of Transnational Governance is hosting a forward-looking debate about how economic policy must adapt to a structurally more contested world. During this event, Laura Tyson and Laurence Boone will confront the uncomfortable realities facing economic policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic, moderated by George Papaconstantinou.

Industrial policy is back. Public debt is high. Trade is fragmenting. Currencies are weaponised. The multilateral system is strained to the point of breaking. So what now?

In this high-level exchange, Laura Tyson and Laurence Boone confront the uncomfortable realities facing economic policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic. The era of frictionless globalisation is over. The question is whether what replaces it will be strategic, sustainable, and politically viable.

Are we witnessing a necessary correction to excessive globalisation and naïve market liberalism, or the return of costly economic nationalism? Can fiscal frameworks designed for cyclical stabilisation cope with the permanent shocks of climate transition, demographic ageing, security spending and the AI race? Is there still scope for economic policy coordination between the US and Europe, despite tariffs, subsidy races and diverging political constraints?

Moderated by George Papaconstantinou, this conversation will move beyond consensus language to probe real trade-offs:

• Growth versus resilience

• Debt sustainability versus public investment

• Strategic autonomy versus open markets

• National politics versus multilateral cooperation

This is a forward-looking debate about how economic policy must adapt to a structurally more contested world.

Laura D. Tyson | Senior Fellow, Florence School of Transnational Governance, EUI

Laura Tyson is a Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, where she chairs the Blum Center for Developing Economies Board of Trustees and serves as a senior adviser on Sustainable and Impact Finance at Haas. A leading authority on trade, competitiveness, industrial policy, and the future of work, she served in the Clinton Administration as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and as Director of the National Economic Council. She has also served as Dean of the Haas School of Business at Berkeley and of London Business School, and as a member of President Obama's economic advisory boards. She is currently a member of California Governor Gavin Newsom's Council of Economic Advisors and a board member of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Laurence Boone | Part-time Professor, Florence School of Transnational Governance

Laurence Boone is a French economist with extensive experience spanning international organisations, government, and the financial sector. She served as economic adviser to French President François Hollande, as Chief Economist and Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, and as Secretary of State for European Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, where she played a central role in EU enlargement negotiations and European economic security. She has also held senior positions at AXA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Barclays Capital, and currently heads Santander Corporate & Investment Banking France. She holds a PhD in Applied Econometrics from London Business School and has taught at Sciences Po, École Polytechnique, and King's College.

Register

Related events

  • Read more

    Conference

    05 May 2026 10:00 - 11:00 CEST

    Martti Ahtisaari Peace Hall, Palazzo Buontalenti,

    Conference

    Florence School of Transnational Governance

    Opening of the EUI Climate Week

    Speakers:

    Nathalie Tocci (EUI Florence School of Transnational Governance and Istituto Affari Internazionali) Paul Rushton (NATO) Eva Krukowska (Bloomberg) Ambroise Fayolle

  • Read more

    Conference

    05 May 2026 11:30 - 13:00 CEST

    Elinor Ostrom Room, Palazzo Buontalenti,

    Conference

    Florence School of Transnational Governance

    How to gradually include EU candidate countries in the EU ETS?

    Speakers:

    Ivan Mrvaljevic (EPCG) Artur Lorkowski (Energy Community) Susanne Nies (Helmholtz Center Berlin) Christian Dietz (EUI)

Go back to top of the page