Recapping the 2023 American Economic Association Annual Meeting

Afua Owusu
March 6, 2023

IDG’s latest newsletter covers topics like the Economic Implications of War in Ukraine, the Influence of Climate Change on Labor and Capital Reallocation, Digital Disruption in Banking, and much more! Check out the snippet below from IDG Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Robert Kirk.

In the first week of January, I left Washington D.C. to attend my first in-person Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Conference since Chicago in 2012; at least this time, it would be warm. After two years, when ASSA went completely virtual, it was now back in-person with several selected sessions streamed online. The American Economic Association (AEA), the anchor organization of ASSA, required all attendees to be fully vaccinated against COVID and masked at all sessions. Virtual attendance was just over 6,000, a 40 percent decline from the last pre-COVID Conference. The AEA had its headquarters at the Hilton, with most of the 64 participating organizations assigned to neighboring hotels (all within a 10-minute walk, which was fine, providing the weather played ball). Perhaps next year, there will be a report on whether Sunday’s inclement weather influenced participants’ session choices?

IDG at the American Economic Association Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. From left to right: Kate Bartram, David Morgan, Carina Campellone, Robert Kirk, Michaela Becconsall, and Regan Price.

Global developments were reflected in the number of sessions allocated to measuring the impact of COVID-19, Russia’s war with Ukraine, and the macro trends. From a development perspective, there were multiple sessions on global supply chains, recent issues in agricultural trade, randomized controlled trials to evaluate business training, and educational initiatives. There were also sessions integrating behavioral economic insights into development challenges.

Read the full newsletter here.


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