Top economic experts from across the world will gather in Newcastle next week to discuss the legacy of higher unemployment in the wake of the global financial crisis.
The Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) at the University of Newcastle will host the international conference Labour Underutilisation - Unemployment and Underemployment on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 December 2009. The conference incorporates the 11th Path to Full Employment conference and the 16th National Conference on Unemployment.
CofFEE Director, Professor Bill Mitchell, said the conference was timely as businesses were beginning to recover from the crisis.
"During the crisis, many businesses rationed hours of work to cope with the declining demand for goods and services," Professor Mitchell said.
"Now more than ever, greater focus has to be placed on job creation to protect the most disadvantaged workers from lengthy spells of unemployment."
The conference will cover issues such as: full employment; job guarantees; underemployment; social inclusion policy; regional labour market disparities; long-term youth, disabled and Indigenous unemployment; Welfare to Work; the global financial crisis; poverty alleviation; and climate change policy and green jobs.
The conference has attracted a number of acclaimed speakers.
Thursday 3 December 2009
Mr Marshall Auerback of RAB Capital plc will speak about the lessons to be learned from the Great Depression and how it is time for a New Deal (New Deal refers to economic policies introduced in the US during the Great Depression).
Dr Jesus Felipe, Director of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute, and Professor Robert McCutcheon, University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa, will discuss the dilemmas of inclusive growth full employment and structural change in Asia.
Professor Philip Harvey from Rutgers School of Law, Camden, US, will also speak of the lessons learned from the New Deal.
Friday 4 December 2009
Ms Louise Tarrant, National Secretary of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union will speak about the plight of low paid workers in Australia.
CofFEE Director Bill Mitchell will join with Professor L. Randall Wray, from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and financial markets expert Warren Mosler. They will present a workshop on Modern Monetary Theory, which will focus on the current debates about the best use of government spending.
A full conference program can be viewed at http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee
The conference will be held on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 December 2009 on Level 2 of the General Purpose Building at the University of Newcastle's Callaghan campus.
