Seventh Annual NBER-NCAER Neemrana Conference

Neemrana Fort Palace Resort
(Rajasthan)
January 15-17, 2006

PROGRAMME

Sunday January 15, 2006

Session I

2.00 - 2.15 PM                    Welcome and Introductions

Martin Feldstein, President, NBER

Bimal Jalan, President, NCAER

Session II A 

2.15 - 3.15 PM                    The US and the World Economy

Chair: Bimal Jalan, President NCAER

Presentations/Panel

Martin Feldstein, NBER

Anne Krueger, IMF

Rakesh Mohan, RBI "Some Apparent Puzzles for Contemporary Monetary Policy"

Comments: T.N. Ninan, Business Standard

General Discussion

4.15 - 4.45 PM                                   Tea break

Session II B

4.45 - 6.45 PM                    Indian Economy

Chair : Ashok Lahiri, Ministry of Finance

Presenataions/Panel

Vasundhara Raje Scindia, The Honourable CM of Rajasthan "Role of States in Economic Reforms"

Saumitra Chaudhuri, ICRA "India - Outlook on Growth"

Rajendra S. Pawar, NIIT

Suman Bery, NCAER " India : Economic Issues and Debates"

Comments: Sanjaya Baru, Prime Minister's Office

General Discussion

7.30 PM                                             Cocktails and Dinner

Monday January 16, 2006

Session III

8.45 AM - 11.15 AM          India's Growth Prospects

Chair : Montek S. Ahluwalia, Planning Commission "Economic Reforms : Major Areas"

Presentations/Panel

Raghuram Rajan, IMF and Arvind Subramanian, IMF " India's Pattern of Development : What Happened, What follows"

John Wallis, University of Maryland " American Government Finances in the Long Run"

David N Weil, Brown University "Indian Economic Growth, Development Accounting and Health"

Arvind Virmani, Planning Commission "Policy Regimes & Growth : Government Failure, Entrepreneurial Success"

Surjit Bhalla, Oxus Research " Rethinking Indian Growth 1950 - 2005 : Misunderstood or Misjudged?

Comments: Shankar Acharya, ICRIER; Parthasarthi Shome, MOF

General Discussion

11.15 - 11.45 AM                               Tea Break

Session IV

11.45 AM - 1.15 PM           Financial Policies

Chair : Isher J. Ahluwalia, ICRIER

Presentations/Panel

Richard H Thaler, Chicago University " Behavioral Economics and Public Policy : The Libertarian Paternalism Approach"

Ajay Shah "Next steps in financial sector policy"

Comments: M. Bhusnurmath, Financial Express

General Discussion

1.15 - 2.15 PM                                   Lunch

Session V

2.15 - 4.15 PM                    Trade, RTAs, Asian Integration

Chair : Anwarul Hoda, Planning Commission

Presentations/Panel

Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University

Nagesh Kumar, RIS "Emerging Asian Regionalism : Trends, Patterns and Prospects"

Rajesh Chadha, NCAER "Titanic FTAs : Is this time to Establish a Pan-Asia FTA?

Comments: Anil Sharma, NCAER

General Discussion

4.15 -4.45 PM                                     Tea Break

Session VI

4.45 - 6.45 PM                    Social Infrastructure

Chair : Rakesh Mohan, Reserve Bank of India

Presentations/Panel

David Autor, MIT " Computerization and the Division of Labor : How Computerization Changes what People Do"

Robert Jenson, Harvard University "The Visible Hand(set) : Mobile Phones and Market Performance in South Indian Fisheries"

Esther Duflo, MIT "Monitoring Works : Getting Teachers to Come to School"

Jefrey Hammer, World Bank " Social Infrastructure"

Comments: Karthik Muralidharan, Harvard University " Private Schools in Rural India : Some Facts"

General Discussion

7.15 PM                              Bharat Natyam Performance

Performer : Mrs. Rasika Mohan and Troupe

8.30 PM                                            Cocktails and Dinner

Tuesday January 17, 2006

Session VII

8.45 - 10.45 AM                  Energy, Infrastructure and Regulation

Chair : Kirit Parikh, Planning Commission

Presentations/Panel

Daniel Kessler, Stanford University "Empirical Research on the Civil Justice System : Current Findings from  Law and Economics"

Glenn Ellison, MIT "Some Economics of Internet Retail"

Gajendra Haldea, Planning Commission "Public Private Partnerships in Infrastructure : A Paradigm Shift"

Pradip Baijal, TRAI "Chinese Growth : Chinese Numbers"

Comments: S. Aiyar, Economic Times

General Discussion

10.45 - 11.15 AM                              Tea break

Session VIII

11.15 AM - 1.00 PM          Taxation and Public Finance

Chair : Suman Bery, NCAER

Presentations/Panel

Mihir Desai, Harvard University " The Use and Abuse of Tax Havens"

Govinda Rao, NIPFP "State Finances in India : An Overview"

Rajiv Kumar, CII "Fiscal Policy for Employment Generation"

Comments: Ila Patnaik, Indian Express

General Discussion

1.00 - 1.10 PM                    Closing Remarks

Suman Bery, DG, NCAER

1.10 PM                                             Lunch

2.30 PM                                            Departure for Delhi