November 28–29, 2011
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Overview
The Center for Financial Innovation and Stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta sponsored a conference on "Sovereign Debt and Default after the Financial Crisis of 2007–08." The conference addressed the ongoing difficulties associated with sovereign debt in the euro area, which have raised concerns about their effects on the countries in this area and elsewhere. This conference examined the very controversial market for credit default swaps and the role of this market in the difficulties. It also looked at the relationship between the monetary union and the fiscal difficulties and examined the experiences and difficulties of specific countries, including those currently troubled, such as Greece, and those that have dealt with difficulties in the past, such as Iceland and the Baltic States. The discussion included participants from Europe and the United States as well as participants from academic, financial, and policy institutions.
Agenda
Monday, November 28, 2011
U.S. Fiscal Policy or Lack of Policy
Thomas R. Saving, Texas A&M University [Presentation] 
Discussant
William R. Dougan, Clemson University
Land, Debt, and Taxes: Origins of the U.S. State Default Crisis, 1839 to 1842
John J. Wallis, University of Maryland [Presentation]
Discussant
Michael Edelstein, Queen's College, City University of New York [Summary]
Do Sovereign CDS and Bond Markets Share the Same Information to Price Credit Risk? An Empirical Application to the European Monetary Union Case
Sergio Mayordomo, Spanish Securities Market Commission
[Presentation]
Discussant
Gerald P. Dwyer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta [Presentation]
What Is the Risk of European Sovereign Default? Fiscal Space, CDS Spreads and Market Pricing of Risk
Joshua Aizenman, University of California at Santa Cruz [Presentation]
Discussant
Charles Smithson, Rutter Associates [Presentation]
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The Varieties of European Crises
Thomas D. Willett, Claremont McKenna and Claremont Graduate University [Summary] [Presentation]
Discussant
Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University [Summary] [Presentation]
The Greek Debt Crisis: Origins and Implications
Georgios P. Kouretas, Athens University of Economics and Business
Discussant
David Zervos, Jefferies & Company Inc.
Ireland
Colm McCarthy, University College, Dublin [Presentation]
Discussant
John Devereux, Queen's College, City University of New York [Presentation]
From Boom to Bust: the Iceland Story
Thorvaldur Gylfason, University of Iceland [Presentation]
Discussant
Tom Berglund, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki [Summary]
Spain
Sovereign Debt and Banking Challenges for Spain
Santiago Carbo Valverde, University of Granada & Funcas [Presentation]
Discussant
Spain: Navigating the Storm
Maria Nieto, Bank of Spain
The Financial Crisis of 2007-10 in Eastern Europe and the Baltics
Anders Aslund, Peterson Institute for International Economics [Presentation]
Discussant
The Financial Crisis of 2007-10 in Eastern Europe and the Baltics
Anete Pajuste, Riga Business School [Presentation]
What do we make of it all? General discussion