Leading voices across issues of macroeconomics and finance advanced conversations around major topics in their areas at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS).

The 57th Annual Conference of the Money, Macro and Finance (MMF) Society, hosted by LUMS, included participants from universities, central banks and other national and international institutions.

The three-day conference featured 123 research presenters, alongside keynote lectures from leading international economists: Professor Pierpaolo Benigno (University of Bern), Professor Ester Faia (Goethe University Frankfurt), Professor Lucio Sarno (Cambridge Judge Business School), and Professor Eric T. Swanson (University of California, Irvine).

Professor Lorenza Rossi, Chair in Macroeconomics in LUMS, served as chair and organiser of the event. She said: “Hosting the MMF Annual Conference provided an important opportunity to showcase Lancaster’s research in macroeconomics and finance and to strengthen connections between the Department of Economics and researchers and policymakers from institutions across the UK and internationally.

“Over the three days, we enjoyed insightful discussions and debate, and each left invigorated to continue working in this important sphere.”

The programme covered a broad range of research in monetary economics, macroeconomics, and finance. It included seven special sessions, organised in collaboration with leading research centres and policy institutions, such as the Bank of England session, the Bank for Internation Settlements (BIS), and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

Lancaster research featured prominently in the programme.

The Centre for Financial Econometrics, Asset Markets and Macroeconomic Policy (EMP) organised a special session on Monetary-Fiscal Interactions, chaired by Professor Rossi. It brought together researchers from academia and policy institutions to discuss public debt, fiscal and monetary dominance, and the interaction between monetary and fiscal policy.

Professor Themis Pavlidis chaired the Timberlake-sponsored special session on Open Economy Macroeconomics. This explored topical issues in international macroeconomics, including monetary policy spillovers, central bank communication, exchange rates, taxation and geopolitical fragmentation.

LUMS’s Dr Stefano Fasani, Dr Giorgio Motta and Professor Pavlidis were also involved as main local organisers for the conference.