Financing Reconstruction

Can historical insight help?

30 Jun 2023 at 9:00am

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

A financial history conference organised by eabh

sponsored by Deutsche Bank AG

This meeting will look at historical precedents of financing reconstruction after war and catastrophe. Can historical insight help?

Which are the right questions to ask to successfully reconstruct the infrastructure and economy of a country or region? Should there be a Marshall Plan for Ukraine? Are grants or loans the more effective way to rebuild? Who should pay how much and how? Which is the most effective way to use any given aid to achieve productive development? How much should be organised by the state or international organisations?

In history, how were financial sectors revived? How did banks rebuild their operations once they were bombed out? Where did they find qualified staff? Who created the initial equity? Which was the role of multi-lateral institutions (International Monetary Fund, World Bank, …) Which was the role of the state?

The past offers many examples of cases: Europe after 1945, Afghanistan and Irak in the 1990s, Haiti after the Earthquakes, Syria, the Middle East after the Arab Spring, to name just a few. We aim to bring together as many examples as possible in order to look at financing reconstruction comparatively.

Programme

29 June 2023

19.30 Dinner Margarete, Braubachstraße 18-22

30 June 2023

08.30 Coffee for arriving audience 09.00 Welcome Christian Sewing, CEO at Deutsche Bank AG 09.10 Trade for peace or peace for trade? Hugo Bänziger, Chairman of the Board of eabh 09.25 Keynote: Effectiveness of sanctions on Russia Elina Ribakova, Bruegel 10.05 Ruble’s wars Ekaterina Pravilova, Princeton University 10.30 Coffee 11.00 Session 1 Reconstruction after war and for independence The transatlantic financial reconstruction of the United States, 1862-1878 Christoph Nitschke, University of Stuttgart (video presentation) Financial reconstructions in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries Volker R. Berghahn, Columbia University Eastern European reconstruction after 1989 Mateusz Walewski & Bogdan Zawadewicz, Bank Gospodarstwa Krjowego (BGK) The debt before the indemnity: Reconstructing the French and Haitian economies before and after 1825 Malick Ghachem, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Connecting Ukraine to international capital markets: An application of structured finance to post-war reconstruction Yarema-Luka Yeleyko, Goethe University Moderator: Carmen Hofmann, Secretary General of eabh 12.00 Lunch 13.00 Panel Discussion • Jagjit Chadha, Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research • Harold James, Princeton University • Deniz Ova, Director SALT Garanti BBVA • Christian Sewing, CEO at Deutsche Bank AG • William Wells, Managing Director at Rothschild & Co Moderator: Hugo Bänziger, Chairman of the Board of eabh 14.00 Coffee 14.15 Session 2 The 20th century interwar years in Europe Trade finance in post-war financial reconstruction: The ter Meulen International Credit Scheme and its legacy, 1919-1929 Jamieson Myles, University of Oxford Reconstruction and integration of the financial system in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I Saša Ilić & Sonia Jerković, National Bank of Serbia The Bank of England and post-World War I rationalisation Vincent Flute, Liverpool John Moores University The National Bank of Greece and the Asia Minor refugees. A modernisation challenge during the inter war years Margarita Dritsas, Hellenic Open University Investing for the long run: The rise and fall of Société Générale de Belgique, 1835-1988 Gertjan Verdickt, Leuven University Moderator: Melanie Aspey, Director, The Rothschild Archive & Treasurer of eabh 15.15 Session 3 Rebuilding Europe after 1945 and beyond Italy’s Mediobanca, the Marshall Plan and the reconstruction of Western Europe Taddeo Molino Lova, Mediobanca Scandinavian post WWI relief credits for Poland. Genesis, payment difficulties and cancelation of remaining debt Robert Andrzejczyk, Józef Piłsudski Museum & Rzeszów University From post-war reconstruction to global development. The Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Alexander Nützenadel, Humboldt University Berlin Moderator: Harold James, Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies, Princeton University & Chairman of the Academic Council of eabh 15.50 Closing remarks Harold James, Princeton University 16.00 End of conference