Columbia's Center for Capitalism and Society marks its sixth anniversary by hosting an all-day conference on "Emerging from the Financial Crisis." At a critical time for the U.S. and global economy, more than 30 noteworthy experts from academia, government and business will gather at Columbia on Friday, February 20 for discussions about financial system reform, regulation and other related issues. Paul Volcker, chairman of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, will deliver the keynote luncheon address.

"I think we need some new injections of energy in the American economy to ramp up innovation," said Prof. Edmund Phelps, director of the center and the 2006 Nobel laureate in economics. "For sure, one of the things we have to do is to create a kind of bank that specializes in, that's dedicated to, lending to businesses for long-term investment and for innovation."

The center brings together scholars from across a range of disciplines to study the impact of market systems on key social and economic goals such as innovation, dynamism and inclusion. In addition to Phelps, members affiliated with the center who are participating in the conference include Columbia Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, the 2001 Nobel Laureate in economics; Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia's Earth Institute; Prof. Bruce Greenwald and Prof. Amar Bhidé of Columbia Business School. Center experts Roman Frydman, professor of economics at New York University and co-director of Project Syndicate, and Robert Shiller, Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University, will also speak.

Dinner speakers at the conference will be George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management and founder of Open Society, and Josef Ackermann, chairman of the management board, Deutsche Bank. Guest speakers include Prof. Robert Mundell, the 1999 Nobel laureate in economics, and Christine Lagarde, France's minister of economics, industry and employment, who will also speak at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism the same day.

The full conference program can be seen here.  Please note that the conference is fully subscribed and space is no longer available.