The International Studies Public Forum (ISPF)  
 
presents  
 
"The Institutional Change after Socialism" (Plenary Session of the "1989: Twenty Years After" Conference)  
with Leszek Balcerowicz, Warsaw School of Economics  
First Finance Minister of post-communist Poland, Former President of the National Bank of Poland  
 
Thursday, November 5, 2009  
3:30-5:00 p.m.  
Social Science Plaza A, Room 1100  
 
In celebration of the twenty year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the International Studies Program is presenting a special public forum. The event is part of the "1989: Twenty Years After" conference which will be held from November 6 to November 8 at the School of Social Sciences.

Leszek Balcerowicz is Professor of Economics at the Warsaw School of Economics. He is former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and former President of the National Bank of Poland. He is the architect of Poland's economic reforms initiated in 1989 and has been at the center of Poland's economic and political life since the fall of communism. Professor Balcerowicz is the author of more than 100 publications on economic issues in Poland and abroad and a recipient of numerous honors from universities and awards worldwide. In 2005, he was awarded Poland's highest decoration - Order of the White Eagle - for his contribution to the system transformation. Since 2006, Leszek Balcerowicz has been a member of the Distinguished Associates of the International Atlantic Economic Society (IAES). Founded in 1973, the IAES serves as an educational and scientific forum for the global community of well-known economists from around the world. In 2006 Leszek Balcerowicz became a member of the Group of Trustees of the Institute of International Finance. The Group is engaged in the introduction and development of good practices concerning capital flows and debt restructuring in emerging markets. In 2008, Leszek Balcerowicz was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank contributing to the quality of the economic policy making in Europe.  

Interview:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/int_leszekbalcerowicz.html
http://www.socsci.uci.edu/wsfdb/docs/balcerowicz2009.pdf
 
Plenary session is co-sponsored by The American Council of Learned Societies, Center for the Study of Democracy, UC Multi-Campus Research Program in World History, Office of Research, Center for Asian Studies, Department of Sociology, Department of Political Science and International Studies Program.
 
For more information about the ISPF, please visit  
http://internationalstudies.ss.uci.edu/public_forum.php.