At the core of the 27th FMM Conference was the question of how to explain the economic phenomenon of inflation. It focused not only on the causes of inflation, but also on its impacts and how to fight it, all of it topics dominating the public discourse. These themes interact in complex ways with distributional concerns and the ecological transformation. The causes of the current inflation remain controversial. What are the relevant weights, in different countries, of supply-side constraints, demand-side factors, mark-up power of firms, or speculation in commodity markets? What is the interaction between these factors and the role of distributional conflict between societal groups, both in driving inflation and in responding to it? Is the green transition itself a source of inflationary pressure or part of the solution? How can a just transition be achieved? What are the likely prospects for inflation given structural changes in emerging markets and demographic trends?

The 2022 conference aimed to take stock of post-Keynesian and other critical contributions with a focus on how they deal with current global macroeconomic challenges. These include high and rising imbalances and inequalities at national and global levels, and the need for social-ecological and economic transformation to address the environmental crisis. While these challenges require coordinated government intervention, both nationally and internationally, policymakers are faced with high public debt and, more recently, rising inflation rates. At the same time, the global financial architecture puts severe limits on the ability of countries in the Global South to conduct macroeconomic policies that can address the current economic and social challenges.

Social inequalities, climate change and environmental pollution question the sustainability of capitalist modes of production, consumption and policies. The externalities of economic growth should be taken into account, because they have an impact on welfare and its distribution – within and between countries, within and between generations. At our conference, we discussed what macroeconomists can contribute to this debate and learn from other fields.

The global Corona pandemic took the world by surprise in 2020 and not only did the virus cause the change to an online format in this year’s conference, but it was also the main topic of economic analysis and discussion.

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Euro, replacing 11 national currencies. The two decades have been characterised by geographical extension to nowadays 19 countries, a modest increase in the Euro’s international role, but also by the build-up of unsustainable imbalances, and a long and deep economic and political crisis specific to many countries sharing the common currency.

In September 2008 the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was a landmark in a series of events that triggered the great financial and economic crisis. Ten years later, financial markets are again reaching record highs, the world economy grows at a strong pace and major central banks are beginning to tighten their monetary policy stance.

At our 21st conference, we assessed how the past globalisation process can be explained, in which direction it may develop, and which policies are needed to make the global economy beneficial for all. During three conference days more than 400 participants engaged in lively discussions with presenters of about 140 selected papers in parallel sessions and nine keynote presentations.

During three conference days more than 300 participants engaged in discussions with presenters of about 140 selected papers in parallel sessions and eight keynote presentations. 20 - 22 October 2016 Berlin, Best Western Hotel Steglitz International

While the Great Financial Crisis has left its mark almost everywhere in the world economy, its regions have taken different paths in the aftermath. Europe, in particular, still suffers a prolonged slump with mass unemployment and outright deflation posing a threat to political and social stability of the European Union.

As the outbreak of the financial crisis approaches its seventh anniversary, large parts of the world economy are still in stagnation. The financial system remains highly fragile, and high levels of unemployment and income inequality are posing a serious threat to social peace and political stability in many countries. Some commentators even see the world economy doomed to secular stagnation with high levels of unemployment being the new normal. Others point to the "return of capital", with wealth and inheritances becoming once again the dominant source of economic inequality in a context of low income growth.

More than five years after the beginning of the financial crisis in the United States, the world economy is still highly fragile. In particular, many countries are facing a severe jobs crisis. This is especially true for the euro area, which fell back into recession in 2012 and where unemployment has reached unprecedented levels. Especially worrying is the surge in youth unemployment in some countries. Even in those parts of the world, where unemployment is comparably low, a jobs crisis exists of a different nature: many jobs are increasingly precarious and low paid.

It is obvious that the experience of the global economic crisis, now commonly referred to as the “Great Recession”, will also change economics as a discipline. The mainstream textbook economics, based on the fiction of rational economic agents and efficient markets, have clearly failed to foresee the crisis and cannot explain its underlying causes. But although various deviant schools of thought have always been critical of the free market economics, the “Great Recession” came as a big surprise also to many heterodox economists.

Four years after the first turbulences on the U.S. housing market that triggered the subsequent global crisis, the future of the world economy is still highly uncertain. Is the crisis over, or are we heading towards a period of stagnation or recession? What will be the drivers of future growth? How to cope with high private and public debt? Is there a new growth model capable of overcoming the problems of financial instability, income inequality and trade imbalances? Are high growth rates still possible or desirable, given limited natural resources?

Minsky's question of how to stabilise an unstable economy is obviously of renewed importance today. But are the present policies merely stabilising an unsustainable accumulation regime based on income polarisation and the dominance of financial markets? What are the economic and political implications of rising public debt? How can financial regulation contribute to stability as well as equity?

The Research Network Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Policies (FMM) organised its 13th conference on ‘The World Economy in Crisis - The Return of Keynesianism?' The submission of papers in the following areas is encouraged: Global imbalances and the current crisis; financial crisis, real crisis and the risks of depression and deflation; paradigm shift in macroeconomics - the return of Keynesianism?; economic policy reactions and the future relationship between the market and the state; regulation of the financial sector from a Keynesian perspective; and perspectives for a Keynesian New Deal.

Mainstream economics seems to be changing. The homo economicus has repeatedly been called into questions; many macroeconomic models are not based on a market clearing equilibrium any more. How profound are these changes in mainstream economics? What, if any, is the new orthodoxy in macroeconomics? What are the implications for Post-Keynesian macroeconomics? And how is the relationship between these developments and macroeconomic policies?

Contents of this Conference were: Finance-led accumulation regimes? Theory and empirics, Empirical studies on changes in the financial sector, Financialisation and distribution, Global imbalances, Asset markets and monetary policy, Financial structure and economic growth, Financialisation and Post-Keynesian modelling of distribution and growth, Financial stability and financial crises, Financial aspects of demographic change.

Despite the current growth speed up and increasing employment within the EU, one can still say that European integration is in crisis: Economic performance of the EU and, in particular, the Euro area has been lagging behind the USA, not to mention other regions of the world.

The conference was intended to contribute to an improvement of European heterodox networking in macroeconomics. On the one hand, the state of heterodox macroeconomics have been discussed. On the other hand, perspectives for European economic policies have been debated.