The Carnegie-Rochester Conference on Public Policy is designed to foster research and discussion of major policy issues by economists from academia and policy making institutions. Economists in universities are often unfamiliar with the constraining effect of institutional arrangements in the shaping of policy issues and policies. Economists in government are often less aware of current research and its implications. A central purpose of the conference is to facilitate the interaction between these groups in order to improve the economic analysis of policy issues and policy. The specific aims of the conference are to: 1) develop the implications of recent research for policy; 2) bring together economists with different approaches or conclusions to narrow the differences; and 3) to uncover the analysis used by institutions that set policies. The conferences are held semi-annually at the University of Rochester and Carnegie-Mellon University. About 45 participants plus faculty and graduate students from the host institution are invited to each conference. Participants from U.S. and foreign central banks and U.S. and international agencies attend regularly. Special care is taken to involve promising younger scholars. The papers and formal discussions are edited and prepared for publication to broaden the impact of the conference. Support should be renewed for this successful and influential conference series. The conference series stimulates research by providing a regular forum for policy and methodological debates, identifying and commissioning papers from the leading figures in these debates, and publishing the results of the conference in a timely fashion. Some of the most influential papers in modern macroeconomics were written for Carnegie-Rochester conferences. Carnegie-Rochester retains its vitality and its effectiveness. The quality of the most recent papers from this conference series has been exceptionally high.
