Programme of Master Lectures

William F. Sharpe

“Global risks and returns in capital markets. Implications for investors”

On 5 June 2008 the Rafael del Pino Foundation welcomed Professor William F. Sharpe, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1990. In his talk he said that “the current crisis should help us to realise that we have given investment banks many powers, and that in many aspects they are less regulated than commercial banks. This extraordinary freedom that they have enjoyed, as has been revealed in the case of Bear Stearns Companies Inc., must be reviewed. Proper limits must be put on all financial instruments and institutions so that they can enjoy the necessary guarantees and restore market confidence“.

William F. Sharpe is STANCO 25 Professor of Finance, Emeritus at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He gained a BA in Economics at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1955, and a PhD at the same university in 1961. He has honorary doctor’s degrees from the Universities of De Paul (1997), Alicante (2003) and Vienna (2004).

Founder and executive of Financial Engines Inc., among other companies, Professor Sharpe is an expert in investment management and analysis. He has been an adviser to numerous companies and institutions. He is a member of the American Finance Association, the International Association of Financial Engineers, the Financial Management Association and the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance. He has also been editor of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science, Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science and New Directions in Management and Economics Series.

Eric S. Maskin

“The design of economic mechanisms: how to put social objectives into practice”

Professor Eric S. Maskin, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2007, gave a master lecture at the Foundation on 19 June 2008. During his speech he said that “the rise in oil prices is a clear warning sign that we need to invest massively in alternative energy sources. It is something we are going to have to do anyway in the long term, because oil is not going to last for ever. Before it runs out, the price may reach incredibly high levels. Some experts speak of 200 dollars per barrel before too long. The answer is, undoubtedly, alternative energy sources. Perhaps with current technology they cannot replace oil, but there are big possibilities that with substantial investment they may truly become alternative technologies“.

Professor Eric S. Maskin won the Nobel Prize in Economics together with Professors Leonid Hurwicz and Roger B. Myerson “for establishing the basis for the theory of the design of mechanisms”. The purpose of this theory is to identify mechanisms or institutions that involve an efficient allocation of resources in circumstances in which the market is not successful in doing so.

Starting from the conceptual basis of game theory, the mechanism design theory makes it possible to identify the best instruments of allocation for different areas of economic analysis, especially in the fields of: design of auctions as price setting mechanisms; regulation and control of monopolies and oligopolies, and the taking of public decisions.

Muhammad Yunus

“Creating a world without poverty. Social businesses”

On 3 July 2008 Dr Muhammad Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, gave a master lecture at the Foundation, in the Rafael del Pino Auditorium, marking the publication of his latest book entitled, “Creating a world without poverty. Social Businesses”, which was attended by more than 400 people.

During his lecture, Dr Yunus said that “a social business is an enterprise that moves in the market and competes like any other, so it has efficiency incentives. In the medium term, it returns capital to investors, but not profits, because its objective is to contribute to a social endeavour, such as reducing poverty or fighting a disease. The advantage over philanthropy is that the money is re-invested and therefore can be re-used.”

Muhammad Yunus gained his PhD at Vanderbilt University and ran the Rural Economics Department of the University of Chittagong until 1989. A banker and an economist, he developed the concept of microcredits. For Dr Yunus, solidarity credit extended to people who have never asked for a loan reflects the huge untapped potential there is in every human being.

In 1974 he pioneered the idea of “Gram Sarker” (rural government) as a form of social organisation for rural villages. It proved to be workable and useful, and was officially adopted by the government of Bangladesh in 1980. In 1976 he set up the Grameen Bank. Since then, by extending microcredits this “bank for the poor” has benefited seven million people, most of them women.

Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize “for his efforts to create economic and social development from below“. In 1998 Dr Yunus received the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, and in 1996 he received the UNESCO Simón Bolívar Prize.

John Bruton

The “Celtic tiger”: keys to Ireland’s economic development through education”

The Rafael del Pino Foundation welcomed the former Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, John Bruton, on 16 October 2008.

In his lecture he explained the nine factors that fostered the economic growth of Ireland and placed the emphasis on education as a strategic priority: “The success of education lies in three factors: teachers, teachers and teachers. Teachers who are well paid, teachers who are motivated and teachers who are respected.”

John Bruton is considered to be the architect of the Irish economic miracle of the 1990s. During his term of office as Taoiseach (1994-1997), the Irish economy recorded an annual average growth rate of 8.7% and reached 11.1% in 1997. He was previously Minister for Finance (1981-1982 and 1986-1987), Minister for Industry and Energy (1982-1983), and Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism (1983-1986).

In 1996 he was President in Office of the European Council and subsequently, before being appointed EU Ambassador to the United States in 2004, he took part in drafting the proposed European Constitution.

John Bruton was directly involved in the Northern Ireland peace process which culminated in 1998 with the signing of the “Good Friday Agreement”.

Thomas C. Schelling

“Six decades without using nuclear weapons”

The Rafael del Pino Foundation welcomed Professor Thomas C. Schelling, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics, on 17 November 2008.

In his lecture he said that “the current financial crisis is being made worse by psychological factors and the interdependence of expectations. The financial world is very prone to self-fulfilling expectations: if everyone thinks that a bank may become insolvent, it will inevitably become insolvent“.

Professor Schelling received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005, together with Robert Aumann, “for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis”. He has also been awarded a number of distinctions in the course of his long teaching and research career. He is currently Distinguished University Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Maryland, and Professor of Political Economy, Emeritus, at Harvard University.

Professor Schelling has been President of the American Economic Association and the Eastern Economic Association and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The 200 books and papers he has published include: “The Strategy of Conflict”, considered to be one of the 100 most influential books published since 1945, and his latest work, “Strategies of Commitment”.

Moisés Naím

“US elections, financial crises and other surprises”

On 20 November 2008, the Rafael del Pino Foundation welcomed Moisés Naím, Editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy (FP) magazine and Chairman of the G-50.

In his lecture he said that “the list of international challenges that Obama has inherited is long and well-known: from nuclear proliferation to the instability of Pakistan and from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the growls of Russia or the tragedies of the Middle East. An even more worrying list is that of the threats that are on nobody’s list. Bill Clinton never imagined that at the start of his presidency he would have to get his marines out of Somalia quickly after their defeat by armed mobs. Nor did George W. Bush imagine that his first great challenge as president would be the September 11 attacks. For John F. Kennedy it was the Cuba crisis and the possibility of a nuclear holocaust ... The global economic crisis lengthens the list of dangers that we cannot yet see. The political instability of many countries is going to be made worse by the economic difficulties“.

Holder of a PhD in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moisés Naím was included by the World Economic Forum as a member of the International Media Council and is a member of the Boards of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy and Population Action International. He has also served as Venezuela’s minister of trade and industry and as an executive director at the World Bank.

Moisés Naím is an expert on global political and economic affairs. Foreign Policy magazine, of which he has been editor for more than a decade, is considered to be one of the world’s most influential publications. It has won the main prizes in the publishing industry, including the National Magazine Award.

Moisés Naím contributes regularly to the Financial Times, El País, The New York Times, Newsweek, Corriere della Sera, Le Monde, Berliner Zeitung and many other world-class publications. He is the author or editor of eight books, the latest of which is entitled “Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy, which was selected as “book of the year” by the Washington Post.