Fourth annual Richard N. Cooper Memorial Lecture featuring Maurice Obstfeld
Event Summary
In his landmark 1968 book, The Economics of Interdependence, Richard N. Cooper examined a central challenge of the global economy: how nations can preserve the benefits of international economic cooperation while maintaining the freedom to pursue their own economic interests.
In this fourth annual Richard N. Cooper Memorial Lecture, Maurice Obstfeld, PIIE C. Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow, revisits the evolution of that challenge, tracing how the economic and political landscape of the late 1960s transformed over subsequent decades. Obstfeld examines tensions between economic interdependence and national autonomy, from balance-of-payments pressures and the regulation of business and banking to emerging global challenges such as public health, climate change, and artificial intelligence. Drawing on Cooper's enduring contributions as both an economist and a practitioner of international cooperation, the lecture considers why cooperation has become more urgent even as political currents increasingly favor narrow conceptions of national sovereignty.
The program also features recorded remarks from Jason Furman, PIIE nonresident senior fellow, and a moderated discussion with Marcus Noland, PIIE executive vice president of research, follows the lecture.
OPENING REMARKS (recorded)
Jason Furman — Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
MODERATOR
Marcus Noland — Executive Vice President of Research, PIIE
SPEAKER
Maurice Obstfeld — C. Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow, PIIE
About This Series
The Richard N. Cooper Memorial Lecture Series was established at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) by Jin C. Cooper in 2023 in honor of her late husband, a renowned economist, pathbreaking researcher, distinguished public servant, and longtime board member, adviser, and friend of the Institute and the many colleagues here who worked with him. Dick Cooper, as he was widely known, left a lasting legacy in the field of economics while enriching the lives of his many students, colleagues, and friends. The Institute is honored to celebrate his work with this annual lecture series.