Welcome to Glasshouse Forum

Glasshouse Forum – founded in 2007 on the conviction that critical analysis of capitalism is most constructively formulated by those who fundamentally accept this system – provides an arena for critical reflection on the merits and demerits of capitalism. It consists of a network of researchers and intellectuals – to date about 50 active contributors – from different disciplines, mainly from Europe and the USA, but also from China and Russia. The forum is politically independent and does not engage in lobbying activities, or make policy recommendations. Read our mission statement.

Latest news:

27 November 2009: Inequality increased in the West in the years before the financial crisis. How will the crisis and the recession influence inequality? Listen to what the experts said at the conference "Inequality in a Time of Contraction" at Stanford University on 12-13 November.

12-13 November 2009: Inequality in a Time of Contraction - an international conference organised by Glasshouse Forum and Stanford University.

Anthony Atkinson	Jonas Pontusson	Kim Weeden	Richard Freeman

Although there has been extensive discussion of the financial dimensions of the crisis, to date there has been far less written about the distributional implications. The conference brought together scholars from the social sciences, such as economics, sociology, and political science, to deepen our understanding of the link between globalisation (of both financial and real markets) and economic inequality. In this way we will be in a better position to understand and perhaps predict the consequences to inequality of the current economic turmoil.

Speakers included: Anthony Atkinson, Oxford University, Enrico Moretti, University of California Berkeley, Philippe Aghion, Harvard University, Robert Frank, Cornell University, Richard Blundell, University College London, Richard Freeman, Harvard University, Jonas Pontusson, Princeton University, Thomas DiPrete, Columbia University, John Van Reenen, London School of Economics/GSB Stanford University, Kim Weeden, Cornell University. Moderator: Chris Giles, Economics Editor, Financial Times.

The conference took place at Stanford University. Listen to what the experts said.
Read more about the project "Globalisation and the middle class in the West".

28 October 2009: Release of the sixth issue of our newsletter LookingGlass. In this autumn issue we look at what global order will arise when the USA climbs down from its current position of power. We have interviewed the Italian political scientist Giovanni Grevi who argues that the world will become both multipolar and more interdependent. We have also read a number of recent books on deglobalisation and the economic crisis. Read and download LookingGlass 4/2009 here.

10 September 2009: Release of the report A China Model? Understanding the Evolution of a "Socialist Market Economy", written by Orion A. Lewis and Jessica C. Teets, Middlebury College, USA. Read more and download the report here.

10 September 2009: Release of the fifth issue of our newsletter LookingGlass. In this issue we continue the debate on the nature of the Chinese system and present a new report which helps us grasp what "socialist market economy" in fact means. We also take a closer look at the origins of the Great Recession in an interview with Thomas I. Palley. Read and download LookingGlass 3/2009 here.

26 June 2009: Release of the scenario report Alphabet Soup: The Political Economy of the Great Recession, written by Daniel W. Drezner, Professor of International Politics at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. Read more and download the report here.

26 June 2009: Release of the fourth issue of Glasshouse Forum's newsletter LookingGlass. In this summer issue, we take a look at the role of the state in the economy and the rise of protectionism as a response to the global crisis. We have interviewed George Soros, James K Galbraith and Dean Baker. Read more and download LookingGlass 2/2009 here.

26 May 2009: The Economist and Financial Times report from Glasshouse Forum's China-West Intellectual Summit and the film "Is There a China Model?". Read more.

12 May 2009: Seminar: The Impact of the Global Crisis on EU-China Relations - a Glasshouse Forum seminar in Stockholm in cooperation with ECFR.

Speakers: Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European studies, Oxford, and ECFR Member, Shaoguang Wang, Professor of Political Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, John Fox, ECFR Asia Senior Policy Fellow. Moderated by Mark Leonard, Executive Director of ECFR.

Timothy Garton Ash and Mark Leonard (Photo: Jonatan Kruse)

The seminar started with a screening of the film Is There a China Model?, a video documentation of the China-West Intellectual Summit, produced by Glasshouse Forum. Read more.

6 May 2009: Film release: Is There a China Model? – a video documentation from the China-West Intellectual Summit, produced by Glasshouse Forum in cooperation with the Swedish production company Edinim.

The participants in the film are: Gideon Rachman, moderator of the summit and Chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times, Timothy Garton Ash, Oxford University, Daniel A. Bell and Zhiyuan Cui of the Tsinghua University in Beijing, Azar Gat, Tel Aviv University, Simon Long, Asia editor for The Economist, Vivienne Shue, Oxford University, Shaoguang Wang, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Feng Zhang, The Foreign Policy Centre in London, Wei-Wei Zhang, Centre for Asian Studies in Geneva and Fudan University in Shanghai, and Yongnian Zheng, National University of Singapore. Read more and watch the film.

Read Gideon Rachman's Financial Times blog about the film and The Economist's article about the the China-West Intellectual Summit.

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