International Seminar on Macroeconomics.

• Position: Conferences - June 2003

The NBER's 26th Annual International Seminar on Macroeconomics (ISOM), organized by Zvi Eckstein, Boston University, and Kenneth West, NBER and University of Madison, Wisconsin, was held on June 13-14 at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Jeffrey A. Frankel, NBER and Harvard University, and Francesco Giavazzi, NBER and Bocconi University, serve as co-chairs of ISOM. The following papers were discussed at the conference:

Richard Blundell and Ian Preston, University College London, and Luigi Pistaferri, Stanford University, "Consumption Inequality and Partial Insurance" Discussants: John Kennan, NBER and University of Wisconsin, and Jose-Victor Rios-Rull, NBER and University of Pennsylvania

Andreas Hornstein, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond; Per Krusell, University of Rochester; and Giovanni L. Violante, New York University, "Upgrading Vintage Capital"

Discussants: Philippe Aghion, NBER and Harvard University, and Lars Ljungqvist, Stockholm School of Economics

Danny Quah, London School of Economics, and Helen Simpson, Institute for Fiscal Studies, "Spatial Cluster Empirics"

Discussants: Albert Marcet, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Adi Brender, Bank of Israel, and Allan Drazen, NBER and Tel Aviv University, "Where Does the Political Fiscal Cycle Really Come From?"

Discussants: Alessandra Casella, NBER and Columbia University, and Kenneth S. Rogoff, International Monetary Fund

Kosuke Aoki, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and Kalin Nikolov, Bank of England, "Rule-Based Monetary Policy under Central Bank Learning"

Discussants: Fabio Canova, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and V.V. Chari, NBER and University of Minnesota

James H. Stock, NBER and Harvard University, and Mark W. Watson, NBER and Princeton University, "Understanding Changes in International Business Cycle Dynamics"

Discussants: Denise Osborn, University of Manchester, and Lucrezia Reichlin, Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Neville Francis, Lehigh University, and Valerie A. Ramey, NBER and University of California, San Diego, "The Source of Historical Economic Fluctuations: An Analysis using Long-Run Restrictions"

Discussants: Susanto Basu, NBER and University of Michigan, and Harald Uhlig, Humboldt University

Andrew B. Abel, NBER and University of Pennsylvania, and Janice C. Eberly, NBER and Northwestern University, "Investment and Firm Valuation with Growth Options"

Discussants: John V. Leahy, NBER and New York University, and Plutarchos Sakellaris, University of Maryland

Blundell, Pistaferri...