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Uncertainty, disruption, hope – How to analyze the current world of economics and politics

The former Governor of the Bank of England in conversation with Walter B. Kielholz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss Reinsurance Company, and Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank.

Speakers

Monday, 31. May 2021, 19:00 – 20:00 h

Live from the Studio

Event Language: English

The former Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, Lord King of Lothbury, in conversation with Walter B. Kielholz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss Re, and Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank on the topic "Uncertainty, upheaval, hope - On the analysis of the current economic and political situation".

Speakers

Mervyn King, Lord King of Lothbury, KG, GBE, FBA

former Governor of the Bank of England

Short Bio

Mervyn King served as Governor of the Bank of England from 2003 to June 2013. He was knighted (GBE) in 2011, made a life peer in 2013, and appointed by The Queen to be a Knight of the Garter in 2014.

Lord King is the Alan Greenspan Professor of Economics and Professor of Law at New York University and Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics.

In 2016 he published The End of Alchemy. With a new preface, it appeared in paperback in 2017, and has been translated into many languages. His new book (with John Kay) Radical Uncertainty was published in March 2020.

Born in 1948, Mervyn King studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and taught at Cambridge and Birmingham Universities before spells as Visiting Professor at both Harvard University and MIT. From October 1984 he was Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, where he founded the Financial Markets Group. He is Chair of the Philharmonia Orchestra and a member of the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee.

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Walter B. Kielholz

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss RE

Short Bio

Walter B. Kielholz was elected to the Board of Directors of Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd in 1998 and to the Board of Directors of Swiss Re Ltd in connection with its formation in 2011. He was Vice Chairman from 2003 to April 2009 and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since May 2009. He chairs the Chairman’s and Governance Committee.

Walter B. Kielholz began his career at the General Reinsurance Corporation, Zurich, in 1976, where he held several positions in the US, in the UK and Italy before assuming responsibility for the company’s European marketing. In 1986, he joined Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for relationships with large insurance groups. He joined Swiss Re in 1989, where he became an Executive Board member in 1993 and was Chief Executive Officer from 1997 to 2002. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group Ltd from 1999 to 2014 and served as Chairman from 2003 to 2009.

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Professor Thomas J. Jordan

Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank

Short Bio

Thomas J. Jordan studied economics and business studies at the University of Berne, completing his degree in 1989 and his doctorate in 1993. He wrote his post-doctoral thesis (Habilitation) during a three-year post-doctoral research period at the Department of Economics at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The University of Berne appointed him lecturer (Privatdozent) in 1998 and honorary professor in 2003. He lectures there in monetary theory and policy.

In 1997, Thomas J. Jordan joined the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in Zurich as an Economic Advisor in Department I. With effect from mid-2004, the Swiss Federal Council appointed him an Alternate Member of the Governing Board. Effective May 2007, he was appointed Member of the Governing Board by the Federal Council. At the same time, he became Head of Department III (Financial Markets, Banking Operations and Information Technology). With effect from the beginning of 2010, the Federal Council appointed him Vice-Chairman of the Governing Board and he took over management of Department II in Berne (Financial Stability, Cash, Finance and Risk). On 18 April 2012, Thomas J. Jordan was appointed Chairman of the Governing Board by the Federal Council and thereby also Head of Department I in Zurich (Economic Affairs, International Monetary Cooperation, Legal and Property Services, Secretariat General). Detailed biography at the following Link.

Overview of the SIAF speakers