The Susan Bies Lecture on Economics and Public Policy

About the Lecture

The Susan Bies Lecture on Economics and Public Policy was launched in 2008 in honor of Northwestern alumna Susan Schmidt Bies. Bies, who earned her doctorate in economics from Northwestern University in 1972, served in various capacities during a long career, including on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2001 until 2007. The lecture alternates between microeconomic and macroeconomic topics.

2026 lecture

Michael Kremer University of Chicago

"Narrative, Ritual, and Identity" Monday, April 6, 2026 4:00-5:30 p.m.  White Auditorium, Kellogg Global Hub   RSVP Here

Abstract: Some scholars argue that exposure to historical narrative, ritual, and collective experiences can shape national, religious, and personal identity. Do such experiences affect participants? Do they strengthen a sense of collective identity and encourage pro-social behavior? Do they create antipathy toward outsiders? This talk examines these questions through two different collective experiences: the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and a Mexican government heritage program built around the state-promoted narrative of mestizaje. In the Hajj setting, participation strengthens a shared Islamic identity, decreases sectarian separation, and increases tolerance and peaceful attitudes, without generating greater hostility toward non-Muslims. In the Mexican case, guided visits that bring disadvantaged secondary school students from areas that were once indigenous villages to historical sites strengthen national identity, shift how students perceive themselves in terms of ancestry and skin color, and increase pro-social behaviors, with little evidence of adverse effects on attitudes toward outsiders or democratic values. Taken together, these results complement an emerging literature on nation-building by showing that collective experiences and inclusive narratives can reshape how people understand themselves as part of larger collectives or a nation, and that stronger in-group attachment need not come at the expense of outgroups.

Previous Bies Lectures

Gita Gopinath International Monetary Fund	"Gita Gopinath: a Conversation with Lawrence Christiano" April 25, 2024 Link to video
Darrell Duffie Stanford University	"The Economics of U.S. Digital Currency Policy.” April 26, 2022 Link to video
Thomas Piketty Paris School of Economics	"Rising Inequality and Globalization" April 18, 2019 Link to Video
Lawrence H. Summers Harvard University	"Current Policy Challenges Facing the U.S." October 18, 2017 Link to video
Claudia Goldin Harvard University	"Career and Family: Collision or Confluence" May 2, 2017 Link to video
Ben S. Bernanke Brookings Institution	"In Conversation with Professor Janice Eberly" April 25, 2016 The event was not recorded
Carl Shapiro University of California, Berkeley	"Antitrust Limits on Mergers: Protecting Consumers and Enabling Synergies" May 13, 2015 Link to video
Christina Romer University of California, Berkeley	"The Aftermath of Financial Crises: It Doesn't Have to be Terrible" April 7, 2014 Link to video
Esther Duflo Massachusetts Institute of Technology	"Hope, Aspirations and the Design of the Fight Against Poverty" April 11, 2013 Link to video
Olivier Blanchard  Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the International Monetary Fund	"The Crisis; Where we are and where we may go." April 30, 2012 Link to video
David Cutler Harvard University	"The Coming Transformation of American Medicine" May 19, 2011
Jean-Claude Trichet President, European Central Bank	"What Central Banks can do in a Crisis" April 27, 2010
Preston McAfee Yahoo! Inc. 2009	"The Economics of Internet Advertising and Public Policy" April 21, 2009
John B. Taylor Stanford University 2008	"The Explanatory Powers of Monetary Policy Rules" March 31, 2008