Analytical distinctions, like those made in economics, are necessary for any theoretical advances to occur. When these distinctions begin to shape an economist’s view of the world rather than respond to it, it is right to ask if these distinctions have lost their usefulness, an enquiry that can, in itself, be a source of intellectual progress.

At this conference, the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) and The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) trained the spotlight on some of the bright lines that have been drawn by economists — between macro and micro, between money markets and capital markets, and between developed countries and developing economies.