Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
Information About
About the Center

Orville and Jane Freeman

Freeman Forum

Contact Freeman Center

Humphrey Institute
Question mark icon
Phone icon
Blogs & Podcasts icon
Gift icon
Lock icon
Home icon

 

 

 Freeman Center for International Economic Policy
Workshop on Global Policy

The Freeman Center has sponsored a bi-weekly workshop on global economic and other policy issues since 1991. The Freeman Center sponsors the Global Policy Seminar/Workshop series every other Tuesday from 12:45 to 2:00 pm.  All sessions are held in the Stassen Room (Room 170) of the Humphrey Center.

The 2009-2010 workshop series will resume September 15.

April 21, 2009
Professor Steven Block, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

The Political Economy of Agricultural Trade Intervention in Africa
How are demography, democracy and agricultural policies related in Africa?  Tufts University Professor Steve Block presents initial answers related to this question based on his current research with Robert Bates of Harvard University.  Rural populations in Africa are often targeted for higher taxation and price controls on their agricultural output in order to keep foodstuffs cheap and certain non-agricultural groups better off.  Opening up the political process and promoting more competitive elections reduces such distortions significantly and substantially.  Listen to learn more about how more open and competitive electoral politics apparently change agricultural policies and privileges in Africa.

April 7, 2009
Professor Myles Shaver, UMN Carlson School of Management

How Exporting Facilitates Capital Investment
Research findings across many countries indicate that exporters are ‘stronger’ firms (e.g., more productive) than non-exporters. For strategy scholars and policymakers, this begs the question of whether stronger firms become exporters (i.e., exporting is an outcome), or if exporting strengthens firms. Most firm level research shows that exporting is only an outcome. In this work Professor Shaver adds to a nascent stream of research that shows how exporting affects firms. He provides evidence that exporting can foster capital investments by enabling greater firm self-finance.

View past workshops.

Recent Activities

Center Director Kudrle Discusses G 20 Summit on the World Economy

Freeman Center Director Robert Kudrle interviewed November 23, 2008 on WCCO Radio/Steele Talkin' with Jearlyn Steele.

Listen to Robert Kudrle

The Freemans

Photo of Orville and Jane Freeman

Orville L. Freeman served as the 29th governor of Minnesota between January 5, 1955 to January 2, 1961. He went on to serve as United States secretary of agriculture from 1961 to 1969. Orville married Jane C. Shields in 1942 and the couple had two children.

More about Orville and Jane

Freeman Forum

The Freeman Forum is a non-profit organization created by the family, friends, and colleagues of Orville Freeman with the University of Minnesota to honor and carry on the work of former Minnesota Governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, who died in 2003.

Visit the Freeman Forum

Research With a Minnesota Focus

The Freeman Center regularly conducts research on important issues related to Minnesota's growing exposure to the global economy.

Outreach and Collaborations

The Center cooperates within the University and the broader community to gather and share knowledge about the policy problems of globalization.

The Center coordinates faculty interaction with the Hubert Humphrey International Fellowship Programs fellows.


Photo of Robert KudrleCenter Director Robert T. Kudrle

Recent activities

Did Blacklisting Hurt the Tax Havens?

The OECD's Harmful Tax Competition Initiative and the Tax Havens: From Bombshell to Damp Squib

Professor Kudrle Addresses the MSBA Antitrust Section

Professor Robert T. Kudrle is the Orville and Jane Freeman Professor of International Trade and Investment Policy and Director, Freeman Center for International Economic Policy.

Areas of expertise: competition policy; tax policy; policy problems of globalization; international economic policy cooperation

Professor Kudrle also is an adjunct faculty member with the University of Minnesota Law School. He studies industrial organization, public policy toward business, and international economic policy. Much of his recent research has examined economic relations among industrial countries. He has served as a consultant and expert witness for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and as a consultant to the Internal Revenue Service, Canadian Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, U.N. Center on Transnational Corporations, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Agency for International Development, and Urban Institute. Kudrle has been vice president of the International Studies Association.