Leading Economists and Policymakers Including Nobel Laureates
  George Akerlof, Sir James Mirrlees, A. Michael Spence and Joseph Stiglitz
                        Join to Foster New Thinking.

            George Soros Backs New Institute With $50 million Pledge

    In response to the policy challenges presented by the economic crisis and
the need to develop fresh approaches to economic theory, a group of top
academics, policy makers, and private sector leaders today announced the
creation of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). 
(www.ineteconomics.org)

    INET's founding Advisory Board members include Nobel laureates George
Akerlof, Sir James Mirrlees, A. Michael Spence and Joseph E. Stiglitz, Willem
Buiter, Markus K. Brunnermeier, Robert Dugger, Duncan Foley, Thomas Ferguson,
Roman Frydman, Ian Goldin, Charles Goodhart, Anatole Kaletsky, John Kay, Axel
Leijonhufvud, Perry Mehrling, Y.V. Reddy, Ken Rogoff, Jeffrey Sachs, John
Shattuck, William R. White, and Yu Yongding.

    The Institute was established with a pledge of $5 million per year for 10
years from Open Society Institute Chairman George Soros, a long-time critic
of classical economic theory, who will fund the effort through the Central
European University (CEU).

    The Institute will make research grants, convene symposia, and establish
a journal. A first conference will be at King's College, Cambridge on April
9-11. Scholars will explore the implications of the financial crisis for
regulatory policy. The first round of research grants will be made before the
end of the year to cutting-edge scholars working with leading universities
around the world. INET's executive director will be Robert Johnson, an
economist with long experience in government, academia, and the private
sector.

    Writing in an essay on the creation of INET Professor Stiglitz noted:
"The financial crisis has caused a moment of deep reflection in the economics
profession, for it has put many long-standing ideas to the test. If science
is defined by its ability to forecast the future, the failure of much of the
economics profession to see the crisis coming should be a cause of great
concern."

    Speaking in Budapest at the CEU, through which INET will be funded and
which will be a hub of the INET network Soros said: "The entire edifice of
global financial markets has been erected on the false premise that markets
can be left to their own devices, we must find a new paradigm and rebuild
from the ground up. I decided to sponsor INET to facilitate the process. I
hope others will join me." Because he is both an INET benefactor and the
proponent of a particular theory, Reflexivity, Soros said he will recuse
himself from the grant making process: "While I hope reflexivity will be one
of the concepts examined, there are numerous alternatives to the prevailing
dogma that must be explored," Soros added.

    Contact: Robert Johnson: 212-444-9137; RAJ@ineteconomics.org 
   

    SOURCE: Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)

    CONTACT: Robert Johnson of Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET),
             +1-212-444-9137, 
             RAJ@ineteconomics.org