More than 200 economists and policy advisers from around the world gather for landmark global trade meeting

 For many people, the Great Recession of 2007-09 was an unwelcome revelation as to how interdependent global economies had become. The economic downturn in the United States triggered economic slowdowns in many countries. As TheEconomist noted in a 2009 article, “a downturn anywhere would become a downturn everywhere.” 

Yet, that reality had long been recognized by leading economists and researchers. That’s why many of them find more significance in the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), a collaboration of more than 15,000 researchers in 170 countries that revolutionized the analysis of trade policies and their global impact. 

More than 225 economists, including representatives from the World Trade Organization, various United Nations and government offices and other leading international institutions and universities will convene at Purdue University June 7-9 for the 20thAnnual Conference on Global Economic Analysis, a gathering that started in 1998, six years after the founding of GTAP at Purdue University.