BMUN LXIX ECOFIN

Hello delegates! Here are some frequently asked questions that we thought might be helpful to answer! Please email us at ecofinbmunlxix@bmun.org if you have any further questions or please do not hesitate to ask during committee: Should proposed solutions focus just on your country, or should it be globally focused? Proposed solutions for BMUN should focus on the welfare of the international community, seeing as this is a simulated conference held by the United Nations. Although it is still important to keep country policy in mind when formulating your solutions (i.e. how much economic stimulus would a country like Ghana be willing to provide on an international scale?), one must focus solutions on providing solutions to the problem at hand on a global level. Do I need to cite everything I say that is not completely obvious? Within position papers, it is important to cite statistics and factual statements included. In addition, it is advised that you should not make opinionated statem...

The European Union’s (EU) projected economic plan is to reach a pre-COVID economic level by mid-2022. While the EU has been slower to distribute the vaccines than the United States, the commission has said that “a burst of post-crisis optimism” will likely cause several long-term investments, including infrastructure investments or even consumer demand booms. However, there are certain factors detracting from the EU’s recovery. More specifically, the United Kingdom confirmed a new strain of COVID-19 that could be deadlier than the original, and it is spreading to other countries (such as the United States and New Zealand) quickly. This strain can be potentially more resistant to vaccines, which could hinder both regional and global recuperation due to international trade and globalization. Furthermore, It is also important to note that countries such as Italy and Spain won’t recover at the same rate, due to the severe COVID effects as well as their historic dependence on a tourism econ...

As Conference approaches we wanted to give you all an idea of what it is going to look like in the hopes that this post answers some of your questions/concerns.  Zoom We ask that you turn your cameras on for the duration of Committee Sessions. If you are unable to do so, we ask that you let us know as soon as possible so that we may take note of this and not call on you to turn your cameras on. Side-note: You may turn your camera off at your discretion, you do not have to ask to go to the restroom, and if you need to turn your camera off that is fine. However,  if your camera is off for extended periods of time and you have not let us know we will ask you to turn the camera on. We also ask you to make sure that your microphone is muted. We are a very large committee and having multiple microphones on will most likely be very distracting.  Topics We have four committee sessions spanning the three days. BMUN is a Conference where both topics are engaged, and resolutions are...

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a great time coming up with ideas for the upcoming conference! While you may be well on your way to already identifying some key ideas regarding GDP, I wanted to bring an article to your attention that may benefit you. In an article by the Harvard Business Review, they addressed why GDP is not an accurate measure of well-being. The definition of well-being according to Merriam Webster is, “the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous.” This can be broken down into individual experience with health and or happiness, which typically leads to high mental and physical health with overall satisfaction with life. Addressing some of the shortcomings with GDP, in regards to a measurement of well-being, is its inability to accurately determine the state of happiness, life satisfaction, and or well-being within a society since it simply measures the growth of production within an economy. This often leads to skewed concepts of prosperity since a coun...

       Hello delegates! When researching and formulating solutions for Topic A, with respect to re-building the post-COVID economy, it is important that each country consider whether they should focus efforts on economic rebuilding and funding on a domestic scale or, rather, an international scale.      The topic for this blogpost came to mind when I was reading the transcript of the Brookings Institution podcast titled,  "Reimagining the global economy for a post-COVID-19" , which I would recommend reading to gain more insight on issues ranging from the purpose of the IMF and World Bank in reconstructing the economy to applying technological change to many low-skilled jobs to boost productivity in the economy.      Within this podcast, one interesting and key point was brought about in which one of the speakers  mentioned that international monetary and financial institutions, such as the IMF, should play a large and important...

 Hi Delegates! As Conference approaches, we wanted to let you know that the position paper deadlines are coming up:  To be considered for Best Position Paper Awards: Feb 3 To be considered for any Committee award: Feb 9 The Position Paper Overview and Requirements can be found on BMUN Learn 

  Hey Delegates! My name is Cameron Kalantar and I’m one of your vice chairs for ECONFIN this year. I am currently a sophomore at Berkeley looking to study Business Administration and Economics, along with a minor in Data Science and Global Poverty and Practice. This is my second year serving as a vice chair with my first as one for ECOFIN and I can’t wait to have an incredible committee.  In addition to BMUN, I also serve as a consultant for 180 Degrees Consulting, which is a non-profit and social impact consulting organization on campus and currently serve as an Intern for School Lab, an international design innovation lab for entrepreneurship. Aside from these, I am also super passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion, corporate social responsibility, product development, and finance.  Outside of my professional interests, I am also an Ambassador for Nesquik as well as Guayaki Yerba Mate which means I never pay for caffeine. In my free time, I love to hike, sur...