Review
Panel discussion on ‘Equal opportunities and equality in the economy’
WiE Talk lecture series on the topic of ‘Gender differences in Finance’
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Veronika Grimm: ''Vorstellung des Jahresgutachtens 23/24 des Sachverständigenrats der Bundesregierung'' (’Presentation of the Annual Report 23/24 of the German Council of Economic Experts')
Celebration event: 25th anniversary of the WWG and awarding of the Humboldt University Medal to Dr. Manfred Gentz on February 9, 2023.
On February 9, 2023, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the "Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin" took place in the Heilig-Geist-Kapelle. The society was founded 28 years ago, on February 3, 1995. The celebration had to be postponed several times due to the pandemic.
The Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Prof. Dr. Daniel Klapper, welcomed the numerous members, honorary members, trustees and guests of the WWG. Afterwards, the President of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal, presented the Humboldt University Medal to Dr. Manfred Gentz. With this award, the university honored his special services to Berlin's scientific and cultural landscape. In addition to his board positions at the Daimler-Benz Group, Dr. Manfred Gentz has been committed to promoting research and teaching at Berlin's universities for decades.
The laudation for Dr. Manfred Gentz was held by Prof. Dr. Wulff Plinke, professor emeritus of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Together with Dr. Manfred Gentz and other personalities from science and business, he founded the WWG in his then function as Dean of the School of Business and Economics. Prof. Plinke began by recalling the key supporters in the founding phase of the WWG, in particular Edzard Reuter, now Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees - as well as unforgettable personalities such as Prof. Horst Albach and Prof. Jaakko Honko. He emphasized the merits of Dr. Manfred Gentz, who shaped the WWG for 23 years as Chairman of the Board: including, among other things, his great commitment to the restoration of the 500-year-old late Gothic Heilig-Geist-Kapelle, the support of students and doctoral candidates through German, travel and doctoral scholarships, and the establishment of the Absolvent:innenfeier and the Absolvent:innenpreis.
After the laudation and a short word of thanks by Dr. Manfred Gentz, the president of the IHK zu Berlin, Sebastian Stietzel, gave a keynote speech on "Cooperation between universities and business". Mr. Stietzel has been a member of the WWG board since December 2022. He emphasized the potentials and instruments of cooperation between business practice and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
In the subsequent panel discussion chaired by Prof. Michael Burda, four graduates of the School commented on the question of what a business degree is worth today. Heike Adam (Theron Advisory Group), Marco Nix (50 Hertz Transmission), Dr. Sushmitha Swaminathan (Egon Zehnder), and Dr. Frank Tiefenbeck (Partner, Bearing Point) described their experiences, reported on their practical shock and how they dealt with the challenges in their professional lives. They unanimously emphasized how valuable the studies were for their professional careers.
The closing words were spoken by the Chairman of the Board of WWG, Prof. Dr. Wienand Schruff. He thanked all guests and supporters. The event ended with a reception (thanks to the IHK for their support!) in the foyer in front of the Heilig-Geist-Kapelle.
The WWG Board would like to thank the President of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Prof. Dr. von Blumenthal, Prof. Dr. Plinke, the President of IHK Berlin, Sebastian Stietzel, the discussants and all guests and supporters for the successful event! Dr. Gentz remains thankfully connected to HU, the faculty and its students as honorary chairman of the WWG.
Graduation farewell ceremony October 2022
After two years - the last time in fall 2019 - the graduation ceremony finally took place again this year. On October 28, 2022, the graduates, their families and friends of the class of SoSe 2022 gathered in HS 201! The dean, Prof. Daniel Klapper, warmly welcomed all guests. Daniel Engelmann, graduate of 2018, gave the keynote speech titled: "Crises, stress and confidence - saving the world with optimism". Hannah Nitsch held the speech of the graduates. For the first time, the "Humboldt Bigband Trio" provided the musical background.
The three best graduates (you can find the award winners here) received the Henrike and Dr. Thomas Kurze Award. This prize is endowed with 500 euros each and is based on the annual generous donation of the Kurze couple. Last year, thanks to his great services to the society and the faculty, Dr. Thomas Kurze was appointed honorary WWG member by the general meeting! Thanks to the WWG, each graduate received a HU mug as a farewell gift. In addition, the WWG financed the music and the champagne reception!
Panel discussion on the topic of "Green Finance"
On June 8, 2022, the "Humboldt Forum Wirtschaft e.V." (HUFW) organized in cooperation with the "Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft an der HU" (WWG) an event on the topic of Green Finance.
The question was posed whether Green Finance represents the future of the financial markets or rather falls into the area of Greenwashing. Representatives from politics, economy and science discussed the issue. It was possible to put together an exciting panel with Sana Al-Badri, co-founder of Sagefund, Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen, professor of business administration at the Universität Hamburg, Katharina Beck, member of the Bundestag for Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen and Claudio Baccianti, member of the think tank "Agora Energiewende". Tagesspiegel journalist Thomas Wendel moderated the event.
In the actual panel discussion were various green investment labels critically discussed. Especially the aspect of which green investments are worthwhile from a financial perspective.
Also discussed were criteria that make an investment fall within the realm of green finance and to which degree these are overlapping with the EU's ESG sustainability criteria.
After round about an hour and a half of lively discussion, the Q&A opened. The audience asked all sorts of critical but interesting questions, ranging from whether green investment makes sense in general to whether nuclear power could not also be part of sustainable investment.
After the Q&A, the speakers opened a champagne reception with pretzels and other snacks.
Nearly 70 participants, primarily business students, attended the event, which lasted overall around three hours. There was an overwhelmingly positive response from the audience!
HORIZONTE event "What is a human being? - Perspectives from art and business".
On April 27, 2022, the Humboldt Forum Wirtschaft e.V., with the support of the WWG, hosted the HORIZONTE event "What is a human beeing? - Perspectives from Art and Business" at the School of Business and Economics.
A panel discussion in the Holy Spirit Chapel highlighted the prevailing images of man in art and business and placed them in relation to each other. What moves artists and art scholars and what concerns economists? How do their perspectives differ and what do they have in common? Prof. Michael Burda and Dr. Tatjana Grandón, who both teach at our faculty and Lidiya Anastasova (curator at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and lecturer for Critical Whiteness Studies at the Universität Konstanz) discussed the issues. Economics student Yu Sun also shared her perspective. Roger de Weck (publicist, author and economist) moderated the discussion.
In addition, artists:inside exhibited their work during a three-day exhibition in the faculty foyer: Victor Manuel Payares, David Shamie, Jan Kunkel, Ryo Koike and Any Angel contributed to the exhibition. In the exhibition, the artist:ins also contributed to the discussion questions through interview questions. Elli Brandauer opened the exhibition with a performance. A get-together with DJ set by Maggie Smith closed the event and enabled an exchange with the guests.
About 120 guests attended the event. The multi-day exhibition brought the event to the attention of many more students and faculty in the university community.
HORIZONTE event "Facing a Crucible? On Possible Long-Term Consequences of the Corona Crisis for the Economy and Monetary Policy".
"Do not blur responsibilities"
The economy has begun to recover from the Corona shock. However, there are threats of not only temporary setbacks but also late effects: Educational pathways have been disrupted, the wheel of globalization could be turned back, and national debt has skyrocketed. At the same time, one challenge in particular will not tolerate any delay: climate protection. Given the increased government debt burden, monetary policy could come under political pressure to keep interest rates low even when normalization would be appropriate in view of the price stability target. "After the crisis, it will be all the more important to put government budgets on a sound footing and not to blur the responsibilities between monetary and fiscal policy," Dr. Weidmann said.
The event was moderated by the Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Prof. Dr. Daniel Klapper.
The event was initiated and supported by the friends of the School of Business and Economics, the Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin e.V., which, under the chairmanship of Dr. Manfred Gentz, has been supporting the School and its students and researchers in a variety of ways - both ideationally and materially - for more than 20 years.
HORIZONTE event series
The series of events HORIZONTE, a cooperation of the WWG with the Humboldt-Forum Wirtschaft e. V., aims to look beyond the horizon of economics. Together, academics or representatives from the field discussed interdisciplinary social issues with friends, students and teachers.