[VIRTUAL] Conference Recap: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infrastructure

Will Goetzmann 1 — Professor William Goetzmann kicked off the conference
with his presentation on “History and Global Infrastructure”

In early June, the ICF hosted a two-day virtual conference about the “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infrastructure.” ICF Faculty Director, William Goetzmann, and ICF Deputy Director, Geert Rouwenhorst, organized the conference jointly with Pierre-Cyrille Hautcoeur (Paris Economics), Angelo Riva (EBS Paris and Paris Economics), Frances Rosenbluth (Yale Political Science), and Ian Shapiro (Yale Political Science).

The interdisciplinary conference included a small group of scholars working on the global role of infrastructure. Participants included scholars from a variety of fields including, but not limited to: finance, history, economics, political science, sociology and engineering.

The conference was used as a forum for presenting prospective research ideas among interested scholars and seeking feedback from the group. The organizers hope to create a joint research initiative in which conference participants will collaborate on future infrastructure research, share ideas and exchange resources amongst one another.

Below are a few screenshots of Professor William Goetzmann & Geert Rouwenhorst’s presentation about “History and Global Infrastructure.”

Perpetual Bond — Professor Goetzmann displayed a Dutch water bond issued in 1648 and currently owned by Yale University. It was originally used to finance improvements to a local dike system. Interestingly, it is a perpetual bond which means it continues to pay interest to this date!

Panama Canal Stock Certificate — Professor Goetzmann displayed a stock certificate from the ICF’s collection of historical financial instruments housed in the Origins of Value Virtual Museum. This stock certificate is from the private capital raised to construct the Panama Canal. Read more about this stock certificate.