On July 25, 2015 the eleventh Convoco Forum took place in Salzburg. This time the question under discussion was: Power and its Paradoxes: Who’s Really in Charge in a Globalized World?

Dr. Corinne Flick, Founder and Chair of the Convoco Foundation, opened the Forum and introduced the dialectic between power and powerlessness. She explained that powerlessness and power are inseparable. When decision-makers take a decision this happens by weighing-up alternatives. In order to explore these options, in many cases advice is needed. This is where the power of powerlessness comes into play, as those who seem outwardly powerful must rely on their advisors and in doing so they grant them a great deal of influence.

Prof. Dr. Clemens Fuest, President of the ZEW and President-designate of the ifo Institute, gave the day’s first lecture and discussed the interface between politics, economics, and expertise. After his speech, All Theory is Grey. Powerlessness and Power in Scientific Policy Advice, the first Convoco Forum panel discussion began, on the topic of Political Consultancy, moderated and introduced by Prof. Jörg Rocholl, Ph.D., President of the ESMT, Berlin.
Alongside Clemens Fuest an interdisciplinary discussion on the interdependence of policy and expertise involved Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schön, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich and Vice-President of the German Research Foundation (DFG); Prof. Thomas Hoeren of the Institute for Information, Telecommunication and Media Law, Department of Civil Law, University of Münster; and Prof. Dr. Stefan Korioth, Chair of Public and Ecclesiastical Law, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich.

The second part of the Forum, which dealt specifically with the role of Germany during the Euro crisis and examined the question of power and powerlessness in the context of this topical subject, was opened by Prof. Dr. Albrecht Ritschl, an economic historian at the LSE, with his lecture: Who Does the Euro Belong To? International Monetary Policy in Times of National Powerlessness, which elicited a fantastic response from the audience.

Prof. Dr. Kai A. Konrad, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich, introduced the second panel discussion, moderated by Corinne Flick, with contributions from Albrecht Ritschl; Ambassador Prof. Dr. h.c. Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference; and Prof. Dr. Christoph Paulus, Director of the Research Center Institute for Interdisciplinary Restructuring (iir), Humboldt University, Berlin. There was lively participation from the audience of over 250 guests from the worlds of politics, economics, and science. Various aspects of the Euro crisis, such as a European financial compensation scheme, were discussed.

The young Convoco Group, Convoco 3.0, was introduced for the first time at the Convoco Forum. Ada Yi Zhao, Director of Finance at Barclays, London, gave an enthusiastic report on her four years as a member of 3.0.

The 2015 Convoco Forum ended with Prof. Roger Scruton’s moving lecture, The Power of the Powerless: Thoughts after Vaclav Havel, in which Roger Scruton described his personal experience of power in the outwardly powerless society of communist Czechoslovakia.