The World Economy Laboratory
The purpose of the World Economy Laboratory (WEL), founded by the Economics Department in 1992 and directed by Ricardo Caballero and Sloan faculty member Roberto Rigobon, is to strengthen the links between the department and policy makers, central banks, and business economists.
The WEL is organized around the Central Banks—MIT research Network, which was started in 2006 and aims to develop relationships between MIT and central banks. It hosts occasional meetings in Cambridge and visits by central bank researchers to the MIT Economics Department. The working group environment of the meetings is aimed at discussing policy issues at a relatively technical level. The meetings are attended by the heads of research of many central banks, as well as faculty and students working on international finance and macroeconomics policy issues.
WEL is financed by membership contributions. The funds are used to organize the meetings and to support policy-oriented research by junior faculty and students.