Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 17:30-18:30 Vienna time (CET) 

Guest speaker
Martin Kocher, Governor, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)

Moderator
Ben Kelmanson, Director, Joint Vienna Institute

The JVI’s 2025 Annual Lecture—Tariffs, tensions and deals: global trade lost in transition?—was delivered by Governor Martin Kocher of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and explored the shifting landscape of global trade. Governor Kocher outlined the literature around optimal tariffs, along with the possible motivations behind them, and highlighted the challenges facing policy makers in a less predictable and more uncertain world. He went on to explore how recent tariff actions by key trading nations reflect a more fragmented international environment, along with their potential implications for growth, trade, and inflation in Europe and beyond. The lecture generated interesting questions from the audience, ranging from the estimated size of the impact of trade on economic growth to the possible economic and political consequences in Europe.  JVI Director Ben Kelmanson, who moderated the session, closed the event by thanking Governor Kocher for offering a timely and policy-relevant perspective on the evolution of global trade dynamics and how they may affect economic outcomes and decision-making in the years ahead.

Ben Kelmanson, Director, Joint Vienna Institute