Central Banking and Economic History: Reflections and Prospects

2025 marks the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the National Bank of Albania. To commemorate this milestone, the Bank of Albania Museum is organizing a conference on “Central Banking and Economic History: Reflections and Prospects”. The conference will be held in person at Bank of Albania’s premises in Tirana, Albania, on 11 June 2025.

The organizers invite theoretical and empirical papers that use historical data to enhance our understanding of the past and the present monetary, financial and economic developments. We welcome submission of economic, monetary, financial, and banking history research, as well as studies on the history of economic thought. The papers can adopt either a cliometric or a narrative approach; contributions based on archival documents are also welcome. We will consider both completed papers and preliminary drafts.

Professor Kevin Hoover, Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Duke University, will deliver the keynote speech.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• The origins of banking systems in the Balkans and the influence of the Ottoman Empire in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.
• The role of geopolitical events, international institutions, and the impact of Post-WWI and WWII treaties and alliances on economic and financial systems in Albania and the Balkans during the early 20^th century.
• Monetary & exchange rates regimes, central bank, and prices in centrally planned socialist economies, their interaction with economic policy.
• The monetary and financial history of Albania, the Balkans and Europe, over the last century, including the impact of financial and economic crises on central banks, their objectives, and regulatory frameworks.

Circulation of ideas and practices, key figures, money doctors, and international technical missions in shaping banking and central banking in Albania, the Balkans, and the socialist bloc in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Important Dates

Abstract Submission Deadline:         15 December 2024
Notification of Acceptance:                16 January 2025
Full Paper Submission Deadline:     30 April 2025
Conference Date:                                 11 June 2025

Submission Guidelines

Authors are encouraged to submit abstracts no more than 300 words and a short bio to muzeu@bankofalbania.org.

The program and other information about the conference will be posted on the Bank of Albania website (www.bankofalbania.org).