Catherine Schenk is Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Oxford. She returns to CASFI for a second research stay in Bonn. While at the centre, she will be completing her monograph on The evolution of the global payments system 1870-2020. The book traces the development of cross-border payments from the first globalisation in the late 19th century, through the fragmentation of crisis and war in the 1930s and 1940s, and the re-globalisation from the 1960s to 2000. The focus is on the architecture of the system from bills of exchange to SWIFT, and on the effect of geopolitics through sanctions and money-laundering in the later 20th century.
Ana Laura Catelén is a Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMDP), Argentina, and will complete her PhD in Economic History at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in September 2026. Her research sits at the intersection of economic development, economic history, and macroeconomics, focusing on the long-run cyclical patterns of Argentina's, with particular emphasis on the historical and policy-driven factors that shape excessive growth volatility. During her time at CASFI, she will continue developing her paper "Why is Argentina so Volatile? Business Cycles, Economic Policy and Distributive Conflict (1890–2020)", which she will present at the 6th Macrohistory Bi-annual Conference (September 24–25, 2026). She will also be preparing the material for the workshop "Economic history, AI and data" which she will co-teach in October at the III Summer School "Rethinking Latin American Economic Development".
CASFI is delighted to welcome Catherine Schenk and Ana Laura Catelén. Both will be conducting research in Bonn during September 2026.