Macro-volatility and Development;a hocus-pocus excuse for a conference

I just received a call for papers for a conference to be held next March:

"The Growth and Welfare Effects of Macroeconomic Volatility."

The conference will take place in Barcelona (at Pompeu Fabra's downtown campus) on March 17-18, 2006.

The conference will include the presentation and discussion of 12 original papers and a closing panel on policy making issues. It will serve to bring together researchers working on the long-run effects of macroeconomic volatility, with a particular emphasis on issues relevant to developing countries.

Would anyone like to co-author a submission asserting that macroeconomics has nothing to do with economic development and that the conference is a waste of time? I can imagine that this economist [Lee Coppock] might share my views.

I am lecturing this week in Liberia on the importance of economic institutions that foster growth. I'll talk about property rights, free trade, monetary stability, etc. However, there is a significant issue that Liberia (and most developing nations) need to overcome before these institutions can be effective: corruption.