The EEA–ESEM congress was a major event in this year's economics conference season, organized in Budapest by the Central European University and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in the last week of August. It was attended by some 1600 delegates, including 300 from Germany, 170 each from the United States and the UK, 140 from France, 110 from Spain, and 73 registered Hungarians. This account of a few sessions seeks to exemplify the tone of the conference and identify the subject areas at the centre of scientific attention today. No complete account can be given in this form, as up to 40 sections were at work at one time.