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Conference report: Macroeconomic Cooperation and the International Monetary System

Watch the Full video of the public panel   Introduction While the International Financial Institutions […]
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11/11/2013

Watch the Full video of the public panel

 

Introduction

While the International Financial Institutions came together in Washington for their annual meetings in early October the Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in cooperation with the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) and with the support of the Ford Foundation and the Center for American Progress (CAP) brought world-leading economists together to ‘Macroeconomic Cooperation and the International Monetary System’.

The timing could have not been better and the issues not more pressing. Five years after the Global Financial Crisis the world economy is still struggling to return to sustainable growth. This latest crisis has renewed interest on the need and the importance to reform the global financial and monetary architecture. International policy coordination, debt crisis management, participation in global economic governance, and the choice of means of payments in cross-border transactions are increasingly seen as crucial issues to create a global economic environment where global stability and growth take centre stage.

Conference Background

On October 8th 2013 FEPS in collaboration with the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) at Columbia University, and with the support of the Ford Foundation and the Center for American Progress (CAP) organised a conference on Macroeconomic Cooperation and the International Monetary System. The conference addressed three fundamental issues:

  1. Global macro-economic cooperation;
  2. How to reform the international monetary systems to contribute to world economic growth;
  3. European macro-economic governance.

The objective of the conference was to discuss the role and challenges of macro-economic cooperation in a world of independent monetary and fiscal policies.

The conference started with a welcome dinner discussing the role of macro-economic cooperation in restoring growth – a US perspective. Joseph Stiglitz, Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Jason Furman, Chair Council of Economic Advisers in the US, and Massimo D’Alema, President of FEPS and former Prime Minister of Italy provided food for thought.

The conference had three high-level panels and a public debate. The first panel focused on Global macro-economic cooperation. This panel was introduced by Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow of Brookings Institution. Speakers included: Joseph Stiglitz, Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Olivier Blanchard, Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund, Amar Bhattacharya, Director, G24 Secretariat, and Adam Posen, President, Peterson Institute of International Economics

The second panel concentrated on how to reform the international monetary system to contribute to world economic growth. The panel was introduced by John Williamson, Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics. Speakers included: Anton Korinek, Assistant Professor of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Jose Antonio Ocampo, Co-President, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Eswar Prasad, Senior Professor of Trade Policy, Cornell University, Heidemarie Wieczorek- Zeul, member of the Bundestag and former Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.

The third panel discussed European macro-economic governance. The panel was chaired by Ernst Stetter, Secretary General of FEPS. Speakers included Malcolm Sawyer, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Leeds University Business School, Paolo Guerrieri, Professor of Economics, University of Rome, Stephany Griffith-Jones, Financial Markets Programme Director, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, and Marcus Miller, Professor of Economics, University of Warwick, UK.

The day was closed by a public panel chaired by Professor Stephany Griffith-Jones. Guest speakers included: Joseph Stiglitz, Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Adam Posen, President, Peterson Institute of International Economics, Jose Antonio Ocampo, Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, and Massimo D’Alema, President of FEPS and former Prime Minister of Italy

Full video of the public panel can be found online:

https://www.americanprogress.org/events/2013/09/30/75631/macroeconomic-cooperation-and-the- international-monetary-system/

 

 

 

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