Issue #0

Reforming the global financial architecture

Plot

Instability has become global and systemic. Strengthening international institutions and arrangements is essential if the threat of crises is to be reduced and if they are to be better managed when they do occur. Yet this book's review of recent measures shows how little has been done to establish effective global arrangements that address the main concerns of developing countries. It's proposals for alternative measures draw on the latest economic thinking while also addressing the concerns of developing countries, and covers:• Rules and institutions to set standards and regulate international capital flows.• The exchange rate system, in particular whether developing countries can both maintain an open capital account and attain exchange rate stability when major reserve currencies are subject to frequent gyrations and misalignments and international capital movements are extremely unstable.• Better mechanisms to resolve the international debt problem.• Reform of the IMF, especially surveillance, conditionality, the provision of international liquidity, and its potential function as a lender of last resort.The book concludes with the question of the management of financial crises when they do occur and burden sharing, including the involvement of the private sector.