Monetary Policy

September 10, 2012

In Memoriam: Sir Andrew Crockett

Last week the Financial Times published the obituary of Sir Andrew Crockett. This is sad news indeed. Sir Andrew, the former head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), was highly regarded in international monetary and financial policy circles. As the FT obituary notes,  he fostered the environment of critical thinking and independence of thought at the BIS that allowed Bill White and other colleagues to raise warning flags prior to the global financial crisis.

Expert Group Meeting on Sovereign Debt Restructuring

Sep 19
The debt problems in Greece and other euro zone countries bring a new urgency to the restructuring debate, underscoring the importance of prevention and management of sovereign debt crises that pose potential threats to international financial stability. In hindsight, many gaps in the financial architecture for debt restructuring are evident from past experiences with sovereign debt crises in emerging markets and other developing countries. While there are valuable lessons to be learned from these experiences, efforts to reform the architecture have been slow and the incremental steps taken have been inadequate in preventing debt crises and providing a timely and cost-effective resolution. CIGI in partnership with the Financing for Development Office of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (FfDO/UNDESA) and the Commonwealth Secretariat are organizing a second Expert Group Meeting on Sovereign Debt Restructuring.
Sunday, September 2, 2012

Economy’s foggy future poses challenge for Carney

Kevin Carmichael
The Globe and Mail

CIGI Senior Fellow Pierre Siklos comments to The Globe and Mail on his research regarding the Bank of Canada and interest rates.

Friday, August 24, 2012

US proves stumbling block in IMF reform

Jeremy Tordjman
Agence France-Presse

In an AFP article exploring the United States' position on reform at the IMF, CIGI Senior Fellow Bessma Momani comments that the international organization's increasing attention will cause Congress to use it as a "subject for their own domestic constituents."

Thursday, August 23, 2012

CIGI-INET paper points to fault lines in international financial architecture for resolving sovereign debt crises

News Release

A new paper by a former deputy director of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) European Department says that fault lines in the international financial architecture for resolving sovereign debt crises mean that recent and future debt crises will remain more costly than need be.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

From Bretton Woods to the Euro: How Policy-Maker Overreach Fosters Economic Crises

CIGI Papers No. 7

While the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates ended almost 40 years ago, remarkably, policy makers continue to be fascinated by the policy strategy that underpinned its arrangements. This paper considers the relevance of the Bretton Woods system, exploring the challenges that must be met in attempting to reform the present international monetary system and euro area policies.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Sovereign Debtors in Distress: Are Our Institutions Up to the Challenge?

CIGI Papers No. 6

This paper, co-published with the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), expands on a number of the ideas raised during the discussion at a CIGI-INET conference held in Waterloo, Canada, that brought together experts on sovereign debt crises. Set against the deteriorating situation in Europe, the conference reopened a question that has largely lain dormant for the past decade: is the overall approach to resolving sovereign debt crises adequate for addressing the challenges ahead?

August 20, 2012

Europe and the Eurozone: The Land of Loose Ends

While the EU, and the euro zone, experience a few days of quiet in the dying dog days of summer, it may be worthwhile considering what awaits decision-makers not only in Europe but — in an era of global financial markets where tremors in one part of the world spillover onto other financial markets with striking speed — for the rest of the world.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Two cheers for Canada, not three

Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney
iPolitics

"Consider the cold facts. Canada’s exports of good and services as a share of GDP have steadily declined since they hit a high of 46 percent in 2000, falling to 29 percent a mere decade later. Trade with our most important market, the U.S., is also in decline," write Derek Burney and CIGI's Fen Hampson.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Review: The Dark Side of Globalization

Laura-Anca Parepa
Inter Faculty (University of Tsukuba, Japan)

"This is an excellent collection of fourteen articles, written by specialists coming from different countries, various fields and having very diverse backgrounds: professors, diplomats, journalists, researchers, and UN officers," writes reviewer Laura-Anca Parepa