Study Group on Global Economic Governance

Project Members: Andrew F. Cooper, Andrew Schrumm, Eric Helleiner, Gregory Chin, Paola Subacchi (CH), Mui Pong Goh (CH), and and Paolo Guerrieri (IAI)

Aim of the Project

This project provides an in-depth examination of the implications of the economic crisis for the structure and operation of global governance. Conducted in partnership with Chatham House (UK) and Istituto Affari Internazionali (Italy), the project pays particular interest to the G20 process, explores the national and international policy responses, and provides recommendations for reform of the global financial and monetary architecture.

Background

As the sharp global economic downturn has shaken confidence in the Western model of laissez-faire capitalism, the crisis may serve as a catalyst for reform of global governance and could come to represent a kind of turning point from the post-war economic system. The crisis has helped to expose the significant gap which has opened up between the global economic order and governance structures in recent years. Major emerging economies - China particularly but also India and Brazil - have been acquiring growing economic and political importance but are not uniformly represented in key institutions. While the focus of the crisis response so far has been largely on the financial system, more attention will increasingly have to be paid to world trade and monetary issues. There are doubts regarding whether informal bodies like the G8 and G20 should indeed play a large part in reshaping the mandates and governance of international financial institutions. Even the G20 may not be sufficiently legitimate in its current incarnation to be credible or successful in this task; indeed by simply expanding existing IFIs but leaving them fundamentally unchanged, there is the risk of path dependency and the continuation of business as usual.

Main Activities

An extension of Economic Diplomacy stream of CIGI's BRICSAM research project, the Study Group has three main areas of activity; research, publications and consultation. Scholary research into the global response to the economic crisis is being conducted through in-depth subject analysis, interviews with key stakeholders, and topical research workshops. The project has engaged contributions from international experts, policy-makers and business leaders, providing input on the project's substantive work and methods employed.

Over the course of the two-year project (2008-2010), various publications will be produced. The primary output will be a special issue of International Affairs, entitled "Global Economic Governance in a World of Crisis" (edited by Andrew F. Cooper and Paola Subacchi, May 2010). In advance of CIGI'09, an authors' workshop will be held in Waterloo for peer review of the journal articles. In addition, a set of joint CIGI-Chatham House briefing papers on important issues in the G8/G20 deliberations will appear occasionally. The first brief, "From London to L'Aquila: Building a Bridge between the G20 and the G8", was published in lead-up to the 2009 G8 Summit, while others are expected in lead-up to the G20 Pittsburgh Summit. Lastly, an edited volume of all project research papers is being considered for publication in late-2010.

Members of the Study Group have also initiated consultations with officials involved in the G8 and G20 summit processes. Alongside these activities, public events in London, Rome and Waterloo have or will engage core constituencies in wider debates on the international financial architecture. The Study Group has also attained media accreditation at the G20 Summits in Washington (Nov'08), London (Apr'09) and Pittsburgh (Sept'09) as well as the G8 Summit in L'Aquila (July'09), conducting live blogging and media outreach. Commentary by Study Group members has appeared widely, including the Financial Times, BBC World, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Al Jazeera, France24, China Daily, Japan Times, and many others.

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