Reforming the International Financial System for Development

The 1944 Bretton Woods conference created new institutions for international economic governance. Though flawed, the system led to a golden age in postwar reconstruction, sustained economic growth, job creation, and postcolonial development. Yet financial liberalization since the 1970s has involved deregulation and globalization, which have exacerbated instability, rather than sustained growth. In addition, the failure of Bretton Woods to provide a reserve currency enabled the dollar to fill the void, which has contributed to periodic, massive U.S. trade deficits.

Our latest global financial crisis, in which all these weaknesses played a part, underscores how urgently we must reform the international financial system. Prepared for the G24 research program, a consortium of developing countries focused on financial issues, this volume argues that such reforms must be developmental. Chapters review historical trends in global liquidity, financial flows to emerging markets, and the food crisis, identifying the systemic flaws that contributed to the recent downturn. They challenge the effectiveness of recent policy and suggest criteria for regulatory reform, keeping in mind the different circumstances, capacities, and capabilities of various economies. Essays follow ongoing revisions in international banking standards, the improved management of international capital flows, the critical role of the World Trade Organization in liberalizing and globalizing financial services, and the need for international tax cooperation. They also propose new global banking and reserve currency arrangements.

List of Tables
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Foreword
1 Contemporary Reform of Global Financial Governance: Implications of and Lessons from the Past, by Eric Helleiner
2 Global Liquidity and Financial Flows to Developing Countries: New Trends in Emerging Markets and Their Implications, by C.P. Chandrasekhar
3 The Global Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development, by Jomo Kwame Sundaram
4 The Unnatural Coupling: Food and Global Finance, by Jayati Ghosh
5 Policy Responses to the Global Financial Crisis: Key Issues for Developing Countries, by Y?lmaz Akyüz
6 Reforming Financial Regulation: What Needs to Be Done, by Jane D'Arista and Stephany Griffith-Jones
7 The Basel 2 Agenda for 2009: Progress So Far, by Andrew Cornford
8 Should Financial Flows Be Regulated? Yes, by Gerald Epstein
"9 Financial Services, the WTO and Initiatives for Global Financial Reform", by Chakravarthi Raghavan
10 Cross-Border Tax Evasion and Bretton Woods II, by David Spencer
11 Learning from the Crisis: Is There a Model for Global Banking?, by C.P. Chandrasekhar
12 The Report of the Commission of Experts on Reform of the International Monetary and Financial System and Its Economic Rationale, by Jan Kregel
13 Special Drawing Rights and the Reform of the Global Reserve System, by José Antonio Ocampo
Index