Member Views

International Sustainable Development Summit

BWC and IFF member Marsha Vande Berg opened the IFF summit on International Sustainable Development this week. She focused on the ways that markets and governments can better serve the mission of sustainable development. In doing so, she emphasized the need for leadership to mitigate climate risk and damage as well as the cost if such leadership does not fulfill its potential.  

International Spillovers and the ECB’s Monetary Policy

On Saturday, 27 March 2021, Klaas Knot joined a panel of the CF40, Euro50 Group and PIIE conference on “The Dollar, the Euro and the Renminbi in the new geopolitical environment”.  

Institutionalization of Cryptoassets

Cryptoassets (or crypto) have garnered significant attention from the media, financial analysts, governments, regulatory institutions, and investors over the last year and a half. 

Innovation-Based Economic Security

To benefit from today’s globalized research and development, the United States needs to make science and technology policies an integral part of economic security.

Inflation, Money Supply and Spiraling Expectations

John Greenwood and Steve Hanke’s contention that excessive monetary growth is the cause of recent high inflation doesn’t hold water (“The Monetary Bathtub Is Overflowing,” op-ed, Oct. 22). Behind the 35.7% increase in M2 money supply that they cite—and attribute mainly to the Federal Reserve—lies $5.5 trillion of net spending power injected by the federal government. This was to offset the biggest short-term hit to aggregate demand in U.S. history.

Inflation in the 21st Century: Taking Down the Inflationary Straw Man of the 1970s

This overview of the history of, and future prospects for, undesirable levels of price inflation in the U.S. economy concludes that concerns raised in 2021 by several well-known economists and analysts – regarding the prospects for accelerating levels of inflation as a result of pandemic-era and post-pandemic fiscal and monetary policy (enacted and proposed) – is misplaced.

IMF Shifts Approach to Low Income Countries and Special Drawing Rights

Fanfare exceeds reality

Before its summer recess, the International Monetary Fund board tackled two key operational issues – future concessional support for low income countries and ‘channelling’ special drawing rights.

IMF Right to Spend Liberally

Debt moratorium a critical step forward
A week of virtual international meetings – G7 and G20 finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund’s international monetary and financial committee – has just wrapped up.

IMF enhancing efforts in Latin America

While the world focuses on the US and China, Britain's exit from the European Union, G3 monetary policy and Europe's doldrums, little attention is being paid to economic and financial developments in Latin America.

IMF annual meetings reflected global gloominess

The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank wrapped up on 16 October. Washington DC’s economy is richer for it. Its citizens are relieved the extreme traffic mess – even by DC standards – has abated. Thousands of delegates packed into innumerable meetings, seeing each other face-to-face often for the first time in years. Gloomy views were reinforced, while DC’s liquor stocks were drawn down. Whether much was learned is a different matter.