PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE ON
THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS
Organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva, 7 and 8 May 2009
Thematic debate Principles of the reform: towards a
new Bretton Woods?
The Economic Logic Behind the
Commission’s Major Proposals
Jan Kregel,
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
Premise: Crisis is Global – Requires Global
Solution
• Started in Developed country Financial Markets
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Liquidity Crisis spread crisis to Real Sector –
lack of financing
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International Financial markets spread crisis
to Emerging Market Developing Countries
• Decline in real demand in Developed countries
led to falling world trade
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International trading system spread to crisis
to real sector in Developing countries
Premise: Cause of Crisis is in Developed
Countries’ Financial Markets
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Due to 1980s Deregulation, 1990s Liberalisation
Belief in Self-regulating nature of markets
Failure of Risk Management Innovations
These policies were at the basis of globalization
These policies were the basis for reform of
developing country financial systems through
BIS, IMF, FSF
Conclusion:
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Need Reform of Financial Market Policies:
IN BOTH Developed and Developing Countries
Need Reform of the International Financial System
How should the Reform be Done:
– Example of Bretton Woods – All (44) countries
represented
– In Globalised Trade and Financial System Need
Representation of Developing Countries
– G-7/8 can’t do it; G-20 can’t do it,
– only G-192 Can do it
• Need credible representation to determine the process
of reform
– It need not take place with 192 representatives, but on
the basis of democratic choice of the process
Where to Start?
• First, respond to the Recession/Depression
– Diagnosing the Causes suggests solutions
– Solutions must be both immediate and structural:
A return to normalcy is not an option
– The short-term measures should provide the
building blocks for the new international system
– International Financial System has to support the
response to the Crisis
– Response has to be global since problem is global
First Response: Stimulus
• Government Expenditure Plans
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Have to be efficient:
big bang for buck;
building the new system
Have to be globally coordinated:
avoid leakage in a global system –
Avoid financial protectionism -- beggar my neighbour
• Should be by Surplus countries –China, Japan, EU
• To ensure they don’t aggravate international imbalances
• BUT: Developing Countries Need to Participate
– Official sources, and international financial institutions
may impose restrictive fiscal conditions
– Countries may try to build up protective liquidity cushion
in the form of foreign reserves
Coordinated Stimulus needs new finance
• Developing Countries require sources of
finance
– to participate in global stimulus to make it more
efficient and not offset it
• Developed countries to use 1 % of their
stimulus for direct expenditure support of
developing countries
• additional to existing ODA commitments
• Care must be taken to avoid unsustainable
debt burdens
• Requires New Financing Facility
Major Institutional Recommendations
• New Financing Facility
– Within or outside IFIs
– New governance structure
– Provide a pattern for Voice and Representation Reform in
IFIs
• New International Reserve Currency –
– Accumulating Reserves offsets stimulus
– To provide a symmetrical adjustment to international
imbalances
• Global Policy Coordination Council
– to provide a democratically representative G-20
• International Expert Group
• Other Institutions – International Bankruptcy Court
Differences from Bretton Woods
• BW: Objective was fair, multilateral trade
– Exchange rate stability to avoid beggar my
neighbour policy
– Limited Capital flows to keep imbalances and debt
accumulations to a minimum
• Today: Objective is a financial system that
avoids crisis, produces sustainable
development and supports the development
objectives of the poorest developing countries
A New Credit Facility
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The current system does not provide an efficient mechanism for mobilizing the funds
available in countries that have accumulated large reserves.
With regard to the utilisation of the funds there are different (complementary) options. First,
there is an urgent need for balance-of-payment and budget financing, with the objective to
increase developing countries’ capacities for anti-cyclical fiscal expenditures.
Secondly, the funds could be used for key investments, where some of the emerging markets
have a particular interest, such as developing agriculture in Africa and their capacity to
export, thus contributing to food security in other regions such as in Asian and Arab
countries.
Another possibility is to use those funds to help developing countries finance guarantees for
trade credit or for the debt of their corporations, forestalling the risk of a run on these
corporations.
Such facilities would require a different governance structure from existing global financial
institutions, reflecting the new sources of global financing and the necessity of giving a
greater voice to emerging markets and countries providing the funds, but also by giving voice
to recipient countries.
They could be located under the umbrella of existing institutions – such as the World Bank or
Regional Development Banks, where developing countries are already strongly represented –
or established as a new institution.
Funds could be organised on a regional basis
A New Global Reserve System
• The global imbalances which played an important role in this crisis
can only be addressed if there is a better way of dealing with
international economic risks facing countries than the current
system of accumulating international reserves.
• The magnitude of this crisis and the inadequacy of international
responses may motivate even further accumulations, contributing
to the deflationary bias in the global system and impairing
prospects for a robust recovery.
• The difficulties associated with a single national currency as the
international reserve currency are well known
• Solutions have been proposed in the form of a Global Reserve
System.
• Such a system could be based on an expanded role for the SDR,
with regular or cyclically adjusted emissions calibrated to the size of
reserve accumulations. S
A Global Policy Coordination Council.
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At a level equivalent with the General Assembly and the Security Council,
Global Economic Council should meet annually at the Heads of Government level to assess
developments and provide leadership in economic, social and ecologic issues.
Promote development, secure consistency and coherence in the policy goals of the major
international organisations
Support consensus building among governments on efficient and effective solutions for
issues of global economic, governance.
Council could also promote accountability of all international economic organizations,
identify gaps that need to be filled to ensure the efficient operation of the global economic
and financial system, and help set the agenda for global economic and financial reforms.
Supported intellectually by the work of an International Panel
Representation would be based on the constituency system, and designed to ensure that all
continents and all major economies are represented.
Important global institutions, such as the World Bank, IMF, WTO, ILO and members of the
UN Secretariat dealing with economic and social issues would provide supporting
information and participate in the Council.
It could thus provide a democratically representative alternative to the G-20.
Independent Expert Panel
• There should be an appropriate mechanism within the United Nations
System for independent international analysis on questions of global
economic policy, including its social and environmental dimensions.
• Follow the example of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC).
• To offer advice to the General Assembly and ECOSOC, as well as to relevant
international organizations, to enhance their capacity for sound decisionmaking in these areas, to identify gaps and deficiencies in the global
economic architecture, and to assess progress and problems in the
functioning of the global economic and social system.
• Contribute to foster a constructive dialogue in a regular venue for fruitful
exchange between policy makers, the academic world and key international
organisations.
• Panel should comprise well-respected academics from all over the world,
representing all continents, and international social movements.
• Should follow, analyse and assess long-term trends, key developments and
major dynamics for global change affecting all people around the globe,
identify problems in the global economic and financial architecture, and
jointly provide options for coherent international action and
recommendations for political decision-making processes.
Other Institutions
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Debt Workout Mechanism --SDRM.
Foreign Debt Commission
Cross Border Bankruptcy Court – to replace ICSID
International Tax Cooperation
– All countries and jurisdictions must adhere to international
standards regarding taxation.
– Institutional arrangements for improving harmonization and
transparency should be strengthened; including the UN
Committee of Experts on International Cooperation on Tax
Matters as proposed in Paragraph 16 of the Doha Declaration.
The UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation on
Tax Matters should be ‘upgraded’ into an intergovernmental
body to strengthen its ability to enhance international
cooperation in this area.
• New Policy Surveillance Mechanism
– Independent of IMF