While a connection between economists Charles P. Kindleberger and Hyman Minsky is clear, the full extent of their intellectual relationship was unclear. By his own account, Kindleberger’s attention was only first brought to Minsky by Martin Meyer in 1976 as he was looking to build on his renowned book, World in Depression, 1929-1939. Kindleberger and […]
By Timon Forster On February 15, 2023, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center hosted Jamie Martin to discuss his new book ‘The Meddlers: Sovereignty, Empire & the Birth of Global Economic Governance.’ The Meddlers charts the transformation of global economic governance from World War I to the birth of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) […]
By Devika Dutt and Kevin P. Gallagher The long-standing gridlock in trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has shifted the focus of trade negotiations to bilateral and plurilateral trade and investment agreements. Since the inception of the WTO in 1995, over 2,000 regional and bilateral trade and investment treaties have been negotiated and […]
By Amanda Brown Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley spoke at the opening of the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27), calling on powerful countries and institutions to commit to supporting climate vulnerable countries. From unlocking private sector finance to addressing loss and damage, Prime Minister Mottley highlighted the need to acknowledge and take action on the widespread impacts […]
By Mridhu Khanna On December 1, 2022, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center hosted Zainab Usman to discuss her book, “Economic Diversification in Nigeria: The Politics of Building a Post-Oil Economy” as part of the Fall 2022 Global Economic Governance Initiative Book Talk series. Usman’s book, which was named to the Financial Times Best […]
When the euro arrived in 1999, London’s established dollar business conferred an advantage in intermediating the new number two global currency. The dollar business dominates London’s international financial business, as it has since the 1960s, but London’s share in the global euro business tended to exceed its global dollar share. The Brexit vote in 2016 […]
By Yaechan Lee Financial globalization under the dollar-based structure of the international monetary system is increasingly demanding more proactive policy actions from central banks to prepare against potential capital outflow as investors make the dash for the dollar during financial crises. During the COVID-19 crisis, research finds that even the central banks of developing economies […]
South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with clear race and gender factors seeming to play a major and increasing role in soaring wealth inequality and income inequality. Upon a closer look at inequality, there is a strong relationship between the size distribution of households and sectoral inequality. The link […]
Embedded in the foreign exchange (FX) market is huge, unseen dollar borrowing. In an FX swap, for instance, a Dutch pension fund or Japanese insurer borrows dollars and lends euro or yen in the “spot leg”, and later repays the dollars and receives euro or yen in the “forward leg.” Thus, an FX swap, along […]
Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN) has changed dramatically to become increasingly voluminous and complex. Today, the GFSN is comprised of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), regional financial arrangements (RFAs) and bilateral currency swaps between central banks. The GFSN now has an unprecedented capacity for crisis prevention and […]