Is the IMF Still Relevant?
Allan H. Meltzer, Desmond Lachman
September 25, 2007
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In October 2007, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is scheduled to assume the helm of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He will do so at a time when the IMF is no longer a major lender to emerging market economies and when the IMF seems to have little to say about today’s large global payment imbalances.

Panelists at this seminar will discuss what Strauss-Kahn’s priorities should be to increase the IMF’s relevance. Should the IMF play a more significant role as umpire in today’s exchange rate disputes? How might the IMF give a greater voice to countries like China whose role in the international financial system has increased? Should the IMF be streamlined to bring its expenditures more in line with its dwindling income?

Timothy Adams, former U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs; Andrew Crockett, former head of the Bank for International Settlement; Allan Meltzer, former chairman of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission; Edwin M. Truman, former U.S. assistant treasury secretary; and Onno Wijnholds, current European Central Bank representative at the IMF will answer these and other questions. Desmond Lachman of AEI will moderate.

About the Author

 

Allan H.
Meltzer
  • Allan H. Meltzer is the Allan H. Meltzer University Professor of Political Economy at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of History of the Federal Reserve, Volume I: 1913-1951 (University of Chicago Press, 2002), a definitive research work on the Federal Reserve System. He has been a member of the President's Economic Policy Advisory Board, an acting member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, and a consultant to the U.S. Treasury Department and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In 1999 and 2000, he served as the chairman of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, which was appointed by Congress to review the role of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other institutions. The author of several books and numerous papers on economic theory and policy, Mr. Meltzer is also a founder of the Shadow Open Market Committee.
  • Phone: 4122682282
    Email: ameltzer@aei.org
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Desmond
Lachman
  • Desmond Lachman joined AEI after serving as a managing director and chief emerging market economic strategist at Salomon Smith Barney. He previously served as deputy director in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Policy Development and Review Department and was active in staff formulation of IMF policies. Mr. Lachman has written extensively on the global economic crisis, the U.S. housing market bust, the U.S. dollar, and the strains in the euro area. At AEI, Mr. Lachman is focused on the global macroeconomy, global currency issues, and the multilateral lending agencies.
  • Phone: 202-862-5844
    Email: dlachman@aei.org
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