Jomo Kwame Sundaram is assistant secretary general for economic development at the United Nations and research coordinator for the G24 Intergovernmental Group on International Monetary Affairs and Development. In 2007 he was awarded the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. --Book Jacket.
The papers included in this book cover different aspects of the governance of the Bretton Woods institutions. They explore different options for reform and show that enhancing the participation of developing and emerging market countries in resolving the major monetary and financial problems confronting the world economy, would improve global economic performance and contribute to the elimination of world poverty.
This volume argues that good governance is crucial to the success of any regulatory regime, and explores how better governance of the financial sector can be achieved.
"In the wake of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, offers a systematic overview of recent developments in regulatory frameworks in advanced and emerging-market countries, outlining challenges to improving regulation, markets, and access in developing economies"--Provided by publisher.
An IMF paper reviewing the policy responses of Indonesia, Korea and Thailand to the 1997 Asian crisis, comparing the actions of these three countries with those of Malaysia and the Philippines. Although all judgements are still tentative, important lessons can be learned from the experiences of the last two years.
While previous reports have focused solely on the ‘big’ issues like capital account convertibility, bank privatization, and priority sector norms, A Hundred Small Steps: Report of the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms goes deep into other areas where reforms are less controversial, but perhaps as important. The report argues that we need a change in mindset for the financial sector, one that recognizes that efficiency, innovation, and value for money are as important for the poor as they are for our new Indian multinationals, and these will come from improved governance, new entry and competition. Indeed the Committee believes that the road to making Mumbai an international financial centre runs through every village in India. The report is divided into separate self-contained chapters; the underlying theme behind all the proposals is the need to enhance inclusion, growth, and stability by allowing players more freedom, even while strengthening the financial and regulatory infrastructure. The role of the government is to create an enabling environment by building sound financial infrastructure. The Committee has focused primarily on broad principles and directions, without entering too much into details of implementation. It emphasizes three important reasons for financial sector reform: to include more Indians in the growth process; to foster growth itself; and to improve financial stability, flexibility, and resilience and thus protect the economy against the kind of turbulence that is affecting the world today. The Committee recognizes this is a difficult time to propose financial sector reforms in India. The near meltdown of the US financial sector seems to be proof that markets and competition do not work. This is clearly the wrong lesson to take from the debacle. The right lesson is that markets and institutions do succumb occasionally to excesses, which is why regulators have to be vigilant. The report argues for skilled regulators who encourage growth and innovation even while working harder to contain risks.
This is the first comprehensive book on the politics and economics of financial sector consolidation in an emerging market in West Africa. It draws on the author's twenty years experience working with multinationals in this oil-rich zone, to address key issues and examine banking reform in one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
Many financial institutions have in recent years failed – failed either completely, and gone into bankruptcy, or failed in the sense that they have not achieved what their owners or their customers expected them to deliver. This has had significant and adverse effects on customers, taxpayers, shareholders, and sometimes management. There has been much discussion of what should be done about this, and some action has been taken. But has it been the right kind of action? Crises of the sort being experienced are low probability but high impact events. This volume, from an international group of scholars, deals with two main issues: firstly, how can the governance of the financial sector by the authorities be improved and secondly, how can the governance of firms and institutions within the sector be improved to render the probability and cost of future crises lower? Poor governance has been one of the major contributors to the global financial crisis. With better governance of and in the financial sector the financial crisis might well have been avoided altogether and certainly could have been much milder in its impact. This is not simply a case of being wise after the event. These problems were widely discussed before the event, but little action was taken. This book explores not only what the contribution of poor governance was to the crisis and to its depth, but also why it is often difficult to improve governance. The volume offers a positive critique of the measures that are being put in place in the light of the experience of the crisis and suggests how they might plausibly be improved. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of economics and international finance, but will also prove profitable reading for practitioners and the interested public.
