financial crisis
« Previous EntriesWhat Happens in Cancun Shouldn’t Stay in Cancun: Toward Transparency at the Inter-American Development Bank
Friday, March 19th, 2010This weekend the Inter-American Development Bank (IaDB*) will hold its annual meetings in the popular Mexican resort city of Cancun. Much of the focus will be on the capital increase for the Bank, which made an original request for an increase that topped US$ 180 billion. Subsequent estimates of what the main shareholders may [...]
National Disasters Today Provide Governance Lessons
Monday, March 1st, 2010 Let us consider three countries:
Country 1: Its approach to industrialization has relied heavily on a very large public sector that accounts for well over 40 percent of GDP, and on aid financing from richer countries. The country has no fiscal discipline, running a deficit exceeding 13 percent of GDP. Rather, leaders have focused more [...]
State Capture by “Main Street”?: The Toyota Saga Accelerates
Thursday, February 11th, 2010A few days ago I argued that one ought not point a finger at Toyota alone for the ’sudden unintended acceleration’ (SUA) woes in their vehicles, and suggested that the problem also reflects the failure of the US Government regulatory agency (NHTSA) to do its job. At that time I provided incipient evidence that [...]
Regulatory Capture outside of Finance: NHTSA not just asleep at the Toyota wheel?
Friday, February 5th, 2010Plenty has been written on the role of financial institutions in the global crisis, and also in how they may have influenced their own generous rescue by the government. Many writings also touch on the ineffective role of the financial regulatory institutions. Some of the writings, including in this space, have suggested that such [...]
Misrule of Law Matters: Time to Reboot?
Thursday, January 21st, 2010A full fledged reboot of the Rule of Law and the Law and Development fields may be salutary, and it may also improve aid effectiveness. I am not a legal scholar, but alongside many legal experts was invited to join a Symposium on the Future of Law and Development. Valuable contributions ensued, now [...]
On the changing ethos at Goldman Sachs (they showed up to this meeting)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009We know that key Wall Street investment bankers did not show up to this past Monday meeting called by President Obama. We just wrote about it. No such problem with no-shows in this other recent meeting held between the head of Goldman Sachs (Lloyd Blankfein, who was among those who did not make it [...]
Power shifting back from Washington to New York: Recapture of the State in the offing?
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009Imagine you hold a very high position in the US Government, in Washington, DC. And you believe it is important to talk to the top Wall Street bankers, to nudge them to be more modest about their bonuses, and more generous about their lending. You call a meeting with these top bankers in Washington. [...]
International Anti-Corruption Day 2009: An Hour of Silence to Reflect and Reboot
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 As Wednesday, December 9th dawns, there is a dim reminder that one is supposed to ‘celebrate’ International Anti-Corruption. ‘Dim reminder’ to ‘celebrate’ in quotation marks indeed, because unfortunately anti-corruption continues to be largely in the back-burner for most world powers, for most international institutions, and for many of their leaders.
Or worse…
Nobel Prize in Economics: illusions from Tinbergen to Keynes
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 Almost everything we know about the Nobel Prize may be wrong. High time to address illusions. And indulge on another.
1. Was Tinbergen awarded the first Nobel Prize in Economics? No, strictly speaking. Because there is no such thing as a Nobel Prize in Economics. Alfred Nobel did not envisage it, or endow any. Instead, well [...]
G-20 Global Governance: better than their National Governance?
Sunday, October 11th, 2009 Thanks for bearing with me during my recent blogging absence. I am now back, and posted this entry after the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit in the newly unveiled blog at Brookings, where I work.
The G-20 had just finished their third meeting, and there was a lot of buzz surrounding the demise of the G8 [...]
Financial Crisis, Africa’s Permanent Damage, and Aid Effectiveness
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009Aid is dead: it is worse than merely useless, since it abets and perpetuates mis-governance and dependency by Africa. No, to the contrary, massive additional infusions of aid are crucial for all of Africa. This massive transfer of aid to governments in Africa is particularly urgent right now, in the midst of the financial [...]
Financial Crisis as the Kiss of Death to the Governance Agenda?
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009In a recent blog entry, Dani Rodrik compliments the overall work of Simon Johnson and of mine. Then he specifically finds fault with our argument regarding the link between corruption and the current crisis in the US, and goes on to claim that: ‘…the financial crisis has killed the governance reform agenda’…
Captura del Estado y Corrupción Legal en los EEUU: Realidad o Ilusión?
Saturday, April 25th, 2009Hace más de una década comenzamos con mi ex-colega Joel Hellman el proyecto de investigación sobre ‘captura del estado’. Nos enfocamos en las economías de transición de aquellos tiempos, donde en países como Rusia y Ucrania los oligarcas eran tan poderosos que, con sobornos e influencia indebida, capturaban las leyes, regulaciones y políticas públicas [...]
Financial Crisis and the Media: Capture, Culture and Incentives, or Lack of Training?
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009There has been increasing attention paid to whether regulatory capture, as well as other forms of state capture, played a role in the financial crisis. Less attention has been paid to whether capture of the media, and of the financial media in particular, also took place, and what role, if any it had in [...]
V Summit of the Americas Concludes with ‘Winners’ and ‘Losers’
Monday, April 20th, 2009 The 5th Summit of the Americas has just ended, attended by 34 heads of states who spent a number of days in Trinidad and Tobago. Their teams had also spent a couple of years preparing the ‘Declaration’ for this Summit.
In the event, such ‘Declaration’ was not approved or signed by all the Heads of [...]