With global currency markets increasingly transformed by US deficits, Chinese surpluses, and the emergence of powerful new economic actors, there is a growing sense of imbalance and potential instability in the international monetary system. While the US economy is running exorbitant fiscal and trade deficits, China is acquiring an ever rising share of global currency reserves, Japan is rebounding from years of deflation and stagnation, and the Euro Zone is exhibiting an increase in monetary power and domestic demand. And, marking a significant shift from recent years, the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, and Bank of Japan have all raised interest rates simultaneously, striving to meet their own domestic policy priorities and monetary benchmarks. Meanwhile, China has allowed only a controlled float of the Yuan, other Asian markets are hesitant to float independently, and the International Monetary Fund remains in the precarious position of managing imbalance while planning for a vastly different future international monetary landscape.

Over the last year, however, the IMF has begun to reframe its policy approach as a means of addressing the ever increasing integration of global markets. Advocating collective solutions to collective economic concerns, the IMF is now taking a "multilateral surveillance" approach to national and regional economies. Nevertheless, the institution itself faces a series of challenges and uncertainties in the near future. What influence will emerging economies such as China, India, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey, and the OPEC and ASEAN countries have in the IMF? Can the IMF's quota-based voting system be revised to include emerging powers and give a more significant voice to underrepresented economies? If not, can the existing system be counted upon to curtail the potentially destabilizing influences of its most powerful members? Targeting central bankers, investors, journalists, academics, and representatives from governments and multinational institutions, this session will examine these questions while addressing potential solutions to imbalances in the global monetary system, its institutions, and its rules.

The fee for this session is 3,000 EURO. The fee covers the cost of the program, accommodations, and meals.

Limited scholarship funding may be available for those who are unable to pay the full fee (i.e. from developing countries or NGOs). Participants seeking scholarship assistance must submit an application for financial aid to our admissions office.