April 24 2020 - 15:00 - 16:00 CET

Cooperation and competition among regional financial arrangements (RFAs) and the IMF will largely determine the success of the global financial safety net (GFSN) in responding to the economic disruption posed by the covid-19 pandemic.  Prior to the present crisis, many observers feared that the safety was becoming fragmented. But duplication and overlap among these crisis-fighting institutions has important benefits as well as pitfalls.  In light of recent changes to the financial facilities in Europe, East Asia and Latin America, Prof. Henning examines the merits of institutional overlap from the standpoint of competition, moral hazard, independence, conflict resolution, seniority and transparency.  He considers, in particular, proposals for reform to financial assistance in Europe, the region’s position within the global safety net, and the IMF’s role within the region.  Overlap among crisis-fighting facilities insures against the possibility that any one institution could be immobilized in a crisis.  By maintaining the IMF at the center of the safety net and developing RFAs simultaneously, though, architects of financial governance safeguard both coherence and resilience of the institutional complex.
 
About the speaker 

Professor Randall Henning fis Professor at the School of International Service, American University. He specializes in international and comparative political economy, global governance and regional integration.  He has focused recently on international regime complexity and the euro crisis, the evolution of European integration, regional arrangements in East Asia, fiscal federalism, and the Group of Twenty. He has authored and edited a number of books and journal articles. Currently, he is conducting projects on the fragmentation of global financial governance and the challenges posed by regional cooperation in Europe and Asia for multilateral institutions.

Moderator: Alex Andrione-Moylan (KU Leuven) 

Participation is free and the webinar can be joined from anywhere in the world.