this paper. The paper is organized around several sections. First, it provides an historical background on early and late 20 century globalization episodes and other main The paper draws, partially, on ideas stated in Solimano (1999) and new developments in the subject of globalization. The views are of the author and should not necessarily ascribed to the institutions he belongs. developments of the last 100 hundred years, or so, to put the current wave of globalization in historical perspective. Then the paper reviews, briefly, main analytical views, both orthodox and heterodox, on globalization and development and examines the opportunities, tensions and dilemmas posed by globalization. Then it turns to the institutional challenge of making globalization more compatible with global stability and national development and reviews current proposals for international financial reform. The paper highlights both the need for re-examining the mix (and sometimes overlapping functions) between global and regional financial institutions and the consistency between reform of global and regional institutions and changes in national policies and institutions. The relative roles and allocation of responsibilities of global and regional institutions need to be analyzed and evaluated in terms of the following criteria: value of regional versus global knowledge, patterns of interaction with borrowing countries, capacity of response of international financial institutions (IFIs) to crisis in medium-size and small countries, voice and representation for developing countries and transition economies in the IFIs. In addition, the paper argues the need for harmonization between global and national policies around an agreed set of policy priorities; also the paper posits that national p...

The recent phase of financial turmoil that started in Asia, crossed through Russia and reached Latin America generated a deep sense that fundamental reforms were required in the international financial architecture to prevent and improve the management of financial crises. The crisis led, indeed, to a recognition that there is an enormous discrepancy between the sophisticated and dynamic financial world and the institutions that regulate it, that “existing institutions are inadequate to deal with financial globalization ” 1 /. The crisis set in motion positive responses: a concerted expansionary effort led by the United States in the midst of the crisis, which was probably the crucial step that facilitated the fairly rapid though incomplete normalization of capital markets; the approval of new credit lines and the expansion of IMF resources; the recognition that incentives must be created to induce adequate debt profiles in developing countries, and that some capital account regulations may serve this purpose and provide a breathing space for corrective macroeconomic policies; the parallel recognition that financial liberalization in developing countries should be carefully managed and sequenced; a special impetus to international efforts to establish minimum standards of prudential regulation and supervision, as well as of information; the acceptance that

Abstract: Though there is no international government, there are many international regimes that enact binding regulations on particular matters. They include the Basel II regime in banking, IFRS in accountancy, the FIRST computer incident response system, the WHO’s system for containing global epidemics and many others. They form in effect a very powerful international public sector based on technical expertise. Unlike the public services of nation states, they are almost free of accountability to any democratically elected body or to any legal system. Although by and large they have acted for good, the dangers of long-term unaccountability are illustrated by the travesties of justice perpetrated by the International Labour Organisation Administrative Tribunal. The international compliance regimes: overview There is no world government. United Nations decrees are in general voluntary and are ignored when convenient. But the appearance of international chaos is deceptive. In particular areas there are a great number of international legal and semi-legal regimes that protect against risks of death and many lesser dangers, such as the risk of bank failures. They achieve compliance in most

I. The nature of the problems that the system faces...... 9 II. Some reflections on the political economy of the reform process ............................................................ 15 III. Financial crisis prevention and resolution ................ 19 IV. Development finance................................................... 25 V. Conditionality vs. "ownership" .................................. 29 VI. The role of regional institutions ................................. 33 VII. The realms of national autonomy............................... 37 VIII. Conclusions ................................................................. 41 Bibliography.......................................................................... 43 Issues published .................................................................. 47 Tables 1. Net long-term resource flows to developing countries, 1990-1998................................................................................... 11 2. Net flow of resources, 1992-1997 .............................................. 12 Figure 1. Use of IMF credit ....................................................................... 13 Abstract This paper argues that the agenda for international financial reform must be broadened in at least two senses. First of all, it should go beyond the issues of financial prevention and resolution, to those associated with development finance for poor and small countries, and to the "ownership" of economic and development policies by countries. Secondly, it should consider, in a systematic fashion, not only the role of world institutions but also of regional arrangements and the explicit definition of a...

temas de coyuntura International asymmetries and the design of the international financial system

2. Global warming: the atmosphere is a commons 3. A solution to global warming when mutual destruction is barred 4. Reclaiming the commons: The atmosphere

currency transactions has the unique distinction of having attracted the ire of a power no less than the U.S. Congress. Introduced by Bob Dole and three other politicians, the "Prohibition on United Nations Taxation Act of 1996 " aimed at preventing UN officials and agencies from developing or promoting the Tobin tax or any other international taxation scheme under a different name. 2 Leaving aside the irony of a country with the greatest arrears in its dues to the UN, telling the international body what it should and should not do, what made the Tobin tax such an unwelcome proposal to the U.S. Congress was, as Raffer (1998) argues, its potential to bolster national autonomy and distribute the tax burden more equally around the globe. Both ran "counter to current tide of liberalization, globalization, and tax reductions for the well-off " (p. 530). Tobin's main reason for proposing his tax was of course more technical in nature. His main concern was to curb currency speculation, which he thought was responsible for the much greater frequency of exchange rate crises around the world since the trend of capital liberalization took hold. In much of the academic criticism on the Tobin tax, the debate concentrated on its feasibility and the "distorting " effects it would have as any tax does on private decisions. 3 Some also cautioned against its potential to detract attention from discussions of more far reaching solutions to the problem of international financial volatility (Taylor and Eatwell 2000, p. 93). But, few if any other than Davidson (1997, 1998) have questioned- on Keynesian grounds- that in theory such a transaction tax would dampen financial volatility and curb

This paper sheds light on the process of rule-finding in international banking regulation. From a systems-theoretical perspective and based on analyzed documents and interviews the consultative process of Basel II is examined. It is shown that this consultative process differs significantly from traditional forms of rule-finding, as it is oriented towards reciprocal learning. Thus, it is more about rule elaboration than rule setting. This cognitive mode of rule finding meets certain challenges of contemporary financial regulation as it is able to both deal with ignorance and provide acceptance. On the other hand, it becomes clear that such a mode of rule-finding is quite unlikely: First because a flexible time schedule is a decisive precondition (but often not given); second because it differs from a classical (normative) political logic, thus it is risky for politics to implement. Keywords:- Governance, Cognitive Governance; Banking regulation, Basel II, Financial system Address for correspondence:

This paper, originally written as an encyclopaedia survey, considers as globalisation all the consequences of the long-term cheapening of, and expansion of the technical possibilities of-transport and communication; a process more or less uninterrupted since the improvements of navigation in the fifteenth century, though recently much accelerated. It considers five main areas of contemporary discussion: 1. How integrated global markets really are. (Not as much as one might think.) 2. How far globalisation erodes the sovereignty of nation-states, reducing their autonomy in making economic policy. (More for some than for others.) 3. The consequences of globalisation for the distribution of income among the world's population; both among nations (equalising for good learners, not for others) and within nations (generally unequalising). 4. The problematic growth of a transnational ‘world society ’ (slow, probably unstoppable, but still a long way from creating a ‘world class system’) and international governance (hesitant and more likely to be hegemonic than conciliar). 5. The interaction of national economic, political, military and cultural power, and the possibility

A supervisory perspective on