In this working paper, John Williamson, senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics, evaluates proposals to create a short-term financing facility within the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The emphasis of this facility would be on the time period within which the IMF would...

The argument that any exchange rate regimes other than firmly fixed and freely floating rates were infeasible — the so-called bipolarity thesis — acquired great popularity in the wake of the Asian crisis of a decade ago, but it has almost vanished today. One reason is surely the unkind...

Is the international financial architecture debate over? Not according to leading experts gathered together in this impressive volume who try to identify the key trends that will fashion the international financial system in the years ahead. As history has shown, the evolution of the...

Based on the meta-regression analysis this paper examines the long term relationship between growth and financial globalization in Asia. There is little evidence that financial globalization has had a positive impact on growth for the world as a whole. This pattern is broadly repeated for...

The large-scale roll-out of so-called 'smart' electricity meters that record electricity consumption at frequent intervals gives electricity retailers the opportunity to vary price over the course of a day potentially better matching price to production cost. Of interest to both retailers and...