Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 07/2011

Strengthening IMF Surveillance: A Comprehensive Proposal

Edwin M. Truman

December 2010

Peterson Institute for International Economics

Abstract

The central challenge facing the global economy and financial system today is the failure of countries to limit the negative effects of their policies on other countries and on global economic and financial stability. The most prominent manifestations of this challenge are the balance-of-payments adjustment process and the notorious asymmetry therein, spillovers from other countries' financial-sector policies such as those involved in the crisis of 2007–10, and the prospect of sustained unbalanced growth in the global economy with some countries overheating and others facing substantial excess capacity.