The IMF's Interim Committee recently for the first time discussed the creation of a “Substitution Account” to convert certain amounts of excess reserve currencies into SDRs. This issue is likely to be on the agenda of the next annual meeting of the IMF in the fall of this year. Prof....

Since the introduction of the system of floating exchange rates policy-makers have been troubled by uncertainties regarding the effects of this system on international trade. Do exchange rate changes affect trade flows? Can governments manipulate exchange rates? Have countries been “injured”...

Against the backdrop of the present crisis this Forum is dedicated to the discussion of measures to prevent future breakdowns of the global economy. Daniel Gros, Ulrich Klüh and Beatrice Weder di Mauro regard as the biggest flaw in the existing structures the lack of an institution that has the...

Although the main responsibility for carrying out economic reforms in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe lies with these countries themselves, the transformation of the Soviet-style economic system into a market economy must be made easier by support from abroad. In this the...