IMF Conference

IMF BOOK LAUNCH

IMF Book Forum

Events Hall, IMF, HQ1-01-704 (700 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC)

This event is open to the public and to Bank/Fund staff. RSVP

Featuring the authors

Menzie Chinn (University of Wisconsin, Madison; Econbrowser blog)

Jeffry Frieden (Harvard University)

Chinn and Frieden explore the origins and long-term effects of the financial crisis in historical and comparative perspective.

By 2008 the United States had become the biggest international borrower in world history, with almost half of its 6.4 trillion dollar federal debt in foreign hands. The massive inflow of foreign funds financed the booms in housing prices and consumer spending that fueled the economy until the collapse of late 2008. The authors explore the political and economic roots of this crisis as well as its long-term effects. “The book is capable of dealing with some of the most complicated economic arguments about the crisis in a way that is straightforward and capable of being understood by its audience, says Mike Konczal of the Roosevelt Institute. “If you have time to read only one book on the crisis, read this,” says acclaimed economic historian Barry Eichengreen, University of California Berkeley.

Discussants:

Gail Cohen (Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress)

Diane Lim Rogers (Concord Coalition)

Closing Remarks:

Simon Johnson (MIT and Peterson Institute; co-author of 13 Bankers)

Moderated by:

George Akerlof (Senior Resident Scholar, Research Department, IMF; Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics)