Interview with economist John Williamson, Washington Consensus (Center for Financial Stability)

Interview with  economist John Williamson, Washington Consensus

CFS is delighted to present an interview with the eminent international economist John Williamson, reviewing his more than five decades of work in the field.

Williamson is best known for coining the term "Washington Consensus" in 1989 as a summary of the policy reforms and structural adjustment measures that the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and U.S. Treasury advocated for emerging market economies. The term quickly gained resonance and continues to be widely used today. Over time, he modified his views on what the Washington Consensus should be (see the appendix to the interview).

He also worked for much of his career on "intermediate" exchange rates between the extremes of fixed and floating. The late Rüdiger Dornbusch of MIT summarized Williamson’s proposals as "BBC" – band, basket and crawl. In support of them, Williamson devised the influential concept of the "fundamental equilibrium exchange rate" (FEER).

In 2012 Williamson retired from the Peterson Institute of International Economics, where he had been a senior fellow for more than 20 years. His previous appointments included professorships in his native England, the United States, and Brazil; an advisory post at the British Treasury; and staff or management positions at the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and United Nations.

CFS senior fellow Kurt Schuler and research associate Robert Yee interviewed Williamson, assisted by Williamson’s daughter Theresa.

The full report is available at www.CenterforFinancialStability.org/speeches/John_Williamson_Interview.pdf

Best regards,

Larry

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Lawrence Goodman

President

Center for Financial Stability

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New York, NY  10036