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
--
Lawrence Goodman
President
Center for Financial Stability
1120 Avenue of the Americas, 4th floor
New York, NY 10036
