## IMF Survey: IMF Triggers Debate on Crisis Lessons

_IMF News, March 8, 2011_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [IMF Survey: IMF Triggers Debate on Crisis Lessons](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sores030811a)

## Other formats

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: March 8, 2011

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### Conference overview
- Event aimed to prompt a wholesale re-examination of macroeconomic policy principles in the wake of the global economic crisis.
- Conference dates: March 7-8, 2011.
- Conference goal: take stock of policy questions posed by the crisis and promote discussion about answers and new policy approaches for the post-crisis era.
- Conference was webcast live; IMF planned an online discussion site after the conference to continue dialogue.

### Participants and scope
- Co-hosts: Olivier Blanchard (Director of the IMF’s Research Department), David Romer (University of California, Berkeley), Michael Spence (Stanford University), Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia University).
- Additional panelists included Nobel laureates George Akerlof and Robert Solow, leading policymakers and academics from advanced and emerging countries, and representatives from civil society, the private sector, and the media.
- The IMF’s mandate: advise its 187 member countries on economic and financial policies.
- Public engagement: the conference triggered wider online debate among economists (examples cited: Brad deLong and Paul Krugman).

### Major themes and new policy ideas
- Re-examination prompted by failures of the pre-crisis macroeconomic framework, described as an “elegant and conceptually simple” framework emphasizing:
  - Single monetary policy target—low and stable inflation.
  - Single policy instrument—the central bank’s policy rate.
- Key points raised by Olivier Blanchard:
  - Elements of the old framework no longer hold post-crisis.
  - Financial regulation had been outside the macroeconomic policy framework.
  - Fiscal policy had a limited role, at least in the short run.
- Crisis-driven expansions of policy targets discussed:
  - Consideration of extending interest rate rules to deal with asset prices.
  - Addition of targets such as leverage and measures of systemic risk.
- Blanchard proposed reconsideration across areas including: economic imbalances, interest rates, fiscal policy, capital flows, the international monetary system, and financial safety nets.

### Notable arguments and assessments from sessions
- Joseph Stiglitz: U.S. Federal Reserve quantitative easing was effectively a “backdoor bailout” for banks.
- David Romer: fiscal stimulus should have been higher—argued as much as US$ 2 trillion.
- The crisis has revived long-standing debates on policy instruments and targets, especially for monetary policy.

### Policy orientation and cooperative solutions
- IMF leadership emphasized open discussion and partnership with the academic community to find practical solutions (statements by Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Olivier Blanchard).
- John Lipsky: international policy cooperation remains crucial; policy coherence and consistency were underscored by the crisis.
- Conference focus areas for concrete policy recommendations:
  - Monetary policy
  - Fiscal policy
  - Financial intermediation and regulation
  - Capital account management
  - Growth strategies
  - The international monetary system
- Objective: revive sustainable growth while safeguarding macroeconomic and financial stability.

_Article: IMF Survey online, March 8, 2011 — IMF Triggers Debate on Crisis Lessons_

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## References

- [https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus](https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [IMF Research](https://www.imf.org/en/news/search)
- [wholesale re-examination](http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/2011/03/04/2662/)
- [conference](https://www.imf.org/external/np/seminars/eng/2011/res/index.htm)
- [Blog: Rewriting the playbook](http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/)
- [Research at the IMF](https://www.imf.org/external/research/index.aspx)
- [Latest global economic outlook](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/index.aspx?type=res)
- [Blog: A stronger financial architecture](http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/2011/02/10/stronger-financial-architecture/)
- [opening the event](https://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2011/030711.htm)
- [Robert Solow](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2011/03/people.htm)
- [IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky](https://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2011/030711a.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sores030811a_