Stanley Fischer -- Farewell Dinner Speech
IMF News, August 29, 2001
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- Published: August 29, 2001
Opening acknowledgments and tenure
- Delivered on August 29, 2001.
- Served at the Fund for seven years.
- Expresses gratitude to individuals: Michel Camdessus; Larry; Jacob (friend of 32 years); Anne Krueger; Tim Geithner; Gerd Haeusler; Ken Rogoff; Horst Köhler; Risha; Paul Samuelson (met forty years earlier in hard cover and then in person 35 years earlier); Rhoda; children Michael (minus Jill), David and Joannie, and Jonathan.
- Notes his arrival a few months before the Mexican devaluation in December 1994 and the resulting perceived structural break in the frequency of crises.
The Fund — mission, culture, and operational approach
- Core institutional mission and policy stance:
- Reaffirms the continuing validity of the Fund’s original mission as set out in Article I of the Articles of Agreement.
- Emphasizes support for macroeconomic stability, integration into the global economy (especially trade), and market-oriented domestic policies.
- Operational philosophy and conditionality:
- Describes the IMF as a cooperative institution whose members have a right to request assistance.
- Quotes the Reagan maxim reframed for the Fund: "Trust, but use conditionality".
- Acknowledges circumstances where the Fund must "walk away" due to inability to deliver policies or severe corruption and governance problems.
- Organizational strengths:
- Flexibility, swiftness, and responsiveness; staff is "relatively small" and mission "relatively focused".
- Advocates staying "small, mean—well tough, and lean."
- Praises the Executive Board as "the secret weapon of the international system," highlighting consensus decision-making and the Board's capacity to move quickly when required.
- Commends management and deputy colleagues: P.R. Narvekar, Alassane Ouattara, Shige Sugisaki, Eduardo Aninat.
- Highlights the staff’s professionalism and dedication—examples of rapid, technically complex work include negotiating a program with Korea in a week and designing a monetary system for Bosnia-Herzegovina in a weekend.
- Singles out Jack Boorman and the late Tom Leddy for special mention.
- Stakeholder relationships and diplomacy:
- Stresses the necessity of support from major shareholders and cooperation with other international financial institutions (notably improved relations with the World Bank; thanks Sven Sandstrom and Enrique Iglesias).
- Describes the Fund as necessarily "used" by major and minor shareholders and warns that loss of usefulness would threaten the institution's existence.
- Recalls historical accusations of US influence, citing Keynes’s concerns about location and subsequent perceptions of being in the pockets of both the Administration and Wall Street.
- Personnel and appointments:
- Welcomes Anne Krueger taking over as First Deputy Managing Director.
- Notes incoming and departing personnel: Tim Geithner, Gerd Haeusler, Ken Rogoff, and departing "old-timers."
- Praises Alassane Ouattara as a person of outstanding ability, decency, and integrity, and regrets he is "still being denied the opportunity to serve his own country."
Crises, events, and personal memories
- Mexican crisis and early Fund tests:
- Arrival a few months before the Mexican devaluation in December 1994.
- Describes a dramatic Board meeting in early February 1995 ending with a near-unanimous vote after the Managing Director had challenged the Board to fire him.
- April 1995: "tequila crisis" affected Argentina; loan arranged with Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo; President Menem won reelection.
- Middle East/North Africa and personal diplomacy:
- Participation in the first Middle East/North Africa Economic Summit in Casablanca in October 1994; belief at the time that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was irreversible.
- April 1996: dinner hosted by the Emir of Bahrain among several hundred men in traditional dress.
- Regular visits to Egypt and Jordan, with close working relationships facilitated by Shakour Shaalan.
- Asian crisis (1997–1998):
- Remembers secret visit to Bangkok in May 1997; meeting ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors in Hong Kong in October 1997.
- Meetings with President Suharto and other regional leaders; recalls the Board meeting for Korea with Treasurer David Williams standing at the door to give the signal to send the money.
- Christmas Eve, 1997: conference calls coordinating rollover of Korean interbank credit lines with European deputies on the line at 3 a.m.
- Cites continuous work by IMF staff and country counterparts under "twelve-hour time difference"; names IMF contributors: Hubert Neiss, Wanda Tseng, Anoop Singh, Bijan Aghevli, and Teresa Ter-Minassian.
- Acknowledges that the Fund’s initial judgment on fiscal policy was faulty and recalls virulent external criticism and defenders including Bob Rubin, Jean-Claude Trichet, Bill McDonough, Fred Bergsten, Jacob Frenkel, and Rudi Dornbusch.
- Russia and other crises:
- Visit to Moscow at the end of July 1998 to convey unsustainable outlook; subsequent worsening of the crisis impacted vacations in the south of France and on Mykonos.
- Later visit to Moscow in June (year not specified in excerpt) meeting President Putin and observing market-oriented reform progress; credits Anders Aslund for optimism about Russia.
- Early February 1999: departure from Davos to Brazil at 4 a.m. amid concern; credits President Cardoso, Pedro Malan, Arminio Fraga, and Fund team led by Teresa Ter-Minassian for averting disaster.
- August 1999: inauguration of Tito Mboweni as Governor of the South African Reserve Bank; notes the transfer of power from Chris Stals.
- Japan and other country engagements:
- Regular visits to Tokyo and reflection on lessons from Japan’s difficulties in restoring growth.
- Meetings with Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur in May 1998; meetings in Singapore with Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yew, his son Deputy Prime Minister Lee, and Prime Minister Goh.
- Personal, family, and roots trips:
- Roots trip in 1995 to father's home town of Liepaya (Libau) in Latvia; observations on the destruction of the Jewish community and effects of fifty years of communism.
- Roots trip in 2000 to home village Mazabuka in Zambia with Goodall Gondwe; notes Mazabuka had progressed considerably since his childhood and reflects optimism about Africa.
- Individuals encountered and praised across crises:
- Mexico: Guillermo Ortiz.
- Brazil: Pedro Malan; Arminio Fraga.
- Thailand: former Finance Minister Tarrin.
- Indonesia: Widjojo; Anoop Singh.
- Russia: Yegor Gaidar; Anatoly Chubais; Anders Aslund.
- South Africa: Trevor Manuel; Tito Mboweni; Chris Stals.
- Hungary: Gyorgy Suranyi.
- Jamaica: Omar Davies.
- Other IMF and external colleagues mentioned: Bob Rubin; Larry Summers; Stu Eizenstat; John Taylor; David Lipton; Tim Geithner; Caroline Atkinson; Sven Sandstrom; Enrique Iglesias; Jean-Claude Trichet; Bill McDonough; Fred Bergsten; Jacob Frenkel; Rudi Dornbusch; Hubert Neiss; Wanda Tseng; Bijan Aghevli; Teresa Ter-Minassian; Jack Boorman; Tom Leddy; Goodall Gondwe.
Reflections and concluding remarks
- Emphasizes that the Fund “deals with policies, not people” and must work with incumbent governments while supporting good policies and refusing bad ones.
- Reiterates the Fund’s special nature deriving from mission validity, flexibility, the Executive Board, management, and especially the quality of the staff.
- Personal conviction that working at the Fund mattered "for the international system, but more fundamentally for the people who live in our member countries."
- Final gratitude to family—especially Rhoda—and to all who supported him during "these seven extraordinary years."
Stanley Fischer -- Farewell Dinner Speech, August 29, 2001.