GFDD will Coordinate Conference “How to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises in the Twenty-First Century” with Barry Herman

On Tuesday, July 24, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), in partnership with its sister institution in Santo Domingo, Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), will present the conference “How to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises in the Twenty-First Century” with Barry Herman. The conference will take place at 7:00 pm in the auditorium of FUNGLODE in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The New School professor and United Nations insider will make the case that a critical piece of the international financial architecture is missing, namely an international mechanism through which countries in sovereign debt crisis can obtain timely, effective and fair workouts that put them on a path to sustainable public debt and development. An attempt to adopt such a mechanism gathered some political momentum in the International Monetary Fund in 2001-2003, but was killed by
creditor interests and by sovereign debtors fearing disturbance in their access to international capital markets. Elements of a few governments continue to pursue the concept (e.g., Germany, Norway and Switzerland) and segments of the investor community in Wall Street have moderated their opposition, reflecting unhappiness at how the Greek case has been handled. Such interest suggests it is time to revisit the question.

Herman will discuss why the existing “non
system” for resolving government debt crises produces inferior outcomes. He will outline what characteristics a superior system should have, suggesting that smaller countries need a new system more than countries with large economies and huge debts. (According to the International Monetary Fund, the developing countries currently at risk of debt distress are small). He will also argue the political case for working toward international reform and suggests a strategy that
interested governments might pursue to start serious international reform discussions.

Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Location: Auditorium, FUNGLODE Headquarters, Santo Domingo
Time: 7:00 pm

About Barry Herman
Barry Herman is Visiting Senior Fellow at the Graduate Program in International Affairs of The New School in New York, where he teaches courses on public finance and sovereign debt, and inclusive finance (financial services for the poor). He completed almost 30 years in the UN Secretariat in December 2005; his last position was as Senior Advisor on Financing for Development in the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). He is currently also helping DESA and UNDP draft the MDG Gap Task Force Report, 2012, which synthesizes the work of 34 international agencies that monitor implementation of “goal 8” on fostering the global partnership for development. He serves as Chair of the Advisory Board of a non-governmental organization/think tank “Social Justice in Global Development”. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of
“Global Integrity,” an independent provider of research and techniques for researchers on government transparency and accountability, from which he retired at the end of 2011. His latest book, co-edited with José Antonio Ocampo and Shari Spiegel, is Overcoming Developing Country Debt Crises (Oxford University Press, 2010).  Before joining the UN, he taught development and international economics. He holds a PhD from the University of Michigan
and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

For further information, contact Kerry at: kstefancyk@globalfoundationdd.org

Related links:
www.socdevjustice.org
www.globalintegrity.org
http://www.newschool.edu/internationalaffairs/
http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/