John Lipsky
Encyclopedia
John Phillip Lipsky is an American economist. He was the acting Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
from May to July 2011. He assumed the post of Acting Managing Director after Dominique Strauss-Kahn
was arrested in May 2011 accused of sexual assault
. After the appointment of Christine Lagarde
he returned to his post as the First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF. He retired from the IMF at the end of August 2011.
and is Jewish. "Lipsky's great-grandfather, Henry Smulekoff, was [an immigrant from Russia] who opened a furniture store on Cedar Rapids
' May's Island
in 1890. Lipsky was the middle child of three born to Abbott and Joan Lipsky. His father was president of Smulekoff's, and sister Ann Lipsky is president today. His mother still lives in Cedar Rapids and is a former lawyer, legislator, and chairwoman of the Iowa Council on Human Services." Early interest in Latin America was sparked by a family vacation in Mexico which led to a friendship, a summer in Guadalajara
with the friend, and a summer for the friend in Iowa.
Lipsky attended Wesleyan University
, earning a B.A.
in economics. He gained his M.A.
and Ph.D.
in the field from Stanford University
.
surveillance procedure. Appointed the IMF's resident representative in Chile
from 1978 (during General Augusto Pinochet
's military dictatorship), Lipsky returned, in 1980, to the IMF headquarters in Washington D.C. to develop procedures in international capital markets. He also participated in negotiations with several member countries.
After 10 years at the IMF, in 1984 he joined Salomon Brothers
in New York. Based in London, England from 1989, he was director of the bank's European Economic and Market Analysis Group. He returned to New York in 1994, when appointed the bank's chief economist and a managing director, with an office next to Henry Kaufman
. In 1998 he joined JPMorgan as Chief Economist, and on that bank's merger with Chase Manhattan was appointed Chief Economist and Director of Research. He was then appointed to an operation role, becoming Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Investment Bank.
"In 2000, he chaired [an IMF] Financial Sector Review Group, established by former Managing Director Horst Köhler
, to provide ... an independent perspective on [the Fund's] work on international financial markets." On September 1, 2006 he returned to the IMF as First Deputy Managing Director, succeeding the departing Anne Osborn Krueger
. On May 12, 2011, Lipsky announced that he would leave his post at the end of his term on August 31, 2011, declining the option to serve for a second term. Three days later, on May 15, 2011, Lipsky was appointed acting Managing Director of the IMF, after Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
's resignation due to being arrested on sexual assault charges
.
Lipsky also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research
. His other professional activities have included serving on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Germany, the Japan Society
, the Advisory Board of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
, and the Council on Foreign Relations
.
held on 26–27 May 2011 in Deauville
, France, Lipsky had to overcome Germany's reluctance to fund another round of bailouts for Greece. He did so by threatening to withhold IMF disbursements, an action that would precipitate a Greek default – an option none was ready to accept at that point. In the "bitter infighting," Lipsky was characterized in The Guardian
as "less silky, much blunter" than Strauss-Kahn.
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International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
from May to July 2011. He assumed the post of Acting Managing Director after Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
was arrested in May 2011 accused of sexual assault
Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case
New York v. Strauss-Kahn was a criminal case relating to allegations of sexual assault and attempted rape made by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, against Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Sofitel New York Hotel on May 14, 2011. The charges were dismissed at the request of the prosecution which pointed...
. After the appointment of Christine Lagarde
Christine Lagarde
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde is a French lawyer and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund since July 5, 2011...
he returned to his post as the First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF. He retired from the IMF at the end of August 2011.
Family, early life and education
Lipsky's family is from IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and is Jewish. "Lipsky's great-grandfather, Henry Smulekoff, was [an immigrant from Russia] who opened a furniture store on Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...
' May's Island
Mays Island
Mays Island is a small island in the Cedar River, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Functioning as a civic center rather much like the Île de la Cité, it is the site of the city hall, the Linn County Courthouse, and the county jail. It was listed as an Historic District on the National Register of Historic...
in 1890. Lipsky was the middle child of three born to Abbott and Joan Lipsky. His father was president of Smulekoff's, and sister Ann Lipsky is president today. His mother still lives in Cedar Rapids and is a former lawyer, legislator, and chairwoman of the Iowa Council on Human Services." Early interest in Latin America was sparked by a family vacation in Mexico which led to a friendship, a summer in Guadalajara
Guadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
with the friend, and a summer for the friend in Iowa.
Lipsky attended Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, earning a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in economics. He gained his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in the field from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Career
On graduation Lipsky joined the International Monetary Fund, where he helped manage exchange rateExchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency...
surveillance procedure. Appointed the IMF's resident representative in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
from 1978 (during General Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
's military dictatorship), Lipsky returned, in 1980, to the IMF headquarters in Washington D.C. to develop procedures in international capital markets. He also participated in negotiations with several member countries.
After 10 years at the IMF, in 1984 he joined Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers was a bulge bracket, Wall Street investment bank. Founded in 1910 by three brothers along with a clerk named Ben Levy, it remained a partnership until the early 1980s, when it was acquired by the commodity trading firm Phibro Corporation and then became Salomon Inc. Eventually...
in New York. Based in London, England from 1989, he was director of the bank's European Economic and Market Analysis Group. He returned to New York in 1994, when appointed the bank's chief economist and a managing director, with an office next to Henry Kaufman
Henry Kaufman
Henry Kaufman is a Jewish American economist and financial consultant.Born in a small village named Wenings in Germany as son of a butscher...
. In 1998 he joined JPMorgan as Chief Economist, and on that bank's merger with Chase Manhattan was appointed Chief Economist and Director of Research. He was then appointed to an operation role, becoming Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Investment Bank.
"In 2000, he chaired [an IMF] Financial Sector Review Group, established by former Managing Director Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
, to provide ... an independent perspective on [the Fund's] work on international financial markets." On September 1, 2006 he returned to the IMF as First Deputy Managing Director, succeeding the departing Anne Osborn Krueger
Anne Osborn Krueger
Anne Osborn Krueger is an American economist and was the former World Bank Chief Economist from 1982 to 1986 and the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2006.-Education:...
. On May 12, 2011, Lipsky announced that he would leave his post at the end of his term on August 31, 2011, declining the option to serve for a second term. Three days later, on May 15, 2011, Lipsky was appointed acting Managing Director of the IMF, after Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
's resignation due to being arrested on sexual assault charges
Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case
New York v. Strauss-Kahn was a criminal case relating to allegations of sexual assault and attempted rape made by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, against Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Sofitel New York Hotel on May 14, 2011. The charges were dismissed at the request of the prosecution which pointed...
.
Lipsky also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research
National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." The NBER is well known for providing start and end...
. His other professional activities have included serving on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Germany, the Japan Society
Japan Society (New York)
Founded in 1907, Japan Society is a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that aims to brings the people of Japan and the United States closer together through understanding, appreciation and cooperation...
, the Advisory Board of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research is a nonpartisan economic research institution housed at Stanford University. It was founded in 1982 as a way to bring together economic scholars from different parts of the University. George Shultz was a key player in its inception...
, and the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.
IMF leadership role
Lipsky's unplanned accession at the IMF led quickly to his immersion in addressing the European and Greek sovereign debt crises, a high-profile role his predecessor had been playing. At the 37th G8 summit37th G8 summit
The 37th G8 summit was held 26–27 May 2011 in the commune of Deauville in France.Previous G8 summits have been hosted by France in locations which include Rambouillet ; Versailles ; Grande Arche, Paris ; Lyon ; and Évian-les-Bains .- Overview :The Group of Six was an unofficial forum which...
held on 26–27 May 2011 in Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
, France, Lipsky had to overcome Germany's reluctance to fund another round of bailouts for Greece. He did so by threatening to withhold IMF disbursements, an action that would precipitate a Greek default – an option none was ready to accept at that point. In the "bitter infighting," Lipsky was characterized in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
as "less silky, much blunter" than Strauss-Kahn.
Personal life
Lipsky lives in Washington, D.C., and New York. He and his wife have two daughters and a son.External links
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