Stephany Griffith-Jones
Encyclopedia
Stephany Griffith-Jones is an economist
specialising in international finance
and development
, with emphasis on reform of the international financial system, specifically in relation to financial regulation
, global governance
and international capital flows. She is currently Financial Markets Director at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue
, based at Columbia University
in New York
and Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute
. Previously she was Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies
at Sussex University. She has held the position of Deputy Director of International Finance at the Commonwealth Secretariat
and has worked at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
and in the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
. She started her career in 1970 at the Central Bank of Chile
. Before joining the Institute of Development Studies
, she worked at Barclays Bank International in the UK. She has acted as senior consultant to governments in Eastern Europe and Latin America and to many international agencies, including the World Bank
, the Inter-American Development Bank
, the European Commission
, UNICEF, UNDP and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
. She was also a member of the Warwick Commission on international financial reform. She has published over 20 books and written many scholarly and journalistic articles. Her latest book, edited jointly with José Antonio Ocampo
and Joseph Stiglitz, Time for the Visible Hand, Lessons from the 2008 crisis, was published in 2010.
Her 1986 book with Osvaldo Sunkel, Debt and Development Crises in Latin America: The End of An Illusion, showed the negative effects of the 1980s Latin American debt crisis
on the regions economic development. She was an early advocate of debt relief
in Latin America
and Sub-saharan Africa
.
Writing with Ricardo Ffrench-Davis in the 1990s she contributed to the debate on how Latin America
could curb and manage volatile capital flows. She again warned of the risks of costly financial crises if sufficient measures such as capital controls were not implemented.
After several financial crises, mainly in developing countries, she started in the mid 1990s to advocate capital flow regulations in capital source countries as a way to curb excessive and volatile capital flows. She believed this would reduce the risk of major reversals of capital flows and the financial crises that result from them. This is further discussed in her 1998 book Global Capital Flows, should they be regulated?
In the discussion on reform of the international financial architecture she contributed to the analysis of crisis prevention, especially through financial regulation and more effective financial crisis management. For example, she advocated Special Drawing Rights
issues by the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) as a means to provide official liquidity when private capital flows fall sharply. She also advocated expanded and less conditional IMF lending so countries do not have to unnecssarily adjust their economies, especially in the face of financial crises or other external shocks.
Writing with José Antonio Ocampo
since the late 1990s they expanded the concept of counter-cyclical reform of the international financial system to help stabilise capital flows and domestic private lending. The aim was to avoid frequent costly crises, facilitate macro-economic management and to achieve stable and inclusive economic growth in developing countries.
She has worked on practical policy applications of these ideas. She has advocated reform of compensatory financing at the IMF in the face of external shocks to make it larger, speedier and with less conditionality
. Similarly she was an early supporter of expanding development bank
s - nationally, regionally and multilaterally - and their role in counter-cyclical lending. She has also advocated the issue of GDP-linked bonds as a counter-cyclical mechanism to reduce the risk of financial crises. She has long supported the idea of counter-cyclical regulation. These and other practical measures are aimed at reforming the financial system
so that it supports stable inclusive economic growth without costly financial crises.
Selected book chapters
Selected articles in journals
Selected articles in popular press:
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
specialising in international finance
International finance
International finance is the branch of economics that studies the dynamics of exchange rates, foreign investment, global financial system, and how these affect international trade. It also studies international projects, international investments and capital flows, and trade deficits. It includes...
and development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
, with emphasis on reform of the international financial system, specifically in relation to financial regulation
Financial regulation
Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the integrity of the financial system...
, global governance
Global governance
Global governance or world governance is the political interaction of transnational actors aimed at solving problems that affect more than one state or region when there is no power of enforcing compliance. The modern question of world governance exists in the context of globalization...
and international capital flows. She is currently Financial Markets Director at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue
Initiative for Policy Dialogue
The Initiative for Policy Dialogue is a non-profit organization based at Columbia University in the United States.IPD was founded in July 2000 by Joseph E...
, based at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute
Overseas Development Institute
The Overseas Development Institute is one of the leading independent think tanks on international development and humanitarian issues. Based in London, its mission is "to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement...
. Previously she was Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies
Institute of Development Studies
The Institute of Development Studies based at the University of Sussex is a global organisation for research, teaching and communications on international development....
at Sussex University. She has held the position of Deputy Director of International Finance at the Commonwealth Secretariat
Commonwealth Secretariat
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating cooperation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings ; assisting and advising on policy...
and has worked at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to the major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Second and Third Committees...
and in the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean was established in 1948 to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. In 1984, a resolution was passed to include the countries of the Caribbean in the name...
. She started her career in 1970 at the Central Bank of Chile
Central Bank of Chile
The Central Bank of Chile is the central bank of Chile. It was originally created in 1925 and is incorporated into the current Chilean Constitution as an autonomous institution of constitutional rank.-History:...
. Before joining the Institute of Development Studies
Institute of Development Studies
The Institute of Development Studies based at the University of Sussex is a global organisation for research, teaching and communications on international development....
, she worked at Barclays Bank International in the UK. She has acted as senior consultant to governments in Eastern Europe and Latin America and to many international agencies, including the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, the Inter-American Development Bank
Inter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean...
, the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, UNICEF, UNDP and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues....
. She was also a member of the Warwick Commission on international financial reform. She has published over 20 books and written many scholarly and journalistic articles. Her latest book, edited jointly with José Antonio Ocampo
José Antonio Ocampo
José Antonio Ocampo Gaviria is Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and director, Economic and Political Development Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University...
and Joseph Stiglitz, Time for the Visible Hand, Lessons from the 2008 crisis, was published in 2010.
Contributions to economic analysis and policy
Stephany Griffith-Jones has contributed to research and policy suggestions on how to make the domestic and international financial system more stable so it can better serve the needs of inclusive economic development and the real economy. One of her first articles, The Growth of Multinational Banking, the Euro-currency market and their effects on developing countries in the Journal of Development Studies, published in 1980, warned of the risk of excessive international bank lending to developing economies.Her 1986 book with Osvaldo Sunkel, Debt and Development Crises in Latin America: The End of An Illusion, showed the negative effects of the 1980s Latin American debt crisis
Latin American debt crisis
The Latin American debt crisis was a financial crisis that occurred in the early 1980s , often known as the "lost decade", when Latin American countries reached a point where their foreign debt exceeded their earning power and they were not able to repay it.-Origins:In the 1960s and 1970s many...
on the regions economic development. She was an early advocate of debt relief
Debt relief
Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particular agricultural debts and freeing of debt slaves...
in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and Sub-saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
.
Writing with Ricardo Ffrench-Davis in the 1990s she contributed to the debate on how Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
could curb and manage volatile capital flows. She again warned of the risks of costly financial crises if sufficient measures such as capital controls were not implemented.
After several financial crises, mainly in developing countries, she started in the mid 1990s to advocate capital flow regulations in capital source countries as a way to curb excessive and volatile capital flows. She believed this would reduce the risk of major reversals of capital flows and the financial crises that result from them. This is further discussed in her 1998 book Global Capital Flows, should they be regulated?
In the discussion on reform of the international financial architecture she contributed to the analysis of crisis prevention, especially through financial regulation and more effective financial crisis management. For example, she advocated Special Drawing Rights
Special Drawing Rights
Special Drawing Rights are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund . Not a currency, SDRs instead represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged...
issues by the International Monetary Fund
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...
(IMF) as a means to provide official liquidity when private capital flows fall sharply. She also advocated expanded and less conditional IMF lending so countries do not have to unnecssarily adjust their economies, especially in the face of financial crises or other external shocks.
Writing with José Antonio Ocampo
José Antonio Ocampo
José Antonio Ocampo Gaviria is Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and director, Economic and Political Development Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University...
since the late 1990s they expanded the concept of counter-cyclical reform of the international financial system to help stabilise capital flows and domestic private lending. The aim was to avoid frequent costly crises, facilitate macro-economic management and to achieve stable and inclusive economic growth in developing countries.
She has worked on practical policy applications of these ideas. She has advocated reform of compensatory financing at the IMF in the face of external shocks to make it larger, speedier and with less conditionality
Conditionality
Conditionality is a concept in international development, political economy and international relations and describes the use of conditions attached to a loan, debt relief, bilateral aid or membership of international organizations, typically by the international financial institutions, regional...
. Similarly she was an early supporter of expanding development bank
Development bank
The phrase development bank may refer to:* Community development banks fund low-income areas in the United States* Multilateral Development Bank provide financing for international development...
s - nationally, regionally and multilaterally - and their role in counter-cyclical lending. She has also advocated the issue of GDP-linked bonds as a counter-cyclical mechanism to reduce the risk of financial crises. She has long supported the idea of counter-cyclical regulation. These and other practical measures are aimed at reforming the financial system
Financial system
In finance, the financial system is the system that allows the transfer of money between savers and borrowers. A financial system can operate on a global, regional or firm specific level...
so that it supports stable inclusive economic growth without costly financial crises.
Publications
Selected books:- 2010, Time for a Visible Hand: Lessons from the 2008 World Financial Crisis, edited with José Antonio OcampoJosé Antonio OcampoJosé Antonio Ocampo Gaviria is Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and director, Economic and Political Development Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University...
and Joseph Stiglitz, Oxford University Press, 2010 - 2007, International Finance and Development, with José Antonio OcampoJosé Antonio OcampoJosé Antonio Ocampo Gaviria is Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and director, Economic and Political Development Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University...
and Jan KregelJan KregelJan A. Kregel is an eminent Post-Keynesian economist.Kregel has served since 2006 as Professor of Finance and Development at Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia. He is a permanent advisor for the Trade and Development Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development...
, Orient Longman, 2007 - 2003, From Capital Surges to Drought, Seeking Stability for Emerging Economies, edited with Ricardo Ffrench-Davis, Palgrave, 2003
- 2003, International Capital Flows in Calm and Turbulent Times, The Need for New International Architecture, edited with Ricardo Gottschalk and Jacques Cailloux, The University of Michigan Press, 2003
- 2001, Managing Capital Surges in Emerging Markets, edited with Manuel Montes and Anwar Nasution, Oxford University Press, 2001
- 1999, Private Capital Flows to Africa, with Louis Kasekende and Matthew Martin et al, FONDAD, 1999
- 1998, Global Capital Flows, should they be regulated? with preface by Nobel prizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner James TobinJames TobinJames Tobin was an American economist who, in his lifetime, served on the Council of Economic Advisors and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Harvard and Yale Universities. He developed the ideas of Keynesian economics, and advocated government intervention to...
, Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press, 1998 - 1995, Coping With Capital Surges: The Return of Finance to Latin America, edited with Ricardo Ffrench-Davis, Lynne Rienner, 1995
- 1994, Financial Sector Reform in Central and Eastern Europe, edited with Z. Drabek, Macmillan, 1994
- 1992, Debt, Cross-Conditionality and Banking Regulations, edited with Ennio Rodriguez, Macmillan, 1992
- 1986, Debt and Development Crises in Latin America: The End of An Illusion, with Osvaldo Sunkel, Oxford University Press, 1986
Selected book chapters
- 2010, “Agenda and Criteria for Financial regulatory Reform” with Jane D’Arista in Griffith-Jones, Ocampo and Stiglitz (eds.), Time for a Visible Hand: Lessons from the 2008 World Financial Crisis, Oxford University Press
- 2008, "The Pro-cyclical Impact of Basle II on Emerging Markets and its Political Economy" with Avinash Persaud, in Stiglitz and Ocampo (eds.), Capital market liberalization and Development, Oxford University Press
- 2005, “Should capital controls have a place in the future international monetary system?” with Ricardo Gottschalk and John Williamson, in Marc Uzan (ed), The future of the International Monetary System, Elgar
- 1991, "International financial markets: a case of market failure" in Christopher Colclough and James Manor (eds.), States or Markets? Neo-liberalism and the Development Policy Debate, Oxford University Press
Selected articles in journals
- 2003, “How to Prevent the New Basel Capital Accord Harming Developing Countries”, Presented at IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings September 2003
- 2003, "Basel II and Developing Countries: Diversification and Portfolio Effects" with Miguel Segoviano and Stephen Spratt, ECLAC Review
- 2000, "Proposals for a Better International Financial System", World Economics, vol. 2, April - June.
- 1992, "Conversion of official bilateral debt: opportunities and issues", Proceedings of World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics
- 1991, "Creditor countries' banking and fiscal regulations: can changes encourage debt relief?", Journal of Development Studies, 27 (3): April
- 1985, "Ways forward from the debt crisis", Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2 (1), Winter.
Selected articles in popular press:
- 2010, "The Movers and the Makers", The Broker
- 2010, "The reform of financial markets", El Pais (Spanish), June 2010
- 2009, "Now let's tax transactions", The Guardian
- 2006, "A bond that insures against instability", with Robert ShillerRobert ShillerRobert James "Bob" Shiller is an American economist, academic, and best-selling author. He currently serves as the Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University and is a Fellow at the Yale International Center for Finance, Yale School of Management...
, Financial Times, July 2006 - 2003, "Encouraging Capital Flows in times of drought", The Banker, July 2003
- 2003, "A capital idea that will hurt poorer countries", Financial Times, May 2003
- 2001, "Pivotal change at Doha", The Guardian, November 2001