In the first of three companion essays supporting his pathbreaking book Turbulent Waters: Cross-Border Finance and International Governance, Ralph C. Bryant focuses on supranational surveillance and lending intermediation as key elements of reform of the international financial system. At the heart of such efforts is the cooperative monitoring of national macroeconomic, exchange-rate, and balance of payments policies. Concurrently, Bryant argues, governments should streamline and strengthen intergovernmental lending intermediation for the liability financing of payments deficits through the International Monetary Fund.
Delving deeper into the conclusions of his earlier volume, Bryant provides detailed analysis and technical discussion of the incremental policy measures needed to strengthen such collective efforts. More than anything else, he contends, reform of the international financial system should emphasize the prevention of crises. The primary preoccupation of governments and their citizens should be to encourage healthy growth and financial stability: prosperity management, rather than crisis management.
