Does the Fire Department Have a Hose? The IMF and World Bank in the Financial Crisis
Kathryn C. Lavelle, Ph.D. - Ellen and Dixon Long Associate Professor of Political Science at Case Western Reserve University |
Friday March 2, 2012
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Dampeer Room
Kelvin Smith Library
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
The financial crisis that officially began in 2008 with the fall of Lehman Brothers
seems to be going on for a very long time. In previous crises, such as the Asian
problems in 1998, we heard a lot (and a lot of complaints) about how the IMF
and the World Bank tried to solve the problems. But for better or worse the
crises at least publicly seemed to end. Now the mess keeps morphing, and we
hear about the Fed and the European Central Bank and Obama and Congress
and the Germans... but most of the press coverage about the IMF in recent
years has involved a hotel room in New York.
What's going on? Are the Bretton Woods institutions only capable of addressing
financial meltdowns in poorer countries? Is this problem simply too big? Or
have the international institutions been doing more than they get public credit
for, as U.S. and European press accounts focus on their own institutions?
Professor Lavelle, a leading expert in both international financial governance
and how U.S. political processes influence that system, will give her views and
kick off discussion.
Very best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest...
Professor. Kathryn C. Lavelle's research focuses on the politics of finance both internationally and in the United States. Her next book, Money, Banks, and the American Political Process, will be published by Cambridge University Press in the coming year. It investigates the
sources of innovation and instability in the U.S. financial system that originate in the organization
and operation of the political system. She derived the analytical framework for this and for her
recent book from her experience working as a Congressional fellow on the staff of the House
Committee on Financial Services for Chairman Barney Frank in the 2006-7 academic year.
Since that time, she has used extensive archival evidence and interviews to provide additional
evidence about how financial policy is made.
In 2011, Professor Lavelle published Legislating International Organization: The US Congress,
the IMF, and the World Bank (Oxford University Press), which explores the intersection of
national and international politics in the American legislature with respect to the Bretton Woods
institutions from their origins to the present. Her first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in
Emerging Markets (Oxford University Press, 2004), analyzed the historical and political processes
that led to the ownership structures of large firms in middle and low-income countries. Dr. Lavelle
has held fellowships and grants from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,
American Political Science Association, Hagley Museum and Library, and West Africa Research
Association. In the spring semester of 2010, she was the Fulbright Visiting Chair in Global Affair
at the Munk Centre, University of Toronto. She is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign
Relations.
Where We Meet
The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convene each Friday when classes are in session in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.
Parking Possibilities
The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance.
You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates - just to the right if you were driving out - there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you'll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.
Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
March 9: Germany and the European Union. Ken Ledford, Associate Professor of History
March 16: Spring Break - No Discussion
March 23: Environmental Dimensions of Fracking. Matthew Sobel, William E. Umstattd Professor of Industrial Economics, Professor of Operations, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
March 30: Just Do It or Just Say No? The Politics of Sex Education. Mark Carl Rom, Associate Professor of Government and Public Policy, Georgetown University
April 6: Election 2012: Twenty Years After the "Year of the Woman." Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather Professor of Political Science
April 13: Russia’s Presidential Election. Andrew Barnes, Associate Professor of Political Science, Kent State University
April 20: TBA
April 27: Obama and Alinsky, or: What Happens When a President Thinks Like a Community
Organizer. Justin Vaughn, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Cleveland State University
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February 27, 2012
If you would like to reply, submit items for inclusion, or not receive this weekly e-mail please send a notice to: padg@case.edu
Upcoming Events
The Evolution and Future of Global Climate Change Institutions
Alexander Thompson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University, Tuesday March 6, 2012, 4:30-6pm, Room 309, Clark Hall, Case Western Reserve University. Free and Open to the Public. Sponsored by the Center for Policy Studies at Case Western Reserve University with the generous support of Ms. Eloise Briskin.
A variety of political and legal institutions have been established over time to manage the issue of climate change at the global level, mostly centered on the UN. These institutions have varied in terms of the nature and depth of obligations they impose on states. The shallow and nonbinding Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) was followed by the more legalized Kyoto Protocol, which in turn is being replaced by a more decentralized and flexible approach. Professor Thompson will describe these changes and offer an explanation for the design and evolution of climate institutions from the perspective of political and environmental effectiveness. He will also offer policy recommendations based on current problems in the regime and the political realities exposed by ongoing negotiations.
Alexander Thompson's research focuses on international relations, especially in the area of international institutions and cooperation. His book, Channels of Power: The UN Security Council and U.S. Statecraft in Iraq (Cornell University Press, 2009), asks why powerful states often conduct coercive foreign policies through international organizations. Professor Thompson provides an information-based explanation and assesses arguments looking at U.S. policy toward Iraq from 1990 to the current intervention and its aftermath. Channels of Power won the International Studies Association’s Chadwick F. Alger Prize for the best book on international organization and multilateralism and the Best Book Award from ISA-Midwest.
Going Out (zou chuqu) and Arrival In (desembarco): China, Latin America, and Contemporary Globalization
Julia Strauss, Senior Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, Monday March 26, 2012, 4:30-6pm, Room 309, Clark Hall, Case Western Reserve University. Free and Open to the Public. Sponsored by the Center for Policy Studies at Case Western Reserve University with the generous support of Ms. Eloise Briskin.
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About the Friday Lunch Newsletter
If you would like to reply, submit items for inclusion, or not receive this weekly e-mail please send a notice to: padg@case.edu.
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