The Institute for New Economic Thinking and an independent committee that includes Anat Admati of Stanford University, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu of the IMF, Gudrun Johnsen from the University of Iceland and Signe Krogstrup of the Swiss National Bank, hosted a conference in Washington, DC on the role of finance in society.
Since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, there has been much debate about reforming the financial sector and improving the accountability of its major actors. Despite the public attention to these issues, and a host of financial reform initiatives, however, we have hardly advanced the global agenda toward these goals. Complexity, special interest, and weak systems of governance and accountability continue to interfere with the ability of the financial system to serve society’s needs.
Recognizing that many challenges remain to be addressed in creating a healthy financial system, this conference brought together leaders from academia, central banks, regulatory, governmental and legal bodies and the media to discuss the issues and provide insights. These discussions will be public and on the record.
The conference featured prominent speakers representing a broad range of actors in finance and society. To celebrate and embrace recent increases in diversity of policy and thought leadership, a large number of women speakers were invited to contribute, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen, and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
