now continuing with our coverage of bretton woods we are joined live from the conference by gerald epstein professor and chair of economics at the university of massachusetts at amherst now professor thanks for joining us we've heard having me lots of mention at the present words of the bric group of nations of course that's brazil russia india and china what role do you think the bric countries will play in the distribution of economic power in the twenty first century when all these countries that are have been less affected by the crisis than have the european countries the united states and these are countries that are going to continue to grow. if not rapidly at least moderately while the rest of europe and the united states seems to be mired in crisis so in terms of economic growth i think these countries are expected to do quite well and the question then is what kind of political role will they be playing in the governance of the world economy now about the world economy what does it say about the scope of the global financial crisis that george soros has convened in this modern ve

economy artie's lauren lyster reporting from new hampshire it's called an economics professor gerald epstein of the university of massachusetts at amherst says the banking world holds way too much political sway. there's been an attempt to reregulate the financial system. even though some of the efforts of have been positive like the bill and so forth the political power of finance remains so strong both in the united states and in europe and other international for us that they are trying to block the implementation of the regulations that are really required so in till we find a way to overcome the political power of finance which is still so massive in the world we're not going to be able to implement the kinds of structural changes in the financial sector that we need to shore up our economies and maintain financial stability once again we need global cooperation to get us out of this current crisis but also to help us make a transition to a new type of economy a new type of economy where power is more widely dispersed around the world but also an economy that can deal with climate chang

mark by reliance on the free market and not on the role of the state that critics like economist gerald epstein say hurt these countries and contributed to the financial meltdown just as leaders of these institutions brace for another we are one shock away from a food crisis and financial crisis taught us that prevention is better than cure. we cannot afford to forget that lesson but a group of thinkers believe the curriculum is all wrong behind this very door the international monetary fund was signed into being by world leaders decades ago and behind the door is a different group of economic and policy leaders have gathered together who believe it's outdated and needs to be rethought altogether calling for a shift away from western dominance and thinking we've really been looking at this through our problems in our lives and most of our countries have not been subject i had enough programs but even as some of those countries that have such as brazil as part of the brics block calls for a greater say in the i.m.f. some don't see any real change in the works i expect that the next president of