of mexico was a poster child at the time of the imf. but at any rate the mexican crisis unfolded and at that time i was still working at the imf and and what it calls a mission that sounds like mission impossible we went through of malaysia, hong kong, singapore and japan five 1/2 weeks long to assess financial liabilities in these countries and you could not go anywhere without hearing news of the evolution of the mexican crisis and the issue was raised at the time these byrd said east asia tigers by and large had a history they had more than a decade of the incredibly high growth, low inflation, prosperity, they had very large current account deficit is. that was financed for borrowing from abroad. a lot of that with short-term borrowing called hot money, leverage. at the personal level, household level comment indebtedness have gone up a lot. stock markets had gone up a lot. real-estate prices are soaring. says shopping malls were it in the midst of the forest that were coming into being during this boom. we naturally pose the questi

>> did you not used to work at the imf? you don't think it is necessarily a good thing. >> not necessarily. here's a thought experiment. supposing we had started this crisis, and went into this crisis at 60% of debt to gdp, and we've added 40% over this. one under% of gdp -- that would spook market psychologically. the other contrast is that i have china actually going into this crisis with public debt of 20% of gdp. in some ways, but chinese were highly affected by the crisis because they were exporting so much that when the world economy collapsed, their exports will it took a beating. but because the public debt to gdp was so low, that the fiscal and listen to throw everything at the problem to recover. -- that they had the financial -- they had that this goal ammunition to throw everything at the problem to recover. i feel that looking at the experience and even in this crisis, in good times, especially if we have good growth going forward, i would be much more comfortable with something even lower than 60%. we began a

been recognized by the imf -- aid has been recognized by the imf. it came into existence on the ashes of these very kinds of regimes that have the inherent right of self protection uppermost on their minds. the reality of the demography, 27 million people, 130,000 villages of under 200 people in each. you have no school or roads or electric power. you have no sewage system, no clinic. at each of the meetings with the country that has these kinds of needs, so dramatically in contrast to the others, it would distract, the lake, preclude easy consensus bridget delay, preclude easy consensus as such. did you has been to help yemen separately in a bilateral way. saudi arabia has been doing this -- but so has oakmont and the united arab emirates. -- but so has oman and the united arab a barrettes. -- united arab emirates. they gave thousands of yemenis citizenship. these additional ways and the building of a road that had to cross -- cost tens of millions of dollars from the eastern most and most impoverished province was all undertaken by the sultan of o

and earlier saudi arabia's aid to yemen was recognized by the world world bank and the imf and others as greater than all of the aid coming from the world bank of the imf, the dutch, the germans and others contributing to yemen's economy. there is a knee-jerk objection and rejection to it being a full-fledged member on the following grounds. i gave one of them. that it came into existence on the ashes of these very kinds of regimes that have inherent right of self-protection uppermost on their minds. there is as well the reality of yemen's demography. 27 million people. 130,000 villages of under 200 people in each. we have only 200 people in a village, you have no school, you have no road. you have no electric power. you have no sewage system. you have no clinic. so at each of the dccc meetings with a country that has these kinds of needs so dramatically in contrast to the others, it would distract. it would delay. it would preclude easy consensus or easier consensus as such so the view has been let's help yemen not off the books but separately in a bilateral way. and so saudi arabia

simon johnson is the former chief economist for the imf. in all the years i have interviewed economists, and that is 32 now -- these things are quickest, with most insightful i have ever interviewed, so to answer the question, how would i feel about simon having his own show -- i would be jealous. i would figure i would be on the show, so i would not worry that much, but what you were saying, i would be concerned that simon, who has a point of view, a point i often agree with, but if simon has a show, financial daytime tv, let's say, which is the kind he can absolutely do, it would take viewers away from me if he was doing some of his explanations, and i am forced to work in an organization where it is real on the one hand -- on the other hand, check out your mother's claims. i would feel the world might well be a better place for having simon in it as well, to the extent i thought even-handed journalism -- viewers were being taken away from that to him. i might have misgivings. >> the news has become, the thais, and what you're buying -- n

enumerate the institutions that were built in the mid 19 40's by atchison and others, the world bank, the imfhe united nations, and a soft piece for japan and germany which was central to truman administration's policies, you see a world that could have been one world in the late 19 40's that turned into two worlds, a buy polar structure in 1947, but returns to one world in 1989 to 91. now, i haven't heard anybody else say this today. maybe it's so obvious that it doesn't wrire repetition -- require repetition, but it was possible in 1981 to see a long piece not in the cold war as john has said but a long piece developing in which it was ranking member impossible to imagine -- it was impossible to imagine the major powers not counting russia and china. china was not a major industrial power at that time, fighting each other. so my colleague, john mirshime, is a friend of mine we have lunch every quarter at least, talking about the return of franco german enmitty with the french retargeting thy nuclear weapons on germany. and his back to the future article is simply i think profoundly mistaken

coming from the world bank, the imf, the dutch, the germans, and others contributing to yemen's economy. there is a knee-jerk objection of it being a full-fledged member of the following ground. i gave one -- that came into existence on the ashes of the very kinds of regimes that have the inherent right of self protection in their minds. there is as well the reality of human's demography. 27 million people -- 130,000 village, 200 people in each. they have only 200 people in the village, no school, no road, no electric power, no sewage system, if you have no clinic. so what each of the gcc meetings, with a country that has these kinds of needs so dramatically in contrast to the others, it would distract and delay and preclude easier consensus. the deal has been, let's help them, but not off the books . separately, and a bilateral way. saudi arabia has been doing this, but so that oman and the united arab emirates. the leader of the rock -- of the united arab emirates believes that his ancestral roots were from yemen. and so he gave thousands of yemenis citizens said the ship. and on the

critical of reagan's apparent willingness to trust gorbachev, even though his willingness to sign the imf agreement banishing intermediate nuclear missiles in europe. the former american massacre to moscow, and acts of ambassador italy 1987 and 1991, remarked in his book, how the cold war ended, that it was rather ironic that a lot of these people had been supporters of reagan's zero option. this inf agreement signed in 1987 was essentially what reagan had enforced in 1981. then it was dismissed out of hand by the soviet leadership. a lot of people supported it only in an assumption the soviet union could never accept it. and once gorbachev accepted it, they were against it. i don't think it was reagan's rhetoric which brought this profound change in the soviet union and eastern europe it does in fact, when he opted the rhetoric, and moscow, not the people who wanted to change or want to end the cold war, the same i think is true of the military buildup in strategic defense initiative. again, that strengthened the hard-liners rather than those who wanted constructive change. the soviet mi

confidence that you're going to be able to deal seriously with your deficits and debt problems, when the imf and the united nations say we ought to look for an alternative reserve currency, i think those are all major wakeup calls that we ought to be heegd. -- heeding. i told the story earlier after i left congress, i was ceo of the american stock exchange in new york. and one of the surprises to me in getting to know wall street was how irrational financial markets can be. and they go on perceptions. they react on where they think things are going. and i think our fiscal situation is something that's being perceived. right now it's not being focused on because all the markets are focusing on the global recession. as they focus on the subsequent issues of fiscal policy, they do not see any serious attempt by the united states to get our house in order. and so what this commission report does is to give us a blueprint to get our fiscal house in order. the perceptions and the lack of confidence if they don't have the right perceptions -- i saw also when i was ambassador to mexico. on the surfa

the council encouraged the imf in his review to consider the range of fees and funds contingent capital arranges in the global financial transaction levy. mr. speaker, there are very few moments in history when nations are together to make, decisions that will reshape the lives of every family, potentially for generations to come. and our aim of the ambitious climate change deal in copenhagen that will enable the european union to make good its commitment that we have moved to a 30% reduction in carbon emission levels by 2020 compared to 1990. and the agreement in copenhagen must also include a clear financial framework of a short medium and longer terms. this financial agreement must address the great injustice that is climate%w@@@ agreement could not have got off the ground without the strongest european cooperation. britain will contribute one and a half billion pounds. but there will also have to be additional and predictable finance in the medium term, 2020 and beyond. the figure of 100 billion euros has been set for the long-term climate change by 2020. and the council, the europe

confidence that you are going to be able to deal seriously with your deficits and debt problems, when the imf and united nations say we ought to look for an alternative reserve currency i think those are all major wake-up calls the we ought to be heating. i told the story earlier after i left congress i was the ceo of the american stock exchange of new york and one of the surprises to me in getting to know wall street was how irrational financial markets can be. and they go on perceptions and react on a where they think things are going and i think our fiscal situation is something that is being perceived. right now it's not being focused on because all the markets are focusing on the global recession. but as the focus on the subsequent issues, the fiscal policy, they do not see any serious attempt by the united states to get our house in order and so with this commission report does is give a blueprint to get our fiscal house in order. the perceptions and a lack of confidence if they don't have the right perceptions i salles also when i was ambassador to mexico on the surface the first year

if you look across countries, the imf did a study, there's no correlation between monetary policy and housing prices. canada had similar policy with the u.s. as did germany. neither of them had a housing bubble. the united kingdom has a tighter policy, they had a housing bubble. the correlations are weak. not to say it's not an interesting issue. i want to raise some doubt in your mind that this is an established fact. the federal reserve has to know about monetary issues and bubls. and how we can identify them and take that into consideration where we can. >> in terms of regulatory reform and, in particular, resolution authority that we're considering, if we have an appropriate, in your mind, resolution regime, new resolution regime otherwise, would you support taking away 13-3 and other type authority to send taxpayer dollars to specific firms? >> yes, i would. >> and would there be any -- sub category of that sort of authority which would -- from either the fed or other entities, to send dollars to individual firms that you think we should accept and retain? >> well, currently, if

the written statement on page 17 says the trust the imf has sued several elderly investors. -- the trustee in may, has sued several elderly investors. she is factually incorrect. there were only three instances where the clams and ignored the claim filing procedure that has been in place for 39 years and instituted a lawsuit against the trustee. the trust was required to institute mandatory counterclaims. in short, the proposed legislation addresses a problem that has not arisen, will not arise in this case or any other, and would do extensive damage to the very people it seeks to help. indeed, it would actually encourage ponzi schemes in a real sense, because it would allow people to be a free of the prospect of what you occurred today called clawback, more accurately described as congressionally mandated equitable distribution, depriving the trustee of the ability to get money back from somebody who has gotten all of their money back, someone who is kept stolen money from others, and who will share in that, in the pool of assets at the direct expense of other people who have not gotten a

the council encouraged the imf in his review to consider the range of fees and funds contingent capitalanges in the global financial transaction levy. mr. speaker, there are very few moments in history when nations are together to make, decisions that will reshape the lives of every family, potentially for generations to come. and our aim of the ambitious climate change deal in copenhagen that will enable the european union to make good its commitment that we have moved to a 30% reduction in carbon emission levels by 2020 compared to 1990. and the agreement in copenhagen must also include a clear financial framework of a short medium and longer terms. this financial agreement must address the great injustice that is climate change. that those hit first and hardest by climate change are those who have done the least harm. but in fact, 98 percent of those most severely affected, died in the countries account for only 80% global emissions that it is a sentient we honor our response before helping and adapting to and mitigating the consequences of climate change. i can report to the house t

enumerate the institutions that were built in the mid 19 40's by atchison and others, the world bank, the imfations, and a soft piece for japan and germany which was central to truman administration's policies, you see a world that could have been one world in the late 19 40's that turned into two worlds, a buy polar structure in 1947, but returns to one world in 1989 to 91. now, i haven't heard anybody else say this today. maybe it's so obvious that it doesn't wrire repetition -- require repetition, but it was possible in 1981 to see a long piece not in the cold war as john has said but a long piece developing in which it was ranking member impossible to imagine -- it was impossible to imagine the major powers not counting russia and china. china was not a major industrial power at that time, fighting each other. so my colleague, john mirshime, is a friend of mine we have lunch every quarter at least, talking about the return of franco german enmitty with the french retargeting thy nuclear weapons on germany. and his back to the future article is simply i think profoundly mistaken and it's b

if you look across countries, the imf did a study, there's no correlation between monetary policy anding prices. canada had similar policy with the u.s. as did germany. neither of them had a housing bubble. the united kingdom has a tighter policy, they had a housing bubble. the correlations are weak. not to say it's not an interesting issue. i want to raise some doubt in your mind that this is an established fact. the federal reserve has to know about monetary issues and bubls. and how we can identify them and take that into consideration where we can. >> in terms of regulatory reform and, in particular, resolution authority that we're considering, if we have an appropriate, in your mind, resolution regime, new resolution regime otherwise, would you support taking away 13-3 and other type authority to send taxpayer dollars to specific firms? >> yes, i would. >> and would there be any -- sub category of that sort of authority which would -- from either the fed or other entities, to send dollars to individual firms that you think we should accept and retain? >> well, currently, if the f

the council encouraged the imf in his review to consider the range of fees and funds contingent capitalranges in the global financial transaction levy. mr. speaker, there are very few moments in history when nations are together to make, decisions that will reshape the lives of every family, potentially for generations to come. and our aim of the ambitious climate change deal in copenhagen that will enable the european union to make good its commitment that we have moved to a 30% reduction in carbon emission levels by 2020 compared to 1990. and the agreement in copenhagen must also include a clear financial framework of a short medium and longer terms. this financial agreement must address the great injustice that is climate change. that those hit first and hardest by climate change are those who have done the least harm. but in fact, 98 percent of those most severely affected, died in the countries account for only 80% global emissions that it is a sentient we honor our response before helping and adapting to and mitigating the consequences of climate change. i can report to the house

so he's former chief economist for the imf, a brit, a -- in all the years that i've interviewed economistsow, the single quickest, funniest combined with most insightful that i've ever interviewed. so the answer to the question how would i feel about simon having his own show, i would be jealous. i would figure i would be on the show, so i wouldn't actually worry about it all that much, but to what you were saying a minute ago, alan, i would be concerned that simon who has a point of view, a point of view i often agree with actually, but if simon has a show, the oz of financial daytime tv, let's say, which as we both know is the kind can of thing he absolutely could do, it would take viewers away from me if he was doing some of this explanation, and at least i'm forced to work in an organization where it is real reporting, on the one hand, on the other hand, check out your mother's claims, particularly about yourself, by the way. and so i would, i would feel -- i would feel the world might well be a better place for having simon in it as well to the extent that i thought that even-handed j

simon johnson is the former chief economist for the imf. in all the years i have interviewed economists, and that is 32 now -- these things are quickest, with most insightful i have ever interviewed, so to answer the question, how would i feel about simon having his own show -- i would be jealous. i would figure i would be on the show, so i would not worry that much, but what you were saying, i would be concerned that simon, who has a point of view, a point i often agree with, but if simon has a show, financial daytime tv, let's say, which is the kind he can absolutely do, it would take viewers away from me if he was doing some of his explanations, and i am forced to work in an organization where it is real on the one hand -- on the other hand, check out your mother's claims. i would feel the world might well be a better place for having simon in it as well, to the extent i thought even-handed journalism -- viewers were being taken away from that to him. i might have misgivings. >> the news has become, the thais, and what you're buying -- n