Golden Series Lectures

INTRODUCING THE GOLDEN SERIES ON WORLD MONEY

OMFIF is planning a series of lectures and symposia in London over the course of 2011, linked to international currency arrangements and the 40th anniversary of the ending of the Bretton Woods system with the closing of the "gold window" by President Nixon in August 1971.

This anniversary comes as issues of currency management and manipulation are once again dominating the international policy agenda. The focus of these lectures is therefore two-fold: firstly to look back and draw lessons from history; secondly, and more importantly, to allow some of the most influential voices in this debate to give their perspective on where the international monetary system should go from here.

 Previous lectures in the 2011 Series included:

• 25 Jan - Lord Denis Healey, former Chancellor of the Exchequer  - Lord Denis Healey was in discussion with Bill Keegan, Advisory Board Member, and Prof. Lord Hennessy of Queen Mary University London on 'Being Chancellor'. Notable attendees and questions came from Lord Nigel Lawson, Lord Joel Barnett, Sir Nicholas MacPherson and David Miliband.
• 17 Feb - Dr Joachim Nagel, Member of the Bundesbank Executive Board, and Emmanuelle Assouan, Deputy Director of Market Operations at Banque de France headed a panel on 'The world outlook for financial markets & international monetary reform in 2011. The other panellists in the discussion were: Julian Callow, Chief European Economist, Barclays Capital; John Plender, Economic Affairs Columnist, Financial Times; and Paola Subacchi, Research Director, Royal Institute of International Affairs.
• 15 March - Julia Leung - Undersecretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hong Kong spoke on "The renminbi's role in the world economy: Chinese currency internationalisation in the context of dollar and euro developments" in Frankfurt.
• 11 May - Dr Jurgen Stark, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank spoke at the Armourers' Hall on the future of the international monetary system, advising that debt restructuring is not the easy way out.
• 26 May - Dr Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank, spoke at the OMFIF/GBF 16th Annual German British Forum on the euro as the antidote to divergence.
• 14 June - Harold James, official historian of the IMF, was joined by experts from Lombard Street Research, Simmonds & Simmonds, Noerr and Cleary Gottlieb to discuss the technical and legal issues in Sovereign debt restructuring in Europe.
• 28 June - Miroslav Singer, Governor, Czech National Bank, said that lessons learned by the Czech Republic from the Bretton Woods collapse are waiting to be re-learned in the euro area, and the reasons why the Czech Republic has become a creditor country.
• 12 July - Hans-Olaf Henkel and German Ambassador Georg Boomgaarden, discussed Germany's future with the euro with Lord Haskins and Charles Dumas of Lombard Street Research.
• 14 July - Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board looked back on lessons learned in the forty years since the end of the gold exchange standard and how these experiences can help us today.
• 6 October - Andras Simor, Governor, Hungarian National Bank, analysed Hungary's European economic policies in light of international monetary experience.
• 16 November - Nout Wellink, Former President, De Nederlandsche Bank, examined the outlook for the euro and the euro area.
• 23 November - Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President, European Central Bank, flanked by Larry Hatheway, Chief Economist, UBS, spoke on the future of the International Monetary System and the future of the euro as a reserve currency. 

Confirmed speakers for 2012 include:

• 17 February - Klaas Knot, President, De Nederlandsche Bank
• 28 February - Ewald Nowotny, Governor, Oesterreichische Nationalbank
• 8 May - Patrick Honohan, Governor, Central Bank of Ireland
• 18 May - José Manuel González-Páramo, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
• 21 May - Fabrizio Saccomanni, Director-General, Banca d'Italia
• 26 September - Carlos da Silva, Governor, Banco de Portugal
• 23 October - Marek Belka, President, National Bank of Poland
• 20 November - Stefan Ingves, Governor, Sveriges Riksbank

Please contact Annie Palacios, Coordinator, Americas at OMFIF on T: +44 (0) 203 008 5262 or annie.palacios@omfif.org if you would like more information.