At the end of 2012, OMFIF will have been in existence for three years – a period of transition and transformation for the world economy, mixed with occasional turmoil. It has coincided with a slow deterioration of the crisis in economic and monetary union (EMU) and a gradual increase in the monetary power and influence of emerging market economies. Very likely, we will see a continuation of both trends in 2013. Next year is unlikely to be significantly better for the euro area, and may be a lot worse. In other parts of the world (including the US), the outlook, though undoubtedly occluded, is distinctly brighter. Our end-year edition, encapsulating viewpoints from around the world, does ample justice to all these developments. It also records some of the meetings OMFIF held in
November: in Mauritius, Jakarta and Washington as well as several European cities. Darrell Delamaide, in his monthly round-up on the Fed, explains the background to the landmark announcement on 12 December that the US central bank is moving to an explicit unemployment target as a condition for keeping interest rates close to zero.