History has told us time and again that building barriers, moving to protectionism — thinking that you can just deal with international, totally interconnected issue such as… terrorism, such as refugees — behind borders is an illusion and is very conducive to extremely disruptive situations. We’ve seen that in Europe, we’ve seen that in many parts of the world. Walls don’t actually have the situation for the better.
Christine Lagarde calls for more cooperation in global finance
by Rebecca Lee
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/imf-christine-lagarde-big-banks-trade-global-economy-fears/
Bernie Sanders has made his crusade against Wall Street a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, vowing to break up the nation’s biggest banks within a year if he is elected. But one of the world’s most powerful leaders in global finance notes that shoring up the international financial system also requires shining a light beyond the banking industry.
“I think a lot of work has already been done into being able to resolve them if they fail to deliver, but there is a lot of financial transactions happening outside the banks,” Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund told “CBS This Morning” Friday. “What I think matters is that this ‘shadow-banking’ sector has to be supervised, has to be regulated so that the trust that most people have in the banking institutions — in the financial sector in general — can be protected.”
In a speech earlier this week, Lagarde warned of the “increased risk and uncertainty” facing the global economy. She attributed this to three factors: low commodity prices, conflicting monetary policies among some of the world’s major central banks and China’s economic slowdown.
The Chinese government has tried to quell anxiety over its shrinking growth by targeting gross domestic product of 6.5 to 7 percent over the next five years. While Lagarde said she doesn’t expect any “hard landings” for China, she acknowledged the “big changes” under way in the world’s second-largest economy. Those include shifting from a growth model based on exports and government-led investment to one that emphasizes personal consumption, along with changes in monetary policy.
On the campaign trail in the U.S., free trade has been a contentious issue for both Democrats and Republicans. Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed trade agreement involving the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim countries. Republican front-runner Donald Trump also has proposed a potential 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
By contrast, Largarde has called the TPP a “positive development” for the global economy, while warning that imposing stiff tariffs on China would be “massively disruptive.” She also urges international cooperation on issues such as economic insecurity and terrorism.
“History has told us time and again that building barriers, moving to protectionism — thinking that you can just deal with international, totally interconnected issue such as… terrorism, such as refugees — behind borders is an illusion and is very conducive to extremely disruptive situations. We’ve seen that in Europe, we’ve seen that in many parts of the world. Walls don’t actually have the situation for the better.”