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STREET WISE: How to Manipulate Financial Reporters, by A. Greenspan NO matter how independent they may be as private enterprises, media all over the world are frequently used by government authorities to achieve particular policy objectives. This is especially true in the United States, where the central bank`s sophisticated chief is always ambiguous in his remarks to the media - lest his decisions on future monetary policy management be leaked before they are fully developed and spun the `wrong` way. According to Reuters, Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan is scheduled to speak to former vice president Al Gore`s journalism class at Columbia University next Wednesday, March 21, a day after the US central bank`s policy making Federal Open Market Committee meets. Interestingly, the discussion is expected to touch upon how the Fed "utilises the media to help accomplish its goal of managing its monetary policy goals", according to the school`s Website (www.jrn.columbia.edu/faculty/adjunct/gore.asp). Greenspan, who took the helm at the Fed in 1987 and is currently in his fourth term (due to expire in 2004), is renowned for his ability to speak at length in terminology so opaque that listeners often derive completely different meanings from the same statement. Some years ago, following a Greenspan speech on the US economy, two of the country`s largest newspapers summarised the speech with completely opposite conclusions in the next morning`s headlines. One said the Fed would hike the rate; the other said a rise in the rate was unlikely. According to Reuters, it is expected that Greenspan will avoid speaking about the state of the economy or inter-estate policy, and instead have an informal exchange with students about how the news media reports on the economy and financial markets. On that topic, he is surely an expert. --------------------------- A good idea, long overdue SIGNALLING its growing recognition of the capital markets` role in the global financial structure, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has established a new department to assess systemic risks in capital markets in member countries. The International Capital Markets Department was set up recently to gather, assess and disseminate information on developments in international capital markets, as well as the analysis of related systemic issues. The new department was established to provide support to country teams responsible for IMF crisis-prevention and crisis-management work with member countries. The department is set to commence operations by July 1, when the IMF expects to finish its search for a department director. (The organisation is still accepting applications from interested persons worldwide). It is worth noting that, at present, there is no system in place to prevent a crisis from igniting in capital markets. Many times, capital market-sparked problems are as damaging in their scope as those originating in other areas of the global financial market. It is also worth noting that the global equity market is becoming riskier, even for fund managers. It is normal procedure that, when extending loans to a member country, a group of IMF experts with knowledge in macroeconomics is dispatched to the `problem` country When Thailand started borrowing from the IMF, many representatives wandered around the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand. If this department were in place before 1997, representatives would also have been seen at the Stock Exchange of Thailand`s premises. Then the high-level executives of the exchange could have had a good consulting team. But now they`re coming along just fine, aren`t they? -------------------------- `Good governance` a tall order JAMAL uddin Kassum, the World Bank`s vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, will visit Thailand later this week for discussions with the new Thai government and private sector. Kassum, who is on his way to Mongolia and China, is responsible for the World Bank programme in the region, covering 15 countries where 30 to 40 development projects worth a combined US$34 billion (Bt1.47 trillion) are under way. Kassum, who succeeded Jean Michel Severino as vice president last year, is also head of the World Bank`s advisory council founded in 1999 to address the corruption issue and promote "good governance" in the region following the 1997 economic and financial crisis. But crony capitalism and the lack of good corporate governance have been widely blamed for contributing to the regional crisis. The Nation. 14.3.01 |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Waste or make money in Thailand |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | BodyG (13.03.01 20:54:22) |
| Beitrag: | 520 von 611 (ID:3092855) |
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