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March 30, 2007
J.Pozuelo-Monfort, MSc candidate in economic development at LSE
THE SILENT TAKEOVER is a very well-written book that walks us through the process of liberalisation and ever-increasing adoption of the neoclassical economic policies that started with Thatcher and Reagan in the early 1980s. Policies better understood in a scenario characterized by the so-called Washington Consensus, suggested by the US economist and member of Washington-based think-tank Insitute for International Economics, John Williamson.
Noreena Hertz is considered a center-left thinker that understands and shares some of the views of the anti-globalisation movement. Her writing is descriptive and her conclusions follow from a series of facts few can counter argue. It is the kind of thinking everyone would use to try to determine the reasons underlying a problem, the kind of thinking that everybody would use to try to explain the reasons behind a growing gap between rich and poor, a growing decentralisation and deregulasion allowed by central governments, a silent takeover on behalf of corporations, that quietly seem to have taken the steering wheel of this world without few individuals realizing of the consequences.
The book calls for action and demonstration against our own governments, that pressured and lobbied by multinationals, are unwilling or incapable of setting policies in the interest of their fellow citizens and the world as a whole. Our own governments, unable to cope with the challenges of an already challenging century that started with the 9-11 attacks and a war, that against terrorism, with the ability to spread conflict and unillateralism across the world.
The true war is an unfought one. The true war is a conflict that the media do not talk about. It is a war against inequality and hunger, it is a war against poverty and abuse of power in the third world and developing economies. The industrialized nations cannot afford any longer to continue looking aside. Multinationals do have their role. But by no means they should determine the direction of many of the policies defined by countries in which capitalism has evolved into a more extreme version.
Before the apparent compliance of our own central administrations with a corporate world in which less corporations dominate more of the consumers’ pie, before the apparent unwillingness of our own central administrations to step up and face the challenges of an unequal world, Noreena Hertz explains that the citizens must express their discontent as they have done in the past in so many circumstances regarding so many issues.
The world is facing challenges. Only its member citizens can, at this point, change the course of an already misguided course.
March 29, 2007
El 25 de Abril tendrá lugar en Madrid una jornada relacionada con las inversiones socialmente responsables.
En la última década han confluido distintas tendencias que cuestionan la manera tradicional de abordar las decisiones de inversión. Por una parte, la preocupación por la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial ha impulsado a las empresas a integrar las variables sociales y medioambientales en las operaciones del negocio y a mantener un diálogo más fluido con sus diferentes grupos de interés (clientes, empleados, proveedores, etc.).
Por otra, en el sector de la filantropía surge con fuerza un nuevo perfil de donante que asume riesgos similares al del inversor. Se trata tanto de personas como de instituciones, que buscan emparejar sus motivaciones sociales con la búsqueda de cierta rentabilidad económica. Esas tendencias han impulsado la creación y desarrollo de distintos instrumentos o fondos de inversión caracterizados por el uso de criterios sociales y medioambientales (fondos éticos o, más propiamente, fondos socialmente responsables).
Por último, en el campo del Desarrollo ha surgido una nueva corriente que está rebatiendo la manera tradicional de abordar la solución de muchos problemas sociales. Este nuevo enfoque, conocido comúnmente como “la base de la pirámide”, defiende que los pobres pueden ser clientes excelentes, y que el secreto está en que las empresas mediante la innovación desarrollen productos y servicios para esos miles de millones de personas que se encuentran en la “base de la pirámide”. Entre los ejemplos más significativos se encuentran las “microfinanzas”, una tecnología crediticia, desarrollada en sus orígenes por algunas ONGs, que ha conseguido hacer accesibles los productos financieros a los más pobres e interesar a la banca convencional y los fondos de inversión en esta nueva “industria”.
Todos estos ejemplos muestran el creciente interés de la sociedad por los temas sociales y medioambientales. Esto plantea a las empresas importantes retos y oportunidades, tanto en el diseño de sus productos como en el desarrollo de sus operaciones, si quieren conectar con esas nuevas sensibilidades y responder adecuadamente a un perfil nuevo de “inversor”, que quiere conciliar su motivación financiera y sus intenciones altruistas.
Algunos de los ponentes de la jornada son:
• Manuel Conthe. Presidente de la Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores
• Damian Von Stauffenberg. Presidente de Microrate (Washington)
• Juan Luís Martínez. Profesor de Marketing del Instituto Empresa
• José Andrés Barreiro Director de Negocios Globales, BBVA
Programa de la Jornada
Ficha de Inscripción
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
The Council of Science Editors is organizing a Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development in October 2007. 160 Science journals throughout the world will simultaneously publish papers on this topic of worldwide interest - to raise awareness, stimulate interest, and stimulate research into poverty and human development.
They are planning to publish new original research, review articles, editorials, perspectives, news stories, and other types of articles on the subject of poverty and human development with a common publication or release date of Monday, October 22, 2007.
The invitation is open for other science journals to jump in; if you are interested in joining, you should send an e-mail to the attention of Annette Flanagin.
March 28, 2007
Recent articles on Bloomberg and Financial Times present the unsustainable growth that has made Spain deserve the nickname Iberian tiger. Whether the growth will decrease softly or lead to a collapse is arguable. J.Pozuelo-Monfort gives some additional color.
Spain has been, with Ireland, the success story in terms of economic growth of the EU over the last 10 to 15 years. But Ireland is different. It is a small country with a population that equals the metropolitan area of Madrid. And most important, it has the lowest corporate rate of the EU at 12.5%, which has mainly driven the headquarters of many corporations.
Spain is the outperformer of the big five nations in Europe. It is the outperformer because of the EU structural funds it has received. It is the outperformer because of the expansion of credit and the real estate boom. And it has created 50% of the employment in the EU in 2006 and 20% of the growth. But there are still many questions. The growth is not sustainable. With a large trade deficit (imports well above exports) and one of the worst productivity growths in the EU, many argue the experienced rates of growth are not sustainable. With debt levels at historical highs and rising interest rates, financial pressure is impacting much of the immigration that has enabled the country to grow at this pace. And fears that many will default are increasing, in view of the subprime fiasco in the United States.
There is no wide consensus as to whether economic growth will slow down softly or suddenly burst, but in any case those who came to Spain to work hard and earn a decent living stand in the most delicate situation.
March 27, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
The Skoll World Forum is taking place today and until this Thursday. I have surfed through the Social Edge website all morning and sadly have not had access to the conferences live, as it was possible last year. Perhaps they will be uploaded later on. In the mean time, there are a couple of blogs available, which are covering the event from their own perspective. Some of the speakers are:
• Jeff Skoll, founder and Chairman, Skoll Foundation and Participant Productions
• Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Grameen Bank founder and microfinance pioneer
• Peter Gabriel, musician, activist, cofounder and Chair of WITNESS
• Dr. Larry Brilliant, Executive Director, Google.org, founder and former Director of the Seva Foundation
• Bill Drayton, CEO and Chair, Ashoka
• Jeroo Billimoria, founder, Aflatoun / Child Savings International, who was this past November at the Social Responsibility Day at IE
Free the Children - 2007 Skoll Awardee
The 2007 Skoll Awardees will be presented at this event and include among others, Free The Children, NGO which recognizes the potential of young people to create positive social change. It works with schools throughout North America to educate and empower youths to act locally and globally as agents of change for their peers around the world. More than 500,000 students have joined the organization’s Youth in Action groups in 1,000 schools across the U.S. and Canada. They have shipped $11 million in essential medical supplies and have provided health care projects benefiting more than 505,000 people.
My deepest congratulations to Craig and Marc Kielburger, with whom i had the opportunity to work with back in 1999, at the State of the World Forum.
Have a look at the 2007 Skoll Awardees.
March 26, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
Philipp, Tobias, Guillermo and Blagoja have come up with the grand prize of the Sustainable Innovation Challenge competition at Thunderbird, which challenges the teams to come up with the most innovative solution to a real-world business issue that reflects corporate social responsibility.
“The Thunderbird Sustainable Innovation Summit is a clear recognition that we can no longer separate a business’ financial success from its responsibility to society and the planet,” says Gregory Unruh, director of Thunderbird’s Lincoln Center for Ethics in International Management. “Future business leaders will have to find innovative solutions that create simultaneous value for both the company and the world at large. And there is no better group to challenge than those MBAs from around the world that will have to create and implement ideas for a sustainable and prosperous future.”
German students Philipp Pausder and Tobias Schirmer, Macedonian Blagoja Hamamdziev and Mexican Guillermo Ortega presented their work called “Disruptive Thoughts” to a jury integrated by experts in innovation and CSR, including entrepreneurs, business men, consultants and academics. Among other 85 business schools and 10 finalists, they have won a cash prize of $20,000 as well as the title “2007 Global Champions of Sustainable Innovation”. IE Students won at the same competition last year, which was named Global Citizenship Challenge back then, an outstanding 3rd Place.
“Too often, the tools of innovation are deployed in the pursuit of riches and the cost of failure is seen as simply foregone fortune,” said keynote speaker Michael Raynor of Deloitte Consulting LLP and the bestselling author of “The Innovator’s Solution” and “The Strategy Paradox.” “By injecting the concept of sustainability, this event recognizes that failure has a real cost, and innovators that ‘swing for the fence’ and dismissively accept the cost of ‘striking out’ are taking an irresponsible approach to risk.”
Congratulations to you all!
Take a look at all the Business Schools which took part on the challenge.
March 23, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
You've read about The Hub, a space for social innovation. Well, if you live in the Netherlands and want to be part of the Hub Rotterdam, an incubator for social, sustainable innovation, don't miss the chance!
Starting this Saturday, March 24th, they are arranging a few dates to connect with fellow innovators out in the real world.
"There are still tons of things left to be done at the Hub "building site"...so we are looking for people who would like to lend a hand. You don't have to be a whiz-kid or technical handyman, anyone can learn! :-)"
Food, (live) music and fun will be catered for!
They have made a working schedule; if you can make any of the times just send an email to josine@enviu.org
How about the Soweto Hub? Or the Joburg Hub? See these and other hubs in action!
March 22, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
The Research Workshop on Corporate Governance co organized by IE Business School, IESE, CEMFI and Universidad Carlos III had the participation of more than 40 academics from different Spanish universities and research centres. The finance department at IE Business School has made a strong bet on bringing high level scientific debate to the businesses corporate governance.
You can access both the papers from renowned researchers such as Professor Milton Harris (Chicago University, GSB), Professor Kose John (NYU Stern), Professor Colin Mayer (Oxford University, Saïd) and Professor Javier Suárez (CEMFI) as well as the discussions here.
The closing conversation reaffirmed how the reform of the Spanish government in regards to corporate governance, took into account advanced norms from other countries, as well as practical developments derivate from rigorous research, which were adapted to the Spanish reality as well as to the needs from national and international investment funds. If you are interested in further deepening into these discussions, contact Juan Pedro Gomez, Chair of our Finance Department.
March 20, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
The World Resources Institute and the International Finance Corporation have just released “The Next 4 Billion” report.
Based on the works of C.K. Prahalad and his book on "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" (which alerted private sector businesses to the importance of the market at the base of the pyramid); this report complements this work, building further on the conversation, providing a quantitative assessment and characterization of BOP markets. Here is an excerpt of their executive summary:
The 4 billion people at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP)—all those with incomes below $3,000 in local purchasing power—live in relative poverty. The wealthier mid-market population segment, the 1.4 billion people with per capita incomes between $3,000 and $20,000, represents a $12.5 trillion market globally. This market is largely urban, already relatively well served, and extremely competitive. On the other hand, this four billion low-income people who live in relative poverty and are underserved, have purchasing power representing a $5 trillion market.
Data from national household surveys in 110 countries show that the BOP makes up 72% of the 5,575 million people recorded by the surveys and an overwhelming majority of the population in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean—home to nearly all the BOP.
Striking patterns also emerge in spending. Not surprisingly, food dominates BOP household budgets. As incomes rise, however, the share spent on food declines, while the share for housing remains relatively constant—and the shares for transportation and telecommunications grow rapidly. In all regions half of BOP household spending on health goes to pharmaceuticals. And in all except Eastern Europe the lower income segments of the BOP depend mainly on firewood as a cooking fuel, the higher segments on propane or other modern fuels.
That these substantial markets remain underserved is to the detriment of BOP households. Business is also missing out. But there is now enough information about these markets, and enough experience with viable business strategies, to justify far closer business attention to the opportunities they represent. Market-based approaches also warrant far more attention in the development community, for the potential benefits they offer in bringing more of the BOP into the formal economy and in improving the delivery of essential services to this large population segment.
The full report is available online in downloadable PDF format.
You can access the full report, as well as see all its chapters on PPT presentations.
March 19, 2007
J.Pozuelo-Monfort, MSc candidate in economic development at LSE
Publicado en El Periódico
Vivimos en un mundo globalizado a la vez que desigual. Un mundo en el que los esfuerzos por reducir la brecha entre ricos y pobres suelen caer en saco roto. Un mundo en el que los esfuerzos por crear las condiciones para que los países que conforman el vagón de cola del capitalismo se suban al tren del crecimiento son esfuerzos que a menudo conducen a resultados poco tangibles, que no suelen eliminar el mal de raíz y solo calman temporalmente los síntomas de una enfermedad, la desigualdad, que hace mella en las poblaciones que habitan las economías en desarrollo. En este contexto, el primer mundo debe corregir, de raíz y sin dilación, los problemas que causan el desequilibrio de riqueza. El lavado de dinero desde el mundo rico y desde el mundo en vías de desarrollo hacia paraísos fiscales es uno de los factores que contribuye a reducir la inversión en las economías por desarrollar y la tasación en los países industrializados, una tasación perdida que en parte debería dedicarse a ayuda al desarrollo.
Resulta sorprendente encontrarse, en el número de The Economist de esta semana, publicidad de firmas que sin tapujos ofrecen sus servicios para realizar un lavado de dinero en paraísos fiscales, sin censura ni por parte de la revista ni por parte del organismo regulador competente. En una época en la que se pone de manifiesto la falta de sensibilidad de determinados anunciantes ante problemas del día a día, no debemos olvidar que la realidad de un mundo desigual únicamente se confirma con anuncios tan poco éticos como los publicados por The Economist.
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
Fundación Bip Bip, cuya misión es la de acercar las nuevas tecnologías a los colectivos más desfavorecidos, ha creado www.puntoOrg.org, el primer portal de referencia en Internet exclusivamente dedicado a conseguir que el Tercer Sector tenga un acceso real a las nuevas tecnologías.
Hoy en día, Fundación Bip Bip está vinculada con más de 700 organizaciones sociales que trabajan con inmigrantes, mujeres maltratadas y discapacitados.
De esta experiencia, ha detectado que la mayoría de las organizaciones no aprovechan las posibilidades que la tecnología les brinda. Como destaca May Escobar, Directora General de Fundación Bip Bip, “la mayoría de las organizaciones de este tipo, si bien tienen un nivel de equipamiento informático adecuado, en muchos casos, por desconocimiento no están ni utilizando ni optimizando sus potencialidades”.
www.puntoOrg.org ofrece a las ONG productos, servicios, guías y formación para reducir sus gastos, mejorar su productividad, compartir información y todo lo que pueda necesitar para mejorar su labor diaria.
Por otra parte, Fundación Logística Justa, cuya finalidad es la cooperación internacional para el desarrollo y fomento económico del comercio justo y la economía social, acaba de lanzar su portal. Este cuenta con un espacio para el trading social, facilitando el acceso de productos de comercio justo así como el envío de excedentes, apoyando a entidades de cooperación internacional así como sensibilizando al mundo empresarial.
Colaboramos con ambas organizaciones de manera institucional así como, en el caso de Fundación Bip Bip, a través de prácticas profesionales con nuestros alumnos. Es sin duda un gusto ver como se fortalece cada vez más su contribución al desarrollo social.
March 16, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
I have come across a very interesting and interactive Online Atlas of the Millennium Development Goals. These goals are both, being a challenge to poor countries to demonstrate good governance and a commitment to poverty reduction, as well as a challenge to wealthy countries to make good on their promise to support economic and social development.
Are you interested in seeing how we are doing in poverty and hunger eradication? Other interactive maps show our current progress in achieving universal primary education, both through school completion and education expenditure; the promotion of gender equity, both through equality in education and employment; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating neglected diseases such as HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a global partnership.
Having such a visual tool helps us both better assess our current state, looking to the trends that the World Bank predicts, thus having an influence on our focus, pushing both for commitment and results. As the World Bank very clearly states it, Millennium Development Goals have captured world attention in part because they can be measured.
March 15, 2007
David Allen, Professor of Strategic Management
Earlier this month, Dolce & Gabbana ran an ad that depicts a spectacularly beautiful women being violated by a group of men. This week, Armani Junior used an ad with two young girls, no more than 6 or 7 years old, wearing make-up and photographed, according to the Spain's Children's Rights Ombudsman, Arturo Canalda, as if they were promoting "sexual tourism". The D&G campaign ran in Spain and Italy early this month before it was pulled; the Armani campaign continues with the photo featured prominently on its website.
Both companies have gotten their share of free press. When women's groups, children's group and government officials protested in Spain, the newspapers and television news shows did their civic duty by covering the news -- and made sure to show the ads so that everyone could decide on his or her own the extent to which the companies were appealing to prurient interests. No doubt both companies were delighted to see their ads in print and on the news for free. I will NOT print the photos here.
In this world of stakeholder management and CSR it must seem shocking that I describe the firms (i.e., the owners and top management) as delighted. Forget about shock or disgust. Fashion industry executives know that offending some stakeholders is good for sales. As long as the government does not shut you down or your own customer segments get turned off, it's money in the bank.
The responses by the two companies have been standard procedure. Dolce & Gabbana first defended their ad, called the Spanish government "behind the times". Not until pressure came in Italy from members of parliament did the company cave in. Designer-owner Stefano Gabbana said that he was sorry, but defended once again the creative idea behind the ad campaign. He claimed had been inspired to produce an ad campaign that would "recall an erotic dream, a sexual game."
In his own "Rape of the Sabine Women" fantasy way, Stefano Gabbana apologized, insisting that D&G had never intended to offend anyone. This is not true. The company's segmentation strategy is based on offending some to capture a larger part of the "rebellious with money". By taking stabs at the sensibilities of those who are "behind the times", they send a strong message to their target segment: "you are different". Never mind that their target all wear the same clothes, drive the same cars, listen to the same music, experience the same ennui. These shared values define a coherent cohort.
Continue reading 'Fashion and CSR: Dolce & Gabbana, Armani Junior, Rape and Child Abuse'
March 13, 2007
A standout team of IMBA students steps up to the challenge and claims a spot among the top ten teams in contention for the grand prize in the thunderbird sustainable innovation challenge competition
Driven by their smarts and appetite for success, the team of four IE protégés await their chance to present their work in front of the judges panel at Thunderbird’s Sustainable Innovation Summit, which will be held later this month in Phoenix, Arizona.
Madrid, Spain (March 9th, 2007) – As if going through an intensive and rigorous one-year MBA program of the caliber of the IE’s International MBA weren’t enough, a group of students took up the challenge of competing in the Thunderbird Sustainable Innovation Challenge and now find themselves among an elite circle of forward thinking teams vying to win the contest’s top honors. What’s more, the four-member team that will be representing IE Business School at the Thunderbird’s Sustainable Innovation Summit in late March will also be the only team from a European business school.
Camino de Paz, Program Director of MBAs at IE Business School, expressed the school’s support for the student-led team and stated, “At this point in the game, these four students have already demonstrated an incredible amount of drive, vision, and commitment – all qualities that resonate strongly with our institution’s core values. It is an honor to have them represent IE Business School name in such a prestigious and high profile competition”.
The contest, which put 85 post graduate teams on a head-to-head competition to see who delivers the most compelling and ground-breaking piece of work, aims to create innovative solutions to real world business challenges that reflect a commitment to economically, environmentally and socially sound business practices. Competing teams come from the most highly regarded business schools in the United States, Europe and Asia, including MIT Sloan, HEC, IMD, CEIBES, among others.
Continue reading 'IMBA students at Sustainable Innovation Challenge Competition Finals'
March 12, 2007
J.Pozuelo-Monfort, MSc candidate in economic development at LSE.
Taxation of personal wealth: a concept of global justice
The economies of the industrialized nations that integrate the steam machine of the capitalist system, in which the developing economies conform the last wagon, have robust taxation systems that enable the public administrations to raise taxes efficiently, through the progressive taxation of the economic activity of individuals with different income levels, who enjoy the stability provided by the well-known welfare state.
A taxation system based to a certain extent on the principle of redistribution, a principle that penalizes with higher rates the otherwise richer individual, who also has higher income levels. A taxation system, based on the principle of solidarity among the high and low incomes, that implies a shift of resources between those who have in excess (high income individuals) and those who lack them (low income individuals).
A current society in which we do not decide where we are born. A current society in which we do not decide when we are born, how much we inherit from our ancestors, or with what talents we count on to fight for a piece of that cake called market. A society that has so far been solidary at the nation-state level, and in the case of the European Union at a continental level.
A current society, that of the so-called rich or industrialized world, that cannot continue looking in the wrong direction, and must face the extreme inequality in income and wealth between the first and third world. A trend that has only worsened and seems to reach no inflection point, a necessary inflection point.
Continue reading Decem 03 Download file
About Decem: Series of articles fundamentally innovative that aim at the proposal of alternative financial mechanisms to considerably raise the amount of funds available for development in the third world. Throughout the series of 10 articles, J.Pozuelo-Monfort will stress the implementation aspects of the suggested ideas and will propose arguments for and against.
March 09, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
If there where any place where I would like to be today instead of “not yet so sunny Madrid”, it would either be at a paradisiacal beach in the Mayan Riviera or, last but not least, at the TED 2007 conference in Monterey.
Jeff Skoll, Bill Clinton, News photographer James Nachtwey, Biologist E.O. Wilson, Tracy Chapman, Richard Branson, Hans Rosling and many others are taking part in these conversations.
Several bloggers are following the event and you can also visit Teds Blog to get a glimpse of the conversations that are taking place as we speak. These will be uploaded on their site at Ted Talks, space of which we have previously spoken on this blog. You can still see some remarkable speakers there and be patient for the upload of this year's conferences.
March 07, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
How about a real space that fosters social innovation? A space where social entrepreneurship can be breathed on every corner. This has been The Hub in London experience. Their core product is flexible membership of inspirational and highly resourced habitats in the world’s major cities for social innovators to work, meet, learn, connect and realise progressive ideas. It is now present in London, Bristol, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo and Cairo. But the conversation is ongoing and advanced in the Netherlands, Mumbai, Berlin, Belgium, Halifax, Mexico and has several synergies with the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, which is a “convergence facility” for the social mission community, The Melting Pot in Edinburgh and others.
The market need is expressed by social innovators whose ability to thrive requires access to highly resourced, flexible and safe spaces within which to scale up, change gear, take risks and make mistakes. Over time, social innovators need access to a range of just-in-time resources and market-facing opportunities to thrive: knowledge, capital and networks. The Hub provides channels to such resources and opportunities, without crushing the innovators initial spark and ingenuity.
We are engaging on a couple of action led conversations, one of which includes the openning of a hub like space in Madrid. If you want to be part of this conversation contact me.
March 06, 2007
J.Pozuelo-Monfort, MSc candidate in economic development at LSE
Artículo publicado en Cinco Días.
La noción de arquitectura financiera está presente en la estabilidad cotidiana de los mercados bancarios y financieros de un Estado soberano. En el caso español las bases de la estabilidad del sistema económico-financiero las establecen el Banco de España, el Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos y la Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores. El grado de madurez de los órganos reguladores y supervisores tiende a minimizar los vaivenes y crisis económicas que por el contrario han azotado de forma virulenta a economías en vías de desarrollo del Sudeste Asiático y América Latina a lo largo de la última década.
Del mismo modo que la arquitectura financiera a nivel de un Estado soberano está relativamente bien delimitada, no es ese el caso a nivel mundial. Para entender la evolución de la arquitectura financiera internacional y su estado actual debemos remontarnos al año 1944, en el que las naciones aliadas y a la postre vencedoras en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, se reunieron en la localidad estadounidense de Bretton Woods para sentar las bases de un sistema que garantizara el crecimiento sostenible y la prosperidad económica de las distintas naciones del mundo a partir de esa fecha. Bretton Woods dio origen al Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) y al Banco Mundial, que a la postre se han convertido, junto con la Organización Mundial del Comercio, en los tres pilares sobre los que se apoya la denominada arquitectura financiera internacional.
La realidad financiera del mundo cambió tras la crisis de tipos de cambio que hizo colapsar al sistema de cambio fijo en 1971. Una cumbre posterior del entonces denominado G6 en 1975 en la localidad francesa de Rambouillet, liderada por el entonces presidente de la República Francesa, Giscard d'Estaing, dio carpetazo al sistema de cambio fijo y sentó las bases para una reformada arquitectura financiera basada en los tipos de cambio variables, vigentes en la actualidad. Fue quizás la decisión más importante del sistema monetario internacional desde la creación del FMI y del Banco Mundial en 1944.
Continue reading 'Reformar la arquitectura financiera internacional'
