Dodd-Frank must be the first – not the last – step in a long-term restructuring of financial markets

By Michael Prowse, Senior Visiting Fellow

After Britain’s first military victory against Germany in the Second World, at El Alamein in Egypt, Winston Churchill cautioned against excessive optimism. “This is not the end,” he said. “It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Why the governance rules of the Financial Stability Board will not satisfy any true democrat

By Michael Prowse, Senior Visiting Fellow

Plato would have supported the Financial Stability Board (FSB) because he believed in rule by benevolent “Guardians”. He rejected democracy partly on the grounds that only an elite of knowledgeable experts can be trusted to make the “right” decisions for the rest of us.

Moises Schwartz makes the IMF’s critics an offer they should not refuse

By Michael Prowse, Senior Visiting Fellow

Moises Schwartz, the new director of the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), is reaching out to the Fund’s critics. At a briefing at New Rules last week he urged the non-governmental sector to propose topics for investigation. As Mr Schwartz is drawing up a work programme to present to the IMF’s Executive Board this is an opportunity that should be grasped.

Korea's opportunity: the G20's Seoul summit is shaping up to be the most significant since London, 2009

By Michael Prowse, Senior Visiting Fellow

Toronto was just a holding operation for the G20. Amid signs of flagging growth in many countries, the assembled leaders agreed to disagree on the need for further fiscal stimulus. All the other important decisions – for instance on bank capital requirements, on IMF reform, on the broader financial regulation agenda, on the European sovereign debt crisis, and on what to do if the world economy does sink back into recession – were postponed until the Seoul meeting.