Macroeconomic Policy Options for the World Today

The Peterson Institute held an event on April 12, 2016, to discuss the capacity and prospects for macroeconomic stimulus ahead of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Institute Senior Fellow Joseph E. Gagnon presented his latest take on the possible monetary policy options for major central banks, and Jay Shambaugh, member of the Council of Economic Advisers, offered the Obama administration’s perspective on the fiscal space globally and potential stimulus policies. Discussants included Patrick Honohan, former governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, and Carlo Cottarelli, former director of the fiscal affairs department of the IMF.

Gagnon, senior fellow at the Institute since September 2009, was visiting associate director of the division of monetary affairs from 2008 to 2009 at the US Federal Reserve Board, where he was a key participant in the design of quantitative easing. Previously he served at the US Federal Reserve Board as associate director, division of international finance from 1999 to 2008. He has also served at the US Treasury Department.

Honohan served as governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from September 2009 until November 2015. He has joined the Peterson Institute as a nonresident senior fellow. Previously, he was also professor of international financial economics and development at Trinity College, Dublin, and senior adviser in the World Bank working on issues of financial policy reform.

Shambaugh is a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. He is on leave from George Washington University where he is a professor of economics and international affairs. He has also served as a faculty research fellow and research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research since 2007. He previously held positions within the Council of Economic Advisers between 2009 and 2011, first as a senior economist from 2009 to 2010 and then as chief economist from 2010 to 2011.

Cottarelli is currently an executive director of the IMF. He served as the director of the fiscal affairs department of the IMF from November 2008 to October 2013. Cottarelli joined the IMF in 1988 and was deputy director both in the European department and the strategy, policy and review department. From 1981 to 1987, he worked in the research department of the Bank of Italy.