Presentation on Global Vulnerabilities

Richard Berner, US Office of Financial Research (OFR), and Simon Johnson, PIIE and MIT Sloan School of Management, discussed global financial stability on November 30, 2016, at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Adam S. Posen moderated a discussion with Berner and Johnson focused on known and unknown sources of risk around the world, how these risks are transmitted to the US economy, and how US-based shocks affect the global economy.

Prior to his confirmation as OFR director in January 2013, Berner served as counselor to the secretary of the US Treasury. Before joining the Treasury in April 2011, he was cohead of Global Economics at Morgan Stanley. His prior private sector roles have included chief economist at Mellon Bank and senior economist at Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers, and Morgan Guaranty Trust Company. Berner also worked previously on the research staff of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington. He has been an adjunct professor of economics at Carnegie-Mellon University and George Washington University.

Johnson has been a senior fellow at the Institute since 2008. He is also head of MIT’s Global Economics and Management group and chair of the Sloan Fellows MBA Program Committee. He cofounded BaselineScenario.com and has been a member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee since its inception. In July 2014, Johnson joined the Financial Research Advisory Committee of OFR, for which he chairs the recently formed Global Vulnerabilities Working Group. He served as chief economist of the International Monetary Fund during 2007–08.