Peterson Institute Update Newsletters

Peterson Institute Update for January 26, 2012

IN THIS ISSUE:

- New Book: Sustaining China's Economic Growth after the Global Financial Crisis
- Learning from Chinese Mercantilism
- Peterson Perspectives Interviews
- Recent Blog Posts
- Augmented Misery Index
- Event: The Euro Crisis
- Featured: Global Trade in Services: Fear, Facts, and Offshoring
- C. Fred Bergsten in the News
- PIIE Noted in the News and on the Web

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Peterson Institute Update: C. Fred Bergsten to Step Down as Director of PIIE at End of 2012

C. Fred Bergsten to Step Down as Director of Peterson Institute for International Economics

WASHINGTON--C. Fred Bergsten, founding director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics since its creation in 1981, will step down from that position at the end of this year. The executive committee of the Institute's board of directors has launched a search process to identify, select and appoint a new director. James W. Owens, chairman of the executive committee and former chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., said the board hopes to name a new director by the middle of this year and to complete the transition to the new leadership by the end of 2012.

"Upon completing my thirtieth year as director, I have decided that this is the optimal time to arrange an orderly transition to new leadership," Dr. Bergsten said. "The Institute is in its strongest position ever in terms of its substantive capabilities, global reputation and financial position. I am confident that the board will select a new director who will enable the Institute to make even greater contributions in the future to a strong and cooperative world economy. I am proud to have served for so long with such an outstanding team at the Institute and on its board and nothing will make me prouder than to see the Institute thrive and grow under new leadership in the years ahead, which I am confident it will do."

The board has asked Dr. Bergsten to remain actively engaged in the work of the Institute after his successor assumes office, as a senior fellow and director emeritus. "I look forward to playing an active role in its research program for many years," Dr. Bergsten said, noting that one of his reasons for stepping down as director is to enable him to do more research and writing on a variety of international economic topics.

>> Read full news release.

Peterson Institute Update: The Euro Crisis Debate

IN THIS ISSUE:

- The European Crisis Deepens
- Financial Reform after the Crisis: An Early Assessment
- Stop Coddling Europe's Banks
- Examining the Impact of the Volcker Rule
- Another Shot at Protection by Stealth: Using the Tax Law to Penalize Foreign Insurance Companies
- Japan Post: Retreat or Advance?
- Three Evolutionary Proposals for Reform of the International Monetary System
- China and India: Right Policy, Wrong Place
- Peterson Perspectives Interviews
- Recent Blog Posts
- Event
> The Euro Crisis
- Featured
> Sustaining China's Economic Growth after the Global Financial Crisis
- PIIE Noted in the News and on the Web
- Preview of Next Issue

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Peterson Institute Update: Michael L. Mussa, Senior Fellow at PIIE and Former IMF Chief Economist, Dies at 67

IN MEMORY

News Release
Michael L. Mussa, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Former IMF Chief Economist, Dies at 67

WASHINGTON--Michael L. Mussa, a renowned international economist who had been a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 2001, and who was a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), died on January 15. Mussa, who was 67, died of heart failure at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. He served as chief economist at the IMF (1991-2001) and was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers (1986-88) under President Ronald Reagan. Previously he had been a professor of economics at the University of Chicago Business School and at the University of Rochester.

As a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute, Mussa was well known for his semiannual forecasts of global economic growth, conveyed with tough assessments, clarity of expression, and biting wit. The Wall Street Journal, in a January 17 page 2 article on Mussa's death, said his influential and highly regarded forecasts were "delivered consistently with blunt words and wisecracks for policymakers and fellow economists." At both the IMF and the Peterson Institute, he was known for unsparing analysis and deep intellectual curiosity and knowledge about a full range of subjects, including history, political science, and government.

>> Read full news release

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Colleagues Remember Michael Mussa

A Brilliant and Beloved Colleague
Steven R. Weisman
The Peterson Institute for International Economics mourns the passing of Michael L. Mussa, senior fellow at the Institute since 2001, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and former member of President Ronald Reagan's ...

Perceptive Analysis Wrapped in Humor
Arvind Subramanian
"In Washington, the truth is just another special interest, and one that is not particularly well-financed." That quotation from a short paper by Mike Mussa in the American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 83. No. 2, 1993) on why it is so difficult to convince the ...

Serenading the IMF Board
Mohsin S. Khan
I first met Mike Mussa in 1976 when we were both at the London School of Economics--he was visiting from Chicago for a year. His brilliance and sense of humor were clearly evident then, and only became sharper over the course of time. Later, in 1991, he became my boss in the Research Department ...

Memories from the IMF
Ratna Sahay
Michael Mussa cared immensely for the International Monetary Fund and fought hard to ensure its independence from individual shareholders' interests. He combined clear thinking, eloquence, and ready wit with amazing effectiveness. To me and many of his staff ...

When Will They Learn?
Edwin M. Truman
I was privileged to know Mike Mussa for almost 25 years. We met when he joined the Council of Economic Advisers in the mid-1980s. I first began to encounter him regularly up close and personal during the early 1990s when, as the economic counselor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he ...

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Remembrances in the News and on the Web

Wall Street Journal
Economist Wielded Wit

WSJ Real Time Economics
Remembering Economist Mike Mussa

New York Times
Currencies, Prices, and Mike Mussa (A Bit Wonkish)

Washington Post
Michael L. Mussa, IMF Economist, Dies at 67

Bloomberg Businessweek
Michael Mussa, IMF Chief Economist Through 1990s, Dies at 67

International Monetary Fund
Statement by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on the Death of Former IMF Economic Counsellor and Director of Research Michael Mussa

iMFdirect: The IMF Blog
Remembering Michael Mussa

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FEATURED BOOK

Argentina and the Fund: From Triumph to Tragedy
by Michael Mussa

Peterson Institute Update for January 11, 2012

IN THIS ISSUE:

- The Coming Resolution of the European Crisis
- Fiscal Federalism: US History for Architects of Europe's Fiscal Union
- How to Rebuild Russia
- Peterson Perspectives Interviews
- Recent Blog Posts
- PIIE Noted in the News and on the Web

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Peterson Institute Update: North Korea in Transition

NORTH KOREA IN TRANSITION

Peterson Perspectives Interview
North Korea's Uncertain Transition: Time for a Conciliatory Gesture?

Marcus Noland discusses the downside risks after the death of Kim Jong-il and suggests that a possible agreement to increase food aid would be appropriate.

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About Marcus Noland

Marcus Noland is widely considered a foremost expert on North Korea. He is author of North Korea after Kim Jong-il and coauthor of Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea. His up-to-the-minute thoughts on North Korea can be found on his blog North Korea: Witness to Transformation.

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NEWS INTERVIEWS WITH MARCUS NOLAND

NPR Morning Edition
North Korea Faces 2nd Leadership Change in 60 Years
NPR's Tom Gjelten interviews Marcus Noland about what little is known about Kim Jong-un, the successor to his father Kim Jong-il.

NPR All Things Considered
US Treads Cautiously with North Korean Transition
NPR's Michele Kelemen talks with Marcus Noland about the risks the United States faces as North Korea transitions to a new leader.

Bloomberg
Outlook for North Korea Following Kim Jong-Il Death
Marcus Noland tells Bloomberg's Tom Keene that the risks to stability in North Korea following Kim Jong-il's death stem from his successor Kim Jong-un's relative weakness; either he may not be able to control the military or, to burnish his own credentials, he may engage in military provocations.

Marketplace from American Public Media
North Korea Will Go about 'Business as Usual'
Marketplace Radio interviews Marcus Noland about the implications of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death.

Peterson Institute Update for December 13, 2011

The Peterson Institute for International Economics mourns the passing of Joseph E. Robert, Jr., founder and executive chairman of J.E. Robert Companies, renowned philanthropist, and longtime generous supporter of the Institute. As a member of the executive committee of the Institute's Board of Directors, Mr. Robert brought inspired leadership for nearly 12 years, helping to guide the evolution of the research program and governance structure of the Institute. C. Fred Bergsten, the Director of the Institute, joins with the staff and Board in extending condolences to the family and many friends of this extraordinary businessman and civic leader.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

- Oil Exporters to the Euro's Rescue?
- A New Regime for Regulating Large, Complex Financial Institutions [pdf]
- Leave China Out of a Trade Pact at Your Peril
- Peterson Perspectives Interviews
- Recent Blog Posts
- Featured Book: Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance
- PIIE Noted in the News and on the Web

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Peterson Institute Update for December 6, 2011

IN THIS ISSUE:

- A China Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations
- Asian Regional Policy Coordination
- How the WTO Can Change the Game for Russia
- Rent(s) Asunder: Sectoral Rent Extraction Possibilities and Bribery by Multinational Corporations
- Peterson Perspectives Interviews
- Recent Blog Posts
- Event: The Transatlantic Agenda for 2012
- Featured Book: A Decade of Debt
- PIIE Noted in the News and on the Web

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Peterson Institute Update: Foreign Policy Lists Reinhart and Subramanian among World's Top 100 Thinkers

Washington—The Peterson Institute is pleased to announce that Senior Fellows Carmen Reinhart and Arvind Subramanian have been named among Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 Thinkers of 2011. Reinhart is honored for "raising the alarm about America's debt burden." Subramanian is recognized for "sounding the alarm on China's economic ascendancy."

Read full newsletter and the news release.