Managing the World Economy: Fifty Years After Bretton Woods.

• Author: Fausten, Dietrich K.

The IIE has commemorated the "golden anniversary" of Bretton Woods with a "comprehensive review of the institutional framework for international economic cooperation" [p. v]. This volume presents the proceedings of a conference convened for that purpose. Its structure clearly reflects the two analytical foundations for the exercise as defined in the Preface by Fred Bergsten: "an appraisal of the present regime" and "an assessment of the future needs of the world." An historical "Overview" by Eichengreen and Kenen - lauded by the discussants, in turn, as "magisterial", "masterly", "comprehensive", and "excellent and helpful" - is followed by a section on "Managing the World Economy" with papers on the Monetary System (Williamson and Henning), Trading System (Jackson), and Development and Transition (Ardito-Barletta). Issue-specific chapters on "Managing the New International Economic Issues" - Financial System (Padoa-Schioppa and Saccomanni), IDI (Julius), Environment (Esty), and Migration (Withers) - combine appraisal of the status quo with exploration of future needs. "The Future" is covered by Fred Bergsten with an extensive set of proposals for "Managing the World Economy of the Future." In a final chapter the editor tackles the challenging task of pulling salient strands of the arguments together. Addresses delivered to the conference by Mahbub ul Haq ("The Bretton Woods Institutions and Global Governance") and by Lawrence Summers ("Shared Prosperity and the New International Economic Order") are presented in an Annex.

The time horizon extending from the Bretton Woods Conference into the indefinite future that is implied in the "analytical foundations" laid down by Bergsten defines a monumental task for the conference organizer-cum-editor-cum-rapporteur which is not diminished by the sensitivity of the subject matter. It would have been helpful if the editor had laid down in an introductory comment his perception of that task and guidelines for its execution. As it is, the reader can glean that vision only indirectly from the various contributions. But authors are notoriously prone to diverge from their "marching orders." Hence, the editorial vision remains shrouded in mystery, and the reader is left to wonder, for example, why the section ostensibly devoted to appraisal prominently features the well-known target zone proposal of John Williamson embedded in a blueprint for monetary reform, or why the issue-specific chapters are denied...