IMF chief visits Oslo
In prepared remarks for a speech in Oslo, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that while the world economy seems “to have turned the corner,” the crisis hasn’t ended.
Strauss-Kahn said the Group of 20 of the world’s biggest economies would have a more global reach if it included a few new members. He did not name any countries that he believes should be added but said that, for example, Scandinavian countries did not have a seat at the G20, nor did African states, reports Reuters
He also said:
“Over the past year or so, the global financial crisis has been the subject of intense debate. But today, instead of dwelling on the economic risks, I would like to turn instead to another important topic—the relationship between economic stability and peace. It is my abiding belief that they are intimately entwined. If you lose one, you are likely to lose the other. Peace is a necessary precondition for trade, sustained economic growth, and prosperity. In turn, economic stability, and a rising prosperity that is broadly shared—both within and among countries—can foster peace. This is most likely to happen in an atmosphere of economic cooperation, of openness, of a multilateral approach to economic and political problems.
Ultimately, peace and prosperity feed on each other. I believe history teaches us this lesson. We all remember how the Great Depression created fertile ground for a devastating war. More recently, in many parts of the world, economic instability provoked political upheaval, social unrest, and conflict.”
Read the entire speech here
You can also view the lecture in Oslo here
