Seventy-five years ago this month, the foremost economic and policy minds of their generation gathered in a sleepy mountain town in New England. While World War II still raged, they envisioned a new international monetary system with rules, procedures, and institutions—including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank—to promote recovery and stability in a war-ravaged world. Today we gather in Paris, the City of Light, to recognize their vision. The Bretton Woods institutions played a pivotal role after the war in rebuilding economies and in facilitating the international economic relations that are ... (full story)

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell repeated his pledge to “act as appropriate” to keep the economic expansion going as his fellow central bankers move toward an expected interest rate cut later this month. In speech delivered Tuesday in Paris, the central bank chief detailed misgivings among Fed officials over trade developments and global growth that have caused “uncertainties” over the outlook to increase. In addition, he said there is concern over negotiations regarding the federal debt ceiling, Brexit and “a more prolonged shortfall” in inflation below the Fed’s 2% goal. “Many FOMC participants judged at the ... (full story)