Seminar Series: The International Monetary Fund – Current Challenges

Mark Sobel is the Senior Advisor of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Economics Program. He served at the U.S. Department of the Treasury for nearly four decades, including as deputy assistant secretary for international monetary and financial policy from 2000 to early 2015. At Treasury, he led the Department’s work in preparing G7 and G20 finance minister and central bank governor meetings, formulating U.S. positions in the IMF, and coordinating the work of Treasury and regulatory agencies in the Financial Stability Board (FSB). He now serves as U.S. chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF).

Sobel will discuss current challenges related to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including critiques of the IMF from the left and right, thoughts on the IMF’s global financing role, the governance structure and resource adequacy, low-income country debt, Ukraine, and the climate.

Sobel’s seminar series visit to campus is co-sponsored by European Studies. The La Follette School Seminar Series engages participants in discussion of a range of public policy issues and showcases the research of faculty from the La Follette School, other UW–Madison departments, and outside the UW–Madison community. Faculty, students, and visitors take part in lively dialogue about topics such as poverty and welfare, health, education, international affairs, trade and finance, and the environment. For more information, email Professor Tim Smeeding.