Stephany Griffith-Jones (born Stepanka Novy Kafka; June 5, 1947) is an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

specialising in

international finance International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of financial economics broadly concerned with monetary and macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. Inter ...

and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

, with emphasis on reform of the international financial system, specifically in relation to

financial regulation Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system. This may be handled ...

global governance Global governance refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly entails making, monitoring, and enfor ...

and international capital flows. She is currently member of the Governor Board at the Central Bank of Chile. She has been financial markets director at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue,Initiative for Policy Dialogue website
/ref> based at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and associate fellow at the

Overseas Development Institute ODI (formerly the 'Overseas Development Institute') is a global affairs think tank, founded in 1960. Its mission is "to inspire people to act on injustice and inequality through collaborative research and ideas that matter for people and the p ...

. Previously she was professorial fellow at the

Institute of Development Studies The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a think tank affiliated with the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, and based on its campus in Falmer, East Sussex. It delivers research and teaching in the area of development studies, an ...

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

. She has held the position of deputy director of International Finance at the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

and has worked at the

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Econ ...

and in the

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, known as ECLAC, UNECLAC or in Spanish and Portuguese CEPAL, is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooperation. ECLAC includes 46 member States (2 ...

. She started her career in 1970 at the Central Bank of Chile. Before joining the

, she worked at

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

Bank International in the UK. She has acted as senior consultant to governments in Eastern Europe and Latin America and to many international agencies, including the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

and

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

. She was also a member of the Warwick Commission on international financial reform. She has published over 20 books and written many scholarly and journalistic articles. Her latest book, edited jointly with

José Antonio Ocampo José Antonio Ocampo Gaviria (born 20 December 1952) is a Colombian writer, economist and academic who was the professor of professional practice in international and public affairs and director of the Economic and Political Development Concentra ...

and

Joseph Stiglitz Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, and a full professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the Joh ...

, ''Time for the Visible Hand, Lessons from the 2008 crisis'', was published in 2010. Griffith-Jones was born in Prague and moved to Chile when she was one year old. She attended primary and secondary school in Chile and graduated from the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. She is the niece of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

. She adopted her current surname after marrying British mathematician Robert Griffith-Jones. She has been economic advisor of Chilean president

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean left-wing politician who is the 37th and current president of Chile, serving since 11 March 2022. Boric studied in the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile, and was the president o ...

Contributions to economic analysis and policy

Griffith-Jones has contributed to research and policy suggestions on how to make the domestic and international financial system more stable so it can better serve the needs of inclusive economic development and the

real economy The real economy concerns the production, purchase and flow of goods and services (like oil, bread and labour) within an economy. It is contrasted with the financial economy, which concerns the aspects of the economy that deal purely in transac ...

. One of her first articles, ''The Growth of Multinational Banking, the Euro-currency market and their effects on developing countries'' in the Journal of Development Studies, published in 1980, warned of the risk of excessive international

bank lending In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

developing economies A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...

. Her 1986 book with Osvaldo Sunkel, ''Debt and Development Crises in Latin America: The End of An Illusion'', showed the negative effects of the 1980s

Latin American debt crisis The Latin American debt crisis ( es, Crisis de la deuda latinoamericana; pt, Crise da dívida latino-americana) was a financial crisis that originated in the early 1980s (and for some countries starting in the 1970s), often known as ''La Décad ...

on the region's economic development. She was an early advocate of

debt relief Debt relief or debt cancellation is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particu ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and

Sub-saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. Writing with

Ricardo Ffrench-Davis Ricardo Ffrench-Davis (born 27 June 1936) is a Chilean economist. He is Professor of the Department of Economics and the Instituto de Estudios Internacionales at the University of Chile. Along with a few other Chilean students, Ffrench-Davis got ...

in the 1990s she contributed to the debate on how

could curb and manage volatile

capital flows In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. At the macroeconomic level, "the nation's capital stock includes buildings, eq ...

. She again warned of the risks of costly

financial crises A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

if sufficient measures such as

capital controls Capital controls are residency-based measures such as transaction taxes, other limits, or outright prohibitions that a nation's government can use to regulate flows from capital markets into and out of the country's capital account. These measure ...

were not implemented. After several financial crises, mainly in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

, she started in the mid-1990s to advocate capital flow regulations in capital source countries as a way to curb excessive and volatile

. She believed this would reduce the risk of major reversals of capital flows and the

that result from them. This is further discussed in her 1998 book ''Global Capital Flows, should they be regulated?'' In the discussion on reform of the international financial architecture she contributed to the analysis of crisis prevention, especially through financial regulation and more effective financial crisis management. For example, she advocated

special drawing rights Special drawing rights (SDRs, code ) are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are units of account for the IMF, and not a currency ''per se''. They represent a claim ...

issues by the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

(IMF) as a means to provide official

liquidity Liquidity is a concept in economics involving the convertibility of assets and obligations. It can include: * Market liquidity, the ease with which an asset can be sold * Accounting liquidity, the ability to meet cash obligations when due * Liqui ...

when private capital flows fall sharply. She also advocated expanded and less conditional IMF lending so countries do not have to unnecessarily adjust their economies, especially in the face of financial crises or other external shocks. Writing with

since the late 1990s they expanded the concept of

counter-cyclical Procyclical and countercyclical variables are variables that fluctuate in a way that is positively or negatively correlated with business cycle fluctuations in gross domestic product (GDP). The scope of the concept may differ between the context ...

reform of the international financial system to help stabilise capital flows and domestic private lending. The aim was to avoid frequent costly crises, facilitate macro-economic management and to achieve stable and inclusive economic growth in developing countries. She has worked on practical policy applications of these ideas. She has advocated reform of compensatory financing at the IMF in the face of external shocks to make it larger, speedier and with less

conditionality In political economy and international relations, conditionality is the use of conditions attached to the provision of benefits such as a loan, debt relief or bilateral aid. These conditions are typically imposed by international financial institu ...

. Similarly she was an early supporter of expanding development banks - nationally, regionally and multilaterally - and their role in

lending. She has also advocated the issue of GDP-linked bonds as a

mechanism to reduce the risk of

."A bond that insures against instability"
with

Robert J. Shiller Robert James Shiller (born March 29, 1946) is an American economist, academic, and author. As of 2019, he serves as a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University and is a fellow at the Yale School of Management's International Center for ...

, The Financial Times, July 10, 2006 She has long supported the idea of counter-cyclical regulation. These and other practical measures are aimed at reforming the

financial system A financial system is a system that allows the exchange of funds between financial market participants such as lenders, investors, and borrowers. Financial systems operate at national and global levels. Financial institutions consist of complex, c ...

so that it supports stable inclusive economic growth without costly

Publications

; Selected books: * 2010, ''Time for a Visible Hand: Lessons from the 2008 World Financial Crisis'', edited with

and

, Oxford University Press, 2010 * 2007, ''International Finance and Development'', with

and

Jan Kregel Jan A. Kregel (born 19 April 1944) is an American post-Keynesian economist. Kregel has served since 2006 as Professor of Finance and Development at Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia. He is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins SA ...

, Orient Longman, 2007 * 2003, ''From Capital Surges to Drought, Seeking Stability for Emerging Economies'', edited with Ricardo Ffrench-Davis, Palgrave, 2003 * 2003, ''International Capital Flows in Calm and Turbulent Times, The Need for New International Architecture'', edited with Ricardo Gottschalk and Jacques Cailloux, The University of Michigan Press, 2003 * 2001, ''Managing Capital Surges in Emerging Markets'', edited with Manuel Montes and Anwar Nasution, Oxford University Press, 2001 * 1999, ''Private Capital Flows to Africa'', with Louis Kasekende and Matthew Martin et al., FONDAD, 1999 * 1998, ''Global Capital Flows, should they be regulated?'' with preface by

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner

James Tobin James Tobin (March 5, 1918 – March 11, 2002) was an American economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and consulted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Harvard and Yale Universities. He devel ...

, Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press, 1998 * 1995, ''Coping With Capital Surges: The Return of Finance to Latin America'', edited with Ricardo Ffrench-Davis, Lynne Rienner, 1995 * 1994, ''Financial Sector Reform in Central and Eastern Europe'', edited with Z. Drabek, Macmillan, 1994 * 1992, ''Debt, Cross-Conditionality and Banking Regulations'', edited with Ennio Rodriguez, Macmillan, 1992 * 1986, ''Debt and Development Crises in Latin America: The End of An Illusion'', with Osvaldo Sunkel, Oxford University Press, 1986 ; Selected book chapters * * 2010, “Agenda and Criteria for Financial regulatory Reform” with Jane D’Arista in Griffith-Jones, Ocampo and Stiglitz (eds.), ''Time for a Visible Hand: Lessons from the 2008 World Financial Crisis, Oxford University Press * 2008, "The Pro-cyclical Impact of Basle II on Emerging Markets and its Political Economy" with Avinash Persaud, in Stiglitz and Ocampo (eds.), ''Capital market liberalization and Development'', Oxford University Press * 2005, “Should capital controls have a place in the future international monetary system?” with Ricardo Gottschalk and John Williamson, in Marc Uzan (ed), ''The future of the International Monetary System'', Elgar * 1991, "International financial markets: a case of market failure" in

Christopher Colclough Christopher Louis Colclough (10 July 1946 – 28 June 2017) was a British development economist and academic, who specialised in education in developing countries. Colclough was director, Centre for Education and International Development, and ...

and James Manor (eds.), ''States or Markets? Neo-liberalism and the Development Policy Debate'', Oxford University Press ; Selected articles in journals * 2003, “How to Prevent the New Basel Capital Accord Harming Developing Countries”, Presented at ''IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings September 2003'' * 2003, "Basel II and Developing Countries: Diversification and Portfolio Effects" with Miguel Segoviano and Stephen Spratt, ''ECLAC Review'' * 2000, "Proposals for a Better International Financial System", ''World Economics'', vol. 2, April – June. * 1992, "Conversion of official bilateral debt: opportunities and issues", ''Proceedings of World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics'' * 1991, "Creditor countries' banking and fiscal regulations: can changes encourage debt relief?", ''Journal of Development Studies'', 27 (3): April * 1985, "Ways forward from the debt crisis", ''Oxford Review of Economic Policy'', 2 (1), Winter. ; Selected articles in popular press: * 2012
Osborne will score a financial own-goal tomorrow
New Statesman, Dec 2012 * 2012
Stimulating Europe
The FT, June 2012 * 2012
Historic moment for the IMF
The FT, May 2012 * 2012
Why critics are wrong about a financial-transaction tax
with

Avinash Persaud Avinash D. Persaud born 22 June 1966 in Barbados, West Indies) is Emeritus Professor of Gresham College in the UK. He was Chairman of Intelligence Capital Ltd., a company specializing in analyzing, managing and creating financial liquidity in in ...

, European Voice, March 2012 * 2012
Transforming the financial sector from a bad master to a good servant
Left Foot Forward, February 2012 * 2010
"The Movers and the Makers"
The Broker * 2010
"The reform of financial markets"
El Pais (Spanish), June 2010 * 2009
"Now let's tax transactions"
The Guardian * 2006

with

, Financial Times, July 2006 * 2003
"Encouraging Capital Flows in times of drought"
The Banker, July 2003 * 2003

Financial Times, May 2003 * 2001

The Guardian, November 2001 ; Video and online sources * 2012, , Al Jazeera, July 2012 * 2012

Bloomberg, July 2012 * 2012
Insider Trading on a Massive Scale
The Real News Network, July 2012

References

External links

Homepage of Stephany Griffith-Jones

Institute for Policy Dialogue bio

Stephany Griffith-Jones discusses UNCTADs Least Developed Countries Report 2010
– recording on YouTube of the event held in November 2010
Financial Transaction Tax would have a positive impact on growth and jobs – European Parliament
– recording on YouTube, February 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith-Jones, Stephany 1947 births Living people American development economists Financial economists New Keynesian economists Alumni of the University of Cambridge University of Chile alumni Academics of the University of Sussex 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers 20th-century American economists 21st-century American economists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Columbia University faculty American women academics

Contributions to economic analysis and policy

Publications

See also

References

External links