Benn Steil

Geo-Graphics

A graphical take on geoeconomic issues, with links to the news and expert commentary.

Should the United States Be the Military Lender of Last Resort?

by Benn Steil and Dinah Walker Wednesday, January 30, 2013
mali

In 2011, then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned that “there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. . . . to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.” France in Mali is now a case in point; the Obama administration is providing only grudging assistance to an under-resourced French intervention.  As the small upper right figure in today’s Geo-Graphic shows, France has very little of the vehicular equipment necessary to prosecute the Mali operation—less than 5% of what the U.S. has in stock. Read more »

A GDP-Based IMF Would Boost China’s Voice . . . and America’s

by Benn Steil and Dinah Walker Tuesday, January 22, 2013
reallocation

Since its creation after the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, membership of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has grown from 29 countries to 188.  Representation, in terms of votes and quotas, has also become less connected with the relative weights of each country in the global economy.  As today’s Geo-Graphic shows, China would be by far the biggest beneficiary of an IMF voting reallocation based purely on gross domestic product, gaining eight percentage points.  What is much less well known, however, is that the United States would be the second biggest beneficiary, well above third-place Japan and fourth-place Brazil.  As the United States already has enough votes to wield unique veto power, this would have little practical effect on its already enormous influence.  But it does explain why the United States has been consistently more aligned with the so-called BRIC developing nations on IMF reform than with its fellow rich nations in Europe. Read more »

Should the Fed Follow the Bank of England and Subsidize Bank Lending?

by Benn Steil and Dinah Walker Monday, January 7, 2013
us and uk lending capitalization corrected

Last week’s Bank of England (BoE) poll of UK lenders turned up some good news: credit “availability” for both households and companies is on the rise – as we document in the upper right figure of today’s Geo-Graphic.  The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street was quick to take credit for the credit: “Lenders noted,” crowed the BoE, “that the Funding for Lending Scheme,” through which the BoE and UK Treasury have since August provided banks with cheap funds to boost their lending, “had been an important factor behind this increase.” Read more »