Economic and Financial Linkages in the Western Hemisphere

November 26, 2007

Seminar organized by the Western Hemisphere Department International Monetary Fund
November 26, 2007

Is Latin America now less vulnerable to outside shocks than it was a decade or more ago, or is the region still tied to the coattails of the United States? This was the question facing participants at a November 27, 2007 conference on "Economic and Financial Linkages in the Western Hemisphere."

The one-day conference, organized by the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department, focused on the changing nature of economic and financial linkages in the Americas, and policies needed to reduce the vulnerability of Latin American countries to changes in the external environment. The conference was held against the backdrop of the continuing turmoil in world credit markets, and featured presentations of IMF and external analytical research as well as a high-level panel discussion with well-know experts on Latin America.

Disclaimer
The views expressed in these papers are those of the authors only, and the presence of them, or of links to them, on the IMF website does not imply that the IMF, its Executive Board, or its management endorses or shares the views expressed in the papers.

PROGRAM

Monday, November 26, 2007
I. Business Cycle and Trade Linkages
Chair: Martin Mühleisen, Division Chief, IMF (Western Hemisphere Department)
The Impact of External Shocks on Latin America
Presenters: Pär Österholm and Jeromin Zettelmeyer
Booms and Busts in Latin America: The Role of External Factors
Presenters: Alejandro Izquierdo, Randall Romero, and Ernesto Talvi [Presentation]
Discussant: Eduardo Borensztein, IMF (Research Department)
II. Regional Impact: Central America and the Caribbean
Chair: Ranjit Teja, Deputy Director, IMF (Western Hemisphere Department)
Common Cycles and Trends in Central America
Presenter: Shaun K. Roache [Presentation]
Discussant: David Gould (World Bank)
Tourism Growth in the Caribbean
Presenters: Padamja Khandelwal, Natalia Barrera, and Cleary Haines [Presentation]
Discussants: Prachi Mishra, IMF (Research Department) [Presentation]
III. Spillovers in Emerging Capital Markets
Session chair: Caroline Atkinson, Deputy Director, IMF (Western Hemisphere Department)
Financial Flows from the United States to Latin America: Basic Patterns, Causes, and Implications
Presenters: Ravi Balakrishnan and Fernando Gonçalves [Presentation]
Discussant: Carmen Reinhart (University of Maryland)
Using Contingent Claims Analysis for Analyzing Risk in the Chilean Banking System
Presenters: Dale Gray, James P. Walsh [Presentation]
Discussant: Laura Kodres, IMF (Monetary and Capital Markets Department) [Presentation]
IV. Real-Financial Linkages in North America
Session chair: Markus Rodlauer, Deputy Director, IMF (Western Hemisphere Department)
Spillovers across NAFTA
Presenters: Andrew Swiston and Tamim Bayoum [Presentation]
Discussant: Ayhan Kose, IMF (Research Department)[Presentation]
Real Implications of Financial Linkages Between Canada and the United States
Presenter: Vladimir Klyuev [Presentation]
Discussant: René Lalonde (Bank of Canada) [Presentation]
Panel Discussion (View the webcast)
"Has the Game Changed? Global Linkages and Economic Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean"
Participants: Augusto de la Torre, Chief Economist, LAC, World Bank Claudio M. Loser, Senior Fellow, Inter-American Dialogue Michael Mussa, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Moderator: David J. Robinson, Deputy Director, IMF (Western Hemisphere Department)