Maintaining Financial Stability in a Global Economy: A Summary of the Bank's 1997 Symposium

World financial markets have experienced tremendous growth in recent years. New financial instruments have emerged, transaction volumes in markets has skyrocketed, and capital flows across countries have risen dramatically. While these developments have made financial markets more efficient, they have also increased the risk that events at one institution or in one market will have immediate and wide-ranging effects on the entire global financial system.> To better understand how policymakers can keep financial systems safe, efficient, and stable, and how policymakers can respond to financial crises when they occur, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City sponsored a symposium entitled ?Maintaining Financial Stability in a Global Economy.? The symposium, held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on August 28-30, 1997, brought together a distinguished group of central bankers, academics, and financial market representatives from around the world.> Morris and Parrish summarize the papers and commentaries presented at the symposium. The participants generally agreed that, to maintain financial stability, regulation of financial institutions is important and that financial regulators should focus on making regulation more consistent with market forces. In addition, financial stability requires a sound macroeconomic environment, particularly price stability and, for most countries, an exchange rate regime that does not attempt to permanently fix exchange rates. Finally, participants agreed that both domestic and international safety nets should be used cautiously in financial crises to avoid the destabilizing effects of moral hazard.