Wharton conference looks at Asian crisis

The first-ever Wharton Global Forum Friday addressed the role of international groups. On Friday the 13th, a day infamous for bad luck, Asia's current economic crisis seemed an appropriate topic for the Wharton Global Forum's first-ever conference. The conference featured a series of speakers focusing on the global ramifications of the current Asian economic crisis. The eight speakers also participated in three panel discussions spread throughout the day. Second-year Wharton graduate student Erik Lindquist co-founded the forum last summer. The purpose of the conference, he noted, was for the nearly 200 attendees to "understand that [Asia's economic crisis] really is a global issue? and it will have a global impact." Mark Sobel, the director of the Asia Department in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, agreed with Lindquist on the seriousness of the issue and its impact on the United States. "There can be no doubt that the Asian crisis plays a critical role in the policy of the United States," he said during his speech. Sobel went on to describe the "two-pronged path of U.S. policy" toward Asia. The American government has responded to the crisis by focusing on Asia's needs as a whole, as well as by stressing country-specific solutions. One of the pervasive themes among panelists and speakers at the conference was the role that the International Monetary Fund should play in ending the crisis. The United Nations-led IMF generally assists countries that are experiencing economic turmoil by providing funds and resources. Congress is currently engaged in a divisive battle over whether to approve an $18 billion loan to the IMF to help bail out many Asian economies. Sobel favored IMF involvement because he believed the United States would be harmed by what he believed would be an inevitable drop in the number of American exports to Asia. Wharton Finance Professor Jeremy Siegel, who gave the event's concluding remarks and moderated all three panel discussions, disagreed. "I believe these countries are best off getting through these crises themselves," Siegel said. "It will lead to better reforms." A second speaker, Yukio Yoshimura, the IMF's executive director for Japan, suggested some alternate solutions to Asia's problems. He proposed creating a single Asian currency modeled after the European Union's "euro," which is scheduled to replace all of Europe's national currencies next year. Yoshimura also encouraged regional cooperation among Asia's countries and warned against the dangers of regional isolationism. Other speakers at the conference included Lewis Alexander, an associate director for the Division of International Finance at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank, and David Folkerts-Landau, global head of emerging markets fixed income at Deutsche Morgan Grenfall in London. Brian Gendreau, an emerging market strategist with Salomon Smith Barney, David Malpass, chief international economist at Bear Stearns and Stephen Meyer, vice president and associate director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia also spoke at the event. The other founder of the Wharton Global Forum, second-year Wharton graduate student Bradley Lindenbaum, praised the conference for helping attendees to "realize how complex the topic is." Lindenbaum admitted that although the conference had a successful debut, improvements could still be made. He mentioned, for example, that he "would have liked to have more interaction and more debate," between the panelists. The forum's primary goal is to make students more aware of global economic issues. This is particularly relevant to Wharton students, Lindquist noted, because many of their professions will require them to go "global.? [They] really need to understand the monetary policy and fiscal policy of these countries."