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 global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Formed in 1944, started on December 27, 1945, at the Bretton Woods Conference, primarily by the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, it came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international monetary system. It now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system, from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR 477 billion. The IMF is regarded as the global lender of last resort.
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters pertaining to economic and fiscal policy. The secretary is, by custom, a member of the president's cabinet and, by law, a member of the National Security Council.
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint. These two agencies are responsible for printing all paper currency and minting coins, while the treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system. The USDT collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service; manages U.S. government debt instruments; licenses and supervises banks and thrift institutions; and advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of fiscal policy. The department is administered by the secretary of the treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet. The treasurer of the United States has limited statutory duties, but advises the Secretary on various matters such as coinage and currency production. Signatures of both officials appear on all Federal Reserve notes.
The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. It is consistently ranked the top graduate school for international relations in the world.
C. Fred Bergsten is an American economist, author, think tank entrepreneur, and policy adviser. He has served as assistant for international economic affairs to Henry Kissinger within the National Security Council and as assistant secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He was the founding director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, until 2006 the Institute for International Economics, which he established in 1981 and led through 2012. In addition to his academic work, he has been an influential public commentator and advisor to the American and global economic policy community, writing for influential periodicals such as Foreign Affairs magazine and by writing numerous books.
Executive Schedule is the system of salaries given to the highest-ranked appointed officials in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The president of the United States appoints individuals to these positions, most with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. They include members of the president's Cabinet, several top-ranking officials of each executive department, the directors of some of the more prominent departmental and independent agencies, and several members of the Executive Office of the President.
Mauricio Claver-Carone is an American lawyer, former Treasury Department and National Security Council official, and lobbyist, who was the president of the Inter-American Development Bank from October 2020 until 26 of September 2022.
David Harold McCormick is an American politician and businessman. McCormick served as the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, from 2020 to 2022.
Meg Lundsager has been since 2007 the executive director for the United States portion of the International Monetary Fund. The US votes in this forum are listed on a Treasury webpage, and are especially useful because the votes are linked with the press releases of the IMF announcements.
The U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) was a high-level dialogue for the United States and China to discuss a wide range of regional and global strategic and economic issues between both countries. The establishment of the S&ED was announced on April 1, 2009, by U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The upgraded mechanism replaced the former Senior Dialogue and Strategic Economic Dialogue started under the George W. Bush administration. The format is such that high-level representatives of both countries and their delegations will meet annually at capitals alternating between the two countries.
Richard T. McCormack is an American government official and diplomat. He has served nearly five decades advising policymakers on foreign affairs and global economic developments. He is currently a senior advisor for CSIS in Washington, D.C.
The Summer Palace Dialogue (SPD) is an economic forum which brings together economists from both China and the United States to discuss economic cooperation between the two largest economies in the world. SPD is co-hosted by Chinese Economists 50 Forum and the Columbia Global Centers East Asia, and was formerly co-hosted by the Brookings Institution. It was founded in 2009 by former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and current Chairman of AEA Investors Admiral Bill Owens and Vice Minister Liu He of the Chinese Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs. The forum extends for two days. Participants spend the first day in private discussions and then convene a half-day public session to summarize their observations, analyses, and conclusions with the press and a broader audience. The Summer Palace Dialogue is scheduled annually in mid-September in Beijing, right before the Summer World Economic Forum in Dalian. The third annual Summer Palace Dialogue was held on September 12–13, 2011.
Charles H. Dallara is an American banker and the former managing director of the Institute of International Finance.
Phillip Lee "Phill" Swagel is an American economist who is currently the director of the Congressional Budget Office. As Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy from 2006 to 2009, he played an important role in the Troubled Asset Relief Program that was part of the U.S. government's response to the financial crisis of 2007–08. He was recently a Professor in International Economics at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, a non-resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, senior fellow at the Milken Institute, and co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative.
The Deputy Under Secretary / Designated Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Finance is a senior position within the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for advising the Secretary of the Treasury on matters of international finance and economic coordination, and overseeing U.S. participation in international financial institutions. The Assistant Secretary is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The office is currently held by Brent Neiman.
Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto is an American economist and government official who served as first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Okamoto previously served as the acting assistant secretary for international finance and development in the United States Department of the Treasury. He was nominated for this position on January 1, 2019, by the White House and was never confirmed by the United States Congress. He previously served as acting assistant secretary for international markets and investment, for which he was also not confirmed.
Jay C. Shambaugh is an American academic and economist who has served as under secretary of the treasury for international affairs since January 2023.
