home > the cfr think tank > experts > brad w. setser
Fellow for Geoeconomics
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9639
E-mail: bsetser@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 1.2 MB)
One-page bio (PDF, 36K)
Applied international economist with experience at the U.S. Treasury and the International Monetary Fund. Currently examining central bank reserve growth, sovereign wealth funds, and the political implications of emerging market financing of the United States. Author of the recent Council Special Report, Sovereign Wealth and Sovereign Power.
Expertise:Central bank reserves and sovereign wealth funds, IMF policy, emerging market economies.
Experience:Senior economist, RGEMonitor (2004 - 2007); International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (2003); visiting scholar, International Monetary Fund (2002, 2004); U.S. Treasury, International Affairs (1997 - 2001), last serving as the acting director of the office for international monetary and financial policy.
Languages:French (fluent).
Selected Publications:The Political Economy of the Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (as part of the project on Debt Restructuring and Sovereign Bankruptcy, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University; January 2008); Oil and Global Adjustment (Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics, March 2007); The Chinese Conundrum: External Financial Strength, Domestic Financial Weakness (CESifo Economic Studies, May 2006); The Future of the IMF: A Reform Agenda (with Nouriel Roubini, World Economic Forum, October 2005); Debt-Related Vulnerabilities and Financial Crises (with Nystedt et al, IMF Occasional Paper 240, October 2005); How Scary is the Deficit? Our Money, Our Debt, Our Problem (with Nouriel Roubini, Foreign Affairs, July/August 2005); Bailouts or Bail-ins? Responding to Financial The U.S. as a Net Debtor: The Sustainability of U.S. External Imbalances(with Nouriel Roubini, Peterson Institute, September 2004); Domestic and External Debt: The Doomed Quest for Equal Treatment (with Anna Gelpern, Georgetown Journal of International Law, Summer 2004); A Balance Sheet Approach to Financial Crises (with Allen et al, IMF Working Paper 02/210, December 2002); The Bottom Line (with Keller et al, Finance and Development, 39:4, December 2002).
Related Links:
Brad Setser: "Follow the Money" (blog)
Current Research Project
November 14, 2008
Expert Brief
The Gulf and the financial crisis.
See more in Middle East, International Finance, Energy
November 14, 2008
Video
Experts from the Council on Foreign Relations, The Economist, and New York University Stern School of Business discuss the status of global finance and how the incoming Obama administration should handle the dire economic situation.
See more in United States, Financial Crises, International Finance
November 12, 2008
Audio
Listen to CFR experts Sebastian Mallaby, Benn Steil, and Brad Setser discuss the G20 international financial summit-dubbed Bretton Woods II-taking place in Washington, DC on November 15.
November 12, 2008
Transcript
A discussion on the current economic crisis.
See more in Economics, Business & Foreign Policy, Financial Crises, International Finance
November 11, 2008
Audio
Experts from the Council on Foreign Relations, The Economist, and New York University Stern School of Business discuss the status of global finance and how the incoming Obama administration should handle the dire economic situation.
See more in Financial Crises, U.S. Election 2008
September 25, 2008
Transcript
A panel discussion on what caused the financial crisis and what should be done to solve it.
See more in United States, Financial Crises, International Finance
September 25, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the current financial crisis, the proposed government bailout, and options for moving forward.
See more in Financial Crises
September 25, 2008
Video
Watch experts discuss the current financial crisis, the proposed government bailout, and options for moving forward.
See more in Financial Crises
September 10, 2008
Testimony
Brad Setser argues that the best way to address concerns over sovereign wealth are policy shifts in the United States and abroad that would reduce surpluses abroad and U.S. deficits, and bring the U. .external deficit back to a level that could be more easily be financed by private demand for U.S. assets.
See more in Economics
September 9, 2008
News Release
See more in United States, Geoeconomics, International Finance
September 9, 2008
Audio
Listen to CFR Fellow Brad Setser discuss sovereign wealth funds in relation to the U.S. deficit.
See more in Business & Foreign Policy, Financial Crises, International Finance
September 9, 2008
Interview
Four CFR experts discuss the U.S. Treasury's takeover of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, what the move means for financial markets, and what risks remain.
See more in United States, Financial Crises, International Finance
September 9, 2008
Transcript
Brad Setser, fellow at the Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the strategic consequences of U.S. indebtedness.
See more in United States, Financial Crises, International Finance
September 2008
Council Special Report No. 37
Council Special Report
The rise in China’s trade surplus, the increase in oil prices, and a slowdown in demand for U.S. assets from private investors abroad has increased the United States’ reliance on foreign governments for financing.This report examines whether America’s ability to secure large quantities of external financing from foreign governments is a reflection of its political power, a constraint on its ability to exercise power, or a combination of the two.
See more in United States, Economics, Financial Crises
June 18, 2008
Podcast
CFR's Brad Setser explains factors leading to a tight recent correlation between rising oil prices and the falling dollar.
See more in Geoeconomics, International Finance
May 29, 2008
Op-Ed
Emerging Markets
China’s sovereign wealth fund looks more like a state agency for managing financial sector investments than a diversified global fund manager, says Brad Setser in a piece that first appeared in the May 2008 issue of Emerging Markets.
See more in China, Emerging Markets
February 16, 2008
Op-Ed
The Boston Globe
In this Boston Globe op-ed, Brad Sester argues that global policy makers should start to think seriously about the best way to exit from a system where a number of countries around the world, in very different economic circumstances than the United States, are importing the consequences of the weak dollar.
See more in United States, Geoeconomics, International Finance
February 7, 2008
Testimony
In this testimony, Brad Setser examines the forces that have propelled the growth of sovereign funds and the differences among sovereign funds. In particular, he looks at the issues raised by the increase in the non-reserve foreign assets of China’s government.
See more in China, International Finance, U.S. Strategy and Politics
January 18, 2008
Article
RGE Monitor
The China Investment Corporation’s $5 billion investment in Morgan Stanley, its $3 billion investment in Blackstone and the China Development Bank’s likely $2b investment in Citigroup have attracted an enormous amount of attention. In this paper for RGE Monitor, Brad Setser examines the unprecedented growth in China ’s foreign assets, the key institutions managing these assets, and the composition of China's aggregate external portfolio.
See more in China, Geoeconomics
December 2007
Article
RGE Monitor
With oil at $100, what do we know about how the big oil exporters are managing their petrodollars? In this paper for RGE Monitor, Brad Setser and Rachel Ziemba examine the different GCC funds and estimate that total Gulf investment abroad exceeded $2 trillion in 2007. One surprising conclusion that emerges from their analysis is that the Gulf as a whole has not diversified away from the dollar.
See more in Middle East, Gulf States, Economics
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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