The Trilateral Commission (© 1973)
Motoo Kaji, Richard N. Cooper and Claudio Segré
ISBN: 0-930503-61-9
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Summary of the Report
I. Introduction: Definition of the Problem and the Present State of Discussions
II. Differences in National Policies and Perspectives
III. The Basic Elements of a Renovated System
IV. Risks Inherent in the Present Situation
V. Interim Priorities and Transitional Measures
Text of Summary of the Report
Monetary anarchy must not be allowed to undermine the confidence in prosperity built up over two decades, nor to produce a new period of restrictions and mutual hostility from entrenched national positions.
Accordingly, it is the view of the rapporteurs that governments should proceed with dispatch to renovate the international monetary system.
The longer range reforms should include:
1) Improvement of the balance of payments adjustment process, with provision for smaller and prompter changes in exchange rates;
2) Confirmation of the central role as primary reserves of an international fiduciary issue, renamed bancor, to satisfy world liquidity needs and gradually to supplant other forms of reserve assets;
3) Creation of a new facility, to be lodged in the IMF, for emergency short-term lending to counter speculation and other disruptive capital movements;
4) Consolidation of foreign exchange reserves, initially on an optional basis, into a new account at the IMF;
5) Establishment of new and effective consultative machinery, within the IMF, to oversee the functioning of the renovated international monetary system and to encourage the coordination and consistency of domestic economic policies.
The rapporteurs also believe that governments should take a number of interim steps to help restore order and stability to the international monetary system. They should:
1) Commit themselves to coordinated intervention in exchange markets if necessary to prevent erratic movements in exchange rates;
2) Enlarge and multilateralize short-term lending facilities to offset large speculative movements of funds;
3) Consolidate, on a basis that can later be taken over by the International Monetary Fund, the excessive official holdings of dollars and other foreign exchange;
4) Indicate their willingness both to support the Eurodollar market and to subject it to close surveillance;
5) Sell gold, on a cooperative and coordinated basis, into private markets,
with gains to be transferred to international financial institutions for
development assistance.
Rapporteurs
(titles at time of publication)
Motoo Kaji, Professor, Tokyo University.
Richard N. Cooper, Provost, Yale University.
Claudio Segré, Banker, Paris.
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