The present volume contains the texts of the papers and criti- cal
commentary presented at the one-day conference "Financing the world
economy in the nineties" at Tilburg University (23 March 1988). This
conference was organized by the Post-graduate School of Banking and
Finance of "The Tilburg Institute of Advanced Studies" (T .I.A.S.) which
is closely associated to Tilburg University. It should be borne in mind
that all the chapters were written before March 1988. Although some were
revised later, none of the authors has been asked to include develop-
ments which have occurred since. To achieve a better understanding of
the current financial imbalances in the world economy and its
consequences and to discuss the alternatives to correct these
imbalances, this conference brought to- gether outstanding authorities
from the academic world, from the inter- national supervisors, and from
the industrial companies and the banks. After the editor's introduction
about the external disequilib- ria in the world economy and the burden
of economic adjustment, Chapter 1 is the text of the opening address by
Dr. Witteveen. He calls atten- tion to the central issue, which
financing needs that we can see now may persist into the nineties and
how can they be met? In this context he mentions the U.S.-current
account deficit, the need for stable exchange rates and the
international debt problem.