Who has power in global finance? Who benefits from it? And why is global financial reform so hard?

The international financial system is changing. Geopolitical tensions are reshaping economic relations, global cooperation is becoming more difficult, and long-standing calls for reform are meeting a fragmented international landscape. But what does this mean for the future of global financial governance - and for the countries that have historically had the least influence over the system?

In the fourth episode of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series, hosts Anamaria Copilau and Heikki Patomäki are joined by Eric Helleiner and Annina Kaltenbrunner to explore the evolution, power structures, and possible future of the global financial order.

The conversation looks back at the ambitions of the New International Economic Order (NIEO) and asks why meaningful reform of international finance has proved so difficult. It examines the role of institutions such as the IMF, the distribution of international liquidity, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), central bank swap lines, and the ways in which financial power is exercised within the global system.

The discussion also explores the growing fragmentation of the international financial order. As global cooperation becomes more difficult, could regional and South-South initiatives provide new avenues for reform? And can change at the global level still be achieved - or does meaningful transformation have to start from the bottom up?

Among the questions discussed are:

🔹Why is change in global financial governance so slow and incremental?
🔹Who has power over the rules of the international financial system?
🔹Why do countries that need international liquidity most often have the least access to it?
🔹What do SDRs and central bank swap lines reveal about the hierarchy of global finance?
🔹Is geopolitical fragmentation undermining the possibility of global reform?
🔹Can regional cooperation create new spaces for financial autonomy?
🔹What can today's reformers learn from the unfinished agenda of the NIEO?

Guests:
• Annina Kaltenbrunner - Professor of Global Economics, Leeds University Business School
• Eric Helleiner - Professor in Political Science, University of Waterloo

📍Episode 4 of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series: Lessons from the New International Economic Order

📌 Learn more about the Vienna Global Forum: www.viennaglobalforum.org