Members 30 | Budget $448k (FY07) Location Washington, D.C. Founded 1978 Staff 4 | |
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Established 1978; 39 years ago (1978) Executive Director Stuart P. M. Mackintosh Headquarters Washington, D.C., United States Similar Trilateral Commission, Atlantik‑Brücke, Institute of International Finance, Council on Foreign Relations, Omidyar Network | ||
The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of leading financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sectors related to these issues. Topical areas within the interest of the group include: the foreign exchange market, international capital markets, international financial institutions, central banks and their supervision of financial services and markets, and macroeconomic issues such as product and labor markets.
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The group is noted for its advocacy of changes in global clearing and settlement.
History
The Group of Thirty was founded in 1978 by Geoffrey Bell at the initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation, which also provided initial funding for the body. Its first chairman was Johannes Witteveen, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund. The G30's current Chairman is Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Its current Chairman of the Board of Trustees is Jacob Frenkel, and Paul Volcker is Chairman Emeritus.
The Bellagio Group, formed by Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, was the immediate predecessor to the Group of Thirty. It first met in 1963, to investigate international currency problems, particularly the balance of payments crisis which America faced throughout the early 1960s.
In June 2011, the group released a report that examines the most recent developments in the 2008 financial crisis, including the causes, the responses and the future outlook for the United States and other markets.
Members
The group consists of thirty members and includes the heads of major private banks and central banks, as well as members from academia and international institutions. Current members of the group include current and former heads of the central banks of Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as two chairmen of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, two presidents of the European Central Bank, a chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, two chairmen of the Bank for International Settlements, two chief economists of the International Monetary Fund, a chief economist of the World Bank, and the former President of Mexico. It holds two full meetings each year and also organises seminars, symposia, and study groups. It is based in Washington, D.C.