In central banks, finance ministries and international institutions, we are collectively seeking new and better policy responses. Taking inspiration from Burke, I will draw on my experience as a policy-maker over the past three decades to tease out some lessons from history about the required policy framework. After all, history offers our only empirical guide.
A large part of my professional career has involved dealing with episodes of financial disruption. As President of the Paris Club in the mid-1980s, I was closely involved in the resolution of the sovereign debt crisis that had struck a large number of countries in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. More than 50 countries defaulted.