AUDIO

To what extent has America's global leadership been based on its economic leadership? What does the recent economic turmoil portend for international economic institutions and for America's role? What will replace the failed post-World War II Bretton Woods system and institutions? In his recent paper, "The End of the 'American Century,'" Carnegie Mellon University professor of political economy and public policy and AEI visiting scholar Allan H. Meltzer argues that major changes are needed in global institutions and that the period of U.S. leadership may be coming to an end. As U.S. problems mount, it will become more difficult to reach domestic or international consensus on how to maintain economic growth. Meltzer will present his paper, and AEI's Claude Barfield, Center for Global Development senior fellow Kimberly Ann Elliott, and Anne Krueger of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University will comment. AEI resident scholar Philip I. Levy will moderate.