The Managers of Information: International Organizations, Data, and Financial Stability

The chapter examines the Data Gaps Initiative (DGI), which was initiated by the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Board in 2009. The DGI is an attempt to improve the data that are available on private financial flows and other indicators of systemic stability. This type of data availability is important for efforts to anticipate prevent systemic crises, including the macroprudential regulatory project that Baker analyses. However, the DGI is shaped by its institutional roots in the IMF, which tends to assume that more information combined with incremental technical adjustments will allow markets to adjust smoothly. This institutional inheritance gives the DGI an incremental character, rather than producing a thorough rethinking of how to make use of the data, for instance with new analytical models and regulatory instruments. Accordingly, Clegg and Moschella conclude that despite some successes, the DGI is a “job half done”.