Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 | 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Location: HQ1 Atrium HQ1-1-700
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OVERVIEW
Sweeping policy shifts and persistent uncertainty are reshaping the global economic landscape. While tariff agreements have lowered effective rates from their April 2025 highs, policy uncertainty remains high. Economies, institutions, and markets are adjusting to this shifting landscape, while addressing the already complex challenges posed by weak medium-term growth prospects, high debt and dwindling fiscal space, and ongoing structural transformations. Join us for the IMF’s signature Debate on the Global Economy for a timely exchange on the global economic outlook, how countries’ economic resilience is evolving, and how policymakers should recalibrate macroeconomic policies to withstand future shocks and rekindle growth.
SPEAKERS
Kristalina Georgieva
Managing Director, IMF
Kristalina Georgieva is the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the IMF since its inception in 1944. Before joining the Fund, Ms. Georgieva was Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank and also served as Interim President for a time. Previously, she served at the European Commission as Vice President for Budget and Human Resources – and as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. She was named “European of the Year” and “Commissioner of the Year” by European Voice for her leadership in the European Union’s humanitarian response to crises.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam
President of the Republic of Singapore
Tharman Shanmugaratnam was elected as Singapore’s President in September 2023. He had served as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister for several years, and as Education Minister earlier. He also served as Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the nation’s central bank and financial regulator.
Tharman led the IMF’s International Monetary and Financial Committee from 2011-2014. He currently co-chairs the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs established by the World Bank Group, and chairs the board of the Group of Thirty.
He also chaired the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance in 2017-2018, and co-chaired the G20 High-Level Panel on financing pandemic preparedness and response in 2021. He recently co-chaired the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, which released its report in October 2024.
Christine Lagarde
President, ECB and, in this function, also Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board since November 2019.
Between 2011 and 2019 Christine Lagarde served as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Prior to that she served as French Minister of Economy and Finance from 2007 to 2011, having been Trade Secretary from 2005 to 2007. A lawyer by background, she practiced for 20 years with international law firm Baker McKenzie, of which she became Global Chair in 1999. She was the first woman to hold each of these positions.
In 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 President Lagarde was ranked the second most influential woman in the world by Forbes. She has also been recognized by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She was named Officer in the French Order of the Legion of Honor in April 2012 and Commander in the National Order of Merit in May 2021.
Gordon Hanson
Professor Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Gordon Hanson is the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy, co-director of the Reimagining the Economy Project, and Academic Dean for Strategy and Engagement at Harvard Kennedy School. He is best known for his research on the labor market consequences of globalization, including pioneering work on the China trade shock. Hanson’s current work addresses the causes and consequences of regionalized job loss and the effectiveness of place-based and industrial policies in alleviating regional economic distress. Hanson received his PhD in economics from MIT in 1992 and his BA in economics from Occidental College in 1986. Prior to joining Harvard in 2020, he spent two decades at UC San Diego.
Adena Friedman
Chair and CEO, Nasdaq
Adena Friedman has been the CEO of Nasdaq since January 1, 2017 and appointed Chair of the Board of Directors on January 11, 2023. She is credited with significantly shaping Nasdaq’s transformation into a leading global exchange and technology company. Adena held several previous senior leadership roles at Nasdaq, including President and COO, responsible for the operations of the company’s business segments with a focus on driving efficiency, product development, growth and expansion. She was instrumental in Nasdaq’s acquisitions of INET, OMX, and the Philadelphia and Boston Exchanges. She served as CFO and Managing Director of the Carlyle Group from March 2011 to June 2014, where she played a key role in taking the company public in May 2012. Since December 2018, she has served as a Class B director to the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. In January 2024, she was elected to the Business Roundtable (BRT) Board of Directors and currently serves as the Chair of the BRTs Technology Committee.
MODERATOR
Lisa Abramowicz
Bloomberg
Lisa Abramowicz co-hosts “Bloomberg Surveillance” from 6 to 9 a.m. on Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio. She previously co-hosted “Bloomberg Markets” from 10 a.m. to noon EST on Bloomberg Radio and was a member of Bloomberg Television’s on-air markets desk. She also served as a columnist and reporter at Bloomberg focusing on fixed-income markets. Abramowicz graduated from the University of Chicago.
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