When discussing Laos’ upcoming ASEAN membership with a senior government official in 1995, he insisted the reason his country wanted to join the regional organisation was because Vietnam had just done so. The response revealed two things. First, Laos, like its neighbouring ASEAN aspirants at the time — Cambodia and Myanmar — did not want to be left behind, and wanted out of the economic wilderness by joining ‘the club’. Second, there was very little appreciation of what membership would entail, let alone what it could evolve into.

European debt crises and the expansion of international financial arrangements during the global financial crisis have dramatically elevated the importance of cooperation between regional institutions and the International Monetary Fund. While the case for coordination between regional and multilateral institutions is generally accepted, the need to organize it on an ex ante basis is not fully appreciated. The relatively successful cooperation among the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF on recent financial rescues is not likely to be easily replicated in joint programs for countries in other regions, and the costs of coordination failure could be very large...