Marc Schaberg's paper is an interesting and useful contribution to the prescriptive project to which this volume is devoted. Schaberg's paper addresses two critically important questions: (1) how precisely has globalization transformed the terrain on which monetary policy operates? and (2) how – in this changed environment – can progressive policy makers nevertheless be expected to influence economic outcomes?

Let me begin by reviewing the principal arguments and policies put forth in the chapter. Schaberg maintains that the globalization and liberalization of financial systems in the OECD has caused monetary authorities to rely on indirect as opposed to direct policy instruments. Globalization and liberalization have also brought about a near convergence in the structure of national financial systems, and it is this structural convergence that has given rise to a convergence in the tools utilized by monetary policy makers. Since, according to Schaberg, the instruments of financial control have been transformed by globalization and liberalization, progressives need to look for new means by which the financial system can be put in the service of a progressive policy agenda. Toward this end, Schaberg proposes that monetary authorities increase their control over the lending activities of banks and nonbank institutions; that a system of differential asset reserve requirements be put in place; and that a tax on financial transactions be imposed. I endorse these policies; the imposition of any or all of them would go some distance toward resolving the concerns that motivate Schaberg's paper.