Working Together: Elite Global Financiers and Senior Government Officials

Elite global financiers and senior government officials engage in economic diplomacy as they work together to achieve their goals. However, their co-dependent relationship is a source of tension because their goals do not always align. The thesis is that elite financiers and senior government officials mitigate these inherent tensions in their economic diplomacy relationships through building moderate to strong ties with each other. The empirical evidence to examine this thesis comes from interviews with 10 elite financiers in leading global financial centres. Their responsibilities require they interface with senior government officials. The results demonstrate that moderate to strong ties developed in face-to-face meetings between financiers and senior officials comprise crucial mechanisms to manage the tensions in their economic diplomacy