Talking about U.S. financial issues with economist C. Fred Bergsten Peter G. Peterson, chairman of the board and whose beneficence was recognized in 2006 when his name was affixed to the institute, puts it this way: "Fred was very good about defining policy issues, implementing them, selling them and reaching out and telling the world about them. Second, he attracted top talent. And third, he's very good at reaching deep into other people's pockets. The institute has successfully steered clear of partisan affiliation. As John Williamson, a British economist who specializes on exchange rates, points out, it "was with the Republicans on trade and with the Democrats on macro issues." Earlier this year, Bergsten handed over leadership to his former deputy Adam Posen, a Harvard-trained economist who is a generation younger and recently returned from three years on the Bank of England policy committee. Bergsten, who turns 72 on Tuesday, stays on as director emeritus and senior fellow. The author or editor of 41 books, he has plans for three more, on U.S. relations with China and India. A basketball fanatic - reportedly deadly from the 20-foot line - he might also spend more time on the court. Bergsten sat down with The Washington Post to reflect on his career and current economic issues. How did the son of a Methodist minister and graduate of a small college in rural Missouri become an eminence grise of the global economy? A turning point was in 1960 aboard the Dutch tramp steamer Groote Beer (Great Bear) that was taking college graduates to Europe. A fellow named Seth Tillman, chief of staff to Sen. J. William Fulbright, was leading a daily on-deck seminar on international affairs. I sort of sidled into that, got to know Tillman, who recognized my interest and said he could get me into the Fletcher School at Tufts University. After completing a master's and doctorate, I came to Washington as a young Foreign Service officer. Later, George Ball called his friend, the dean at Tufts, and that led to my eventually getting the job as Henry Kissinger's economics deputy at the National Security Council. How did you come to set up the institute? In 1971, I was canvassed by the Ford Foundation about setting up an agency to study the world economy. When I left Treasury 10 years later, I was approached with a similar suggestion by Frank Loy at the German Marshall Fund. He put his job on the line by putting a quarter of the Marshall Fund budget, $4 million, into funding the Institute for International Economics. Peter Peterson, whom I had gotten to know when he was commerce secretary under Nixon, became the first chairman and later a principal benefactor.