Reforming IMF Conditionality
From ‘streamlining’ to ‘major overhaul’
Graham Bird
Volume 10, Number 3, 2009, pages 81 - 104
As it has for many years, International Monetary Fund conditionality is currently receiving much attention in the context of the global financial crisis. At the beginning of the 2000s the Fund introduced a policy of ‘streamlining’ intended to reduce the amount of conditionality and refocus it, with ... Read more
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The IMF, the Credit Crunch and Iceland
A new fiscal saga?
Sheetal K. Chand
Volume 10, Number 3, 2009, pages 19 - 42
Iceland was badly hit by a fundamental mismatch between the assets and international liabilities of her banking system, with severe consequences for the welfare of the population. The country now has an International Monetary Fund programme. The paper asks three questions of the programme: Is it too ... Read more
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The Dangers of Déjà Vu Economics
Graham Bird
Volume 10, Number 1, 2009
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The Institutional Framework of the Gulf Central Bank
Nasser H. Saidi & Fabio Scacciavillani
Volume 10, Number 1, 2009, pages 25 - 44
This paper discusses the viable alternatives for a suitable institutional and governance framework for the policymaking body presiding over the GMU. The authors review a series of alternatives, from the simplest one (i.e. a governors’ council formed by the governors of the national central banks and ... Read more
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The Oil-producing Gulf States, the IMF and the International Financial Crisis
Bessma Momani
Volume 10, Number 1, 2009, pages 13 - 24
As the finance-strapped International Monetary Fund (IMF) was placed at the centre of coordinating funding and offering ideas to navigate out of the international financial crisis, it became clear that the international community needed to reinvigorate the emerging market economies’ role in the orga ... Read more
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Domenico Lombardi and Maria Fabiana Viola on Barry Eichengreen, Global Imbalances and the Lessons of Bretton Woods: the Cairoli Lectures
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 209 - 212
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Are Economic Sanctions Useful in Discouraging the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Robert Carbaugh
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 181 - 200
against countries that have been implicated in the development of weapons
of mass destruction and the use of terrorism. These sanctions have included
limitations on customary trade and/or financial relations with a target country.
Are sanctions effective in discouraging the proliferation of weapo ... Read more
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The Effectiveness of IMF Surveillance
A study on global financial governance
Biagio Bossone
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 27 - 54
IMF surveillance of the international monetary and financial system is a global
public good. Its effectiveness depends critically on the dynamics that underpin
the mechanisms governing the IMF and global finance. These dynamics, in turn,
reflect the interests and power of influence of countries ( ... Read more
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Bringing Balance to the IMF Reform Debate
Domenico Lombardi
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 13 - 26
This paper summarises the outcome of formal discussions among scholars,
former policymakers and senior officials of International Monetary Fund (IMF)
member countries that took place in 2007–08 regarding the future of the
IMF and how its responsiveness to member countries might be improved. It
r ... Read more
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End of the ‘American Century’
Allan H. Meltzer
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 1 - 12
The postwar era has ended. The institutional structures that the United States
sponsored are less relevant or less accepted now, and the US is unable to solve
its major domestic problems. In 1944–46, the US led the world toward new
international arrangements that promoted freer markets, freer tra ... Read more
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Global Imbalances and the Lessons of Bretton Woods
Graham Bird & Thomas D. Willett
Volume 9, Number 3, 2008, pages 229 - 234
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Unwinding Global Economic Imbalances
What’s growth got to do with it?
Graham Bird
Volume 9, Number 3, 2008, pages 211 - 216
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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
François Bourguignon on fifty years of economic development and the elusive quest for sustained growth
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
Volume 9, Number 3, 2008, pages 123 - 176
François Bourguignon was Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, Development Economics, at the World Bank before taking up his current position as Director of the Paris School of Economics. He is one of the world’s leading economists in the field of economic growth and development, in particular ... Read more
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New Light or Fixed Presumptions?
The OECD, the IMF and the treatment of climate change issues
David Henderson
Volume 8, Number 4, 2007, pages 203 - 221
Two leading international agencies, the OECD and the IMF, are now becoming more closely involved with climate change issues, in conjunction with finance and economics ministries within their member countries. This broader official involvement opens up an opportunity: it could lead to a more informed ... Read more
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The Role of the IMF in Low-Income Countries
Recent issues
Domenico Lombardi
Volume 8, Number 4, 2007, pages 191 - 195
The question of whether the IMF should effectively engage with its low-income member countries has recently generated a wide debate among development economists, policymakers, and advocates from nongovernmental organizations. This note elaborates on the important role that the IMF can play in its lo ... Read more
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Multilateral Surveillance
Is the IMF shooting for the stars?
Graham Bird & Thomas D. Willett
Volume 8, Number 4, 2007, pages 167 - 189
The IMF presents multilateral surveillance as one of its core responsibilities and has recently sought to enhance this role via a series of multilateral consultations with systemically important countries, designed to coordinate exchange rate and macroeconomic policy in order to reduce the global ec ... Read more
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The Uneven Build Up of Global Reserves
Ways forward
Rohinton Medhora
Volume 8, Number 4, 2007, pages 143 - 166
The universal, large and uneven build up of international reserves is both a cause and a symptom of fundamental problems in the international financial system. The phenomenon represents several interlinked processes at play, so that "root cause" sorts of arguments must be treated with care. There ar ... Read more
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James Raymond Vreeland responds to Graham Hacche’s review article [World Economics, 8(2): 97-118] on his latest book, The International Monetary Fund: Politics of Conditional Lending
Volume 8, Number 3, 2007, pages 185 - 193
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Colin I. Bradford and Johannes F. Linn reply to Graham Bird’s review in the last issue of World Economics [8(2): 285-287] of their co-edited volume, Global Governance Reform: Breaking the Stalemate
Volume 8, Number 3, 2007, pages 183 - 184
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Graham Bird on Colin I. Bradford Jr. and Johannes F. Linn, editors, Global Governance Reform: Breaking the Stalemate FREE ARTICLE
Volume 8, Number 2, 2007, pages 285 - 287
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On Solving the World’s Economic Problems by Doing Something Unfashionable
Graham Bird
Volume 8, Number 2, 2007, pages 119 - 131
The world currently faces a number of economic problems. These include the large global economic imbalances that may prove to be unsustainable; international poverty, where projections suggest that it is unlikely that the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved; and stalled multilateral trade ... Read more
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A Non-Definitive Guide to the IMF
A review article
Graham Hacche
Volume 8, Number 2, 2007, pages 97 - 118
The recent book by James R. Vreeland, The International Monetary Fund: Politics of Conditional Lending, is meant to provide “a definitive guide to the organization”. This review article argues that it falls well short of this ambitious aim. It is already somewhat dated. It is almost entirely ... Read more
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Reform of the IMF and World Bank
Where do things stand?
Anthony Elson
Volume 8, Number 2, 2007, pages 65 - 95
Reform of the IMF and World Bank has been the focus of discussion since the middle of the last decade when efforts began to adapt the two institutions to deal with new problems of financial globalization associated with a series of financial crises among emerging markets. What began as a mainly “top ... Read more
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Addressing Climate Change
Is there a role to be played by the IMF?
Peter S. Heller
Volume 8, Number 1, 2007, pages 107 - 120
Global climate change has moved high on the agenda of key policy makers in many industrial countries. As a “global public good,” a coordinated global response in terms of efforts at mitigation will be critically necessary. Equally, many countries will face serious economic harm in the absence of ada ... Read more
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Aid for Trade
An essential component of the multilateral trading system and WTO Doha development agenda
Faizel Ismail
Volume 8, Number 1, 2007, pages 15 - 45
The paper argues that increased Trade and Aid are both essential to enhance the development of many developing countries. It argues further that trade-related technical assistance and capacity building is not only an essential element of the concept of special and differential treatment but i ... Read more
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Challenges to the Multilateral Trading System
Peter Sutherland
Volume 8, Number 1, 2007, pages 1 - 14
Ever since the GATT was established in 1948, the growth in international trade and economic growth has been remarkable. The traditional mercantilism of trade relations is less and less appropriate for the global economy. Bilateral trade deals make the business environment more complex and unpredicta ... Read more
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Agricultural Reform and Trade Negotiations
Can the Doha Round deliver?
Kimberly Ann Elliott
Volume 7, Number 4, 2006, pages 125 - 144
In this essay, Kim Elliott examines the patterns of support for agriculture across countries and commodities in the industrialized world. She then summarizes the approach to reducing trade-distorting support that came out of the Uruguay Round, and concludes with a discussion of the implications for ... Read more
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Running the IMF
Reducing political bias and increasing independence
Graham Bird
Volume 7, Number 4, 2006, pages 111 - 124
Increasing concern has been expressed by both scholars and officials about political bias and influence in the IMF. This is seen as threatening the effectiveness of the institution. But how can the problem be resolved? One way would be to try to create greater political balance by changing quotas an ... Read more
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Book Review
Johannes F. Linn on Ngaire Woods, The Globalizers: The IMF, The World Bank, and Their Borrowers
Volume 7, Number 3, 2006, pages 189 - 200
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From The Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference to the Suspension of the Negotiations
Developing countries reclaim the development content of the WTO Doha Round
Faizel Ismail
Volume 7, Number 3, 2006, pages 133 - 166
This paper makes an assessment of the WTO Doha Negotiations from the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference until the suspension of the Doha Round at the end of July 2006. The paper analyses the events from a development perspective distinguishing between the perspectives of two broad groups of developing ... Read more
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Are Mr de Rato’s Spectacles Rose Tinted?
Globalization and the IMF’s medium-term strategy
Graham Bird
Volume 7, Number 2, 2006, pages 115 - 131
Since the annual meetings of the IMF in September 2005, its Managing Director, Rodrigo de Rato, has been publicizing a medium-term strategy for the institution based on the organizing principle of globalization. Mr de Rato presents the challenges facing the Fund as global economic imbalances, capita ... Read more
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Book Review
David Bevan on Helping the Poor? The IMF and Low-Income Countries.
Volume 7, Number 1, 2006, pages 189 - 191
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Trade Policy 2006
A tour d’horizon
Razeen Sally
Volume 7, Number 1, 2006, pages 45 - 71
The global momentum in favour of trade liberalisation has slowed down; and there is more liberalisation-scepticism post-Washington Consensus. Chances are that the Doha Round will either collapse or deliver a very modest result. Both outcomes will leave the WTO in very serious trouble. For the WTO to ... Read more
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Two British Initiatives for IMF Lending to its Members, 1960–1962
Jacques J. Polak
Volume 7, Number 1, 2006, pages 11 - 19
This paper describes the origin, evolution, and results of two initiatives taken by the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Both initiatives aimed at facilitating large-scale lending by the IMF (or in close parallel to the IMF), primarily in support of the two reserve currencies of the international ... Read more
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“Pity the Finance Minister”
Issues in managing a substantial scaling up of aid flows
Peter S. Heller
Volume 6, Number 4, 2005, pages 69 - 110
Substantial scaling up of aid flows will require development partners to address many issues, including the impact of higher aid flows on the competitiveness of aid recipients, the management of fiscal and monetary policy, the delivery of public services, behavioral incentives, and the rate of growt ... Read more
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The IMF and Low-Income Countries
David Bevan
Volume 6, Number 2, 2005, pages 67 - 85
There is a wide-ranging debate about possible redefinitions of the role and structure of the IMF itself, and of the Bretton Woods Institutions more generally. This paper has a more restricted focus, on the way in which the IMF interacts with the low-income countries amongst its constituents. It addr ... Read more
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Tensions in the Role of the IMF and Directions for Reform
Timothy Lane
Volume 6, Number 2, 2005, pages 47 - 66
While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has evolved considerably since its foundation 60 years ago, the past few years have brought fresh challenges. This paper discusses four key areas in which developments have led to a rethinking of the institution’s role: the emerging market financial crises ... Read more
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Does the World Need a Universal Financial Institution?
James Boughton
Volume 6, Number 2, 2005, pages 27 - 46
All financial institutions specialize, in dimensions that may include categories of assets and liabilities, types of services offered, customer demographics, and geographic coverage. The International Monetary Fund is the only international financial institution that is truly universal in its geogra ... Read more
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Reserve Accumulation in Asia
Lessons for holistic reform of the international monetary system
Graham Bird & Alex Mandilaras
Volume 6, Number 1, 2005, pages 85 - 99
In the aftermath of the 1997/1998 crisis, Asian economies have built up large
holdings of international reserves. Although initially encouraged to do so by the
IMF, more recently they have been criticised for maintaining undervalued
currencies, running large current account balance of payments su ... Read more
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International Comparisons of GDP
Issues of theory and practice
Ian Castles & David Henderson
Volume 6, Number 1, 2005, pages 55 - 84
When it comes to making international comparisons of real GDP, different views,
conventions and practices are still in evidence. The authors set out the case for
using purchasing power parity (PPP) converters for this purpose, rather than
conversions based on exchange rates, and give reasons for ... Read more
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Keynes, Globalisation and the Bretton Woods Institutions in the Light of Changing Ideas about Markets
Robert Skidelsky
Volume 6, Number 1, 2005, pages 15 - 30
For most of the twentieth century, pessimism about, and hostility to, markets was
prevalent and this pulled in an anti-globalist direction. Indeed, the global
institutions set up in 1944 were constructed by two market pessimists, John
Maynard Keynes, on whom this article concentrates, and Harry D ... Read more
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Does the IMF Perform a Catalytic Role?
And what if it doesn’t?
Graham Bird & Dane Rowlands
Volume 5, Number 1, 2004, pages 117 - 132
The IMF advertises itself as playing a catalytic role, whereby its lending
programmes induce other providers of finance to invest or lend as well. The
theoretical foundations of this claim are reviewed and found to be questionable.
The empirical evidence also appears to contradict the notion of a ... Read more
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Beyond the Ivory Tower
Stanley Fischer on the economics of contemporary global issues
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
Volume 5, Number 1, 2004, pages 67 - 114
Stanley Fischer had a long and distinguished career as an academic economist at
MIT, and was Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist at
the World Bank, before becoming First Deputy Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund in 1994. He is now President of Citigroup
In ... Read more
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The End of the Road for the WTO?
A snapshot of international trade policy after Cancun
Razeen Sally
Volume 5, Number 1, 2004, pages 1 - 14
The collapse of the Doha Round in Cancun is symptomatic of a wider malaise in
the WTO. It has an overloaded agenda, and is becoming excessively legalised
and politicised. The “UN-isation” of the WTO proceeds apace. Its decisionmaking
mechanism is crippled. It is therefore not surprising that atte ... Read more
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Exchange Rate Regimes
Is there a third way?
Vijay Joshi
Volume 4, Number 4, 2003, pages 15 - 36
This paper argues that (a) for many developing countries, the optimal external
payments regime would be a combination of an intermediate exchange rate with
capital controls and (b) the policy stance and advice of the IMF should reflect
this judgement. The paper uses India as a case study to illus ... Read more
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Hydropower in Bhutan and Nepal
Why the difference?
Jeremy Berkoff
Volume 4, Number 3, 2003, pages 121 - 142
Bhutan and Nepal have followed differing hydropower development strategies.
Bhutan has co-operated with India and power export earnings have helped fund a
broadly successful economic, environmental and social programme. In contrast,
Nepal turned to the World Bank and other donors to fund its powe ... Read more
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In Search of the Holy Grail
William Easterly on the Elusive Quest for Growth and Development
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
Volume 4, Number 3, 2003, pages 51 - 92
Having conducted extensive research in the field of economic growth and
development, William Easterly has broad knowledge and expertise on the
problems facing developing countries. While working for the World Bank, he
travelled extensively in Africa, Latin America and Asia, and is well placed to
... Read more
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The Outlook for World Trade
Peter Sutherland
Volume 4, Number 3, 2003, pages 27 - 34
The former GATT and World Trade Organization Director-General (1993–1995)
defends the multilateral trade system—“If goods do not pass frontiers, armies
will”—and describes the challenges facing the World Trade Organization
particularly in meeting the Doha Development Agenda. He responds to critic ... Read more
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The Undivided City
James D. Wolfensohn
Volume 4, Number 3, 2003, pages 1 - 13
Two billion people are set to flood into the already crowded cities of the
developing world over the next twenty-five years, mainly to live in the squalid
surroundings of a slum or a shanty town and to endure the consequent effects of
social injustice and division. James Wolfensohn, President of ... Read more
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Letter from Buenos Aires
Pierre Wassenaar
Volume 3, Number 1, 2002, pages 179 - 183
“IMF criminals!” cry the antiglobalists in the wake of Argentina’s descent into
chaos. But the real crime of Argentina’s last ten years was its own supineness in tying its fortunes for so long to the economy of an indifferent superpower, and allowing itself to become the plaything of international ... Read more
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Where Do We Stand On Choosing Exchange Rate Regimes in Developing and Emerging Economies?
Graham Bird
Volume 3, Number 1, 2002, pages 145 - 167
In the midst of a lively debate about international monetary reform at the
beginning of the twenty-first century, there seemed to be a broad consensus
about exchange rate policy in developing and emerging economies; that they
should opt for one of the extremes in the form of either firm fixity or ... Read more
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What Happened to the Washington Consensus?
Graham Bird
Volume 2, Number 4, 2001, pages 33 - 51
At the beginning of the 1990s it appeared that there was considerable agreement
about the kind of economic policies that countries turning to the IMF and the
World Bank should pursue. These included macroeconomic stabilisation,
microeconomic liberalisation and openness, and were summarised by the ... Read more
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Redefining the Role of the State
Joseph Stiglitz on building a ‘post-Washington consensus’
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
Volume 2, Number 3, 2001, pages 45 - 86
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
Professor Joseph Stiglitz is without question one of the world’s leading
economists. In his extensive research he has made seminal contributions to the
analysis of the economic consequences of incomplete information and
uncertainty. This wo ... Read more
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Economic Globalisation
How far and how much further?
Ramkishen Rajan & Graham Bird
Volume 2, Number 3, 2001, pages 1 - 18
The concept of globalisation has received a great deal of popular attention in
recent years. However, the term is often used quite loosely. When defined to
mean closer international economic integration, the evidence shows that the
extent of globalisation may easily be exaggerated. This article e ... Read more
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IMF Programmes: Is there a conditionality Laffer Curve?
Graham Bird
Volume 2, Number 2, 2001, pages 29 - 49
The long-standing debate over IMF conditionality has received a new lease of
life in the context of the debate over a new international financial architecture.
Conditionality has increased in recent years and some proposals for reform envisage a continuation of this trend. However, by emphasising ... Read more
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The International Economic System in the Twentieth Century
An interview with Barry Eichengreen
Brian Snowdon
Volume 1, Number 3, 2000, pages 39 - 60
This wide-ranging discussion takes in globalisation, the causes of the Great Depression (and the likelihood of future recurrences), the Marshall Plan and post-war European recovery, growth in the 1950s and 60s followed by the problems of the 70s, and the strengths and weaknesses of the current inter ... Read more
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Response to Professor Bird
Allan Meltzer
Volume 1, Number 3, 2000, pages 31 - 37
Allan Meltzer responds to Graham Bird’s article "Sins Of The Commission: The Meltzer Report On International Financial Institutions" [World Economics, Vol.1, No.3, July-September 2000]. In that article, Bird argued that the International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission’s conclusion ... Read more
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Sins of the Commission
The Meltzer Report on international financial institutions
Graham Bird
Volume 1, Number 3, 2000, pages 17 - 29
In the aftermath of the East Asian financial crisis there has been much discussion of a new international financial architecture. A significant contribution to this debate is the Report of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, sponsored by the US Congress, which was chaired b ... Read more
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False Attack
Misrepresenting the Human Development Report and misunderstanding the need for rethinking global governance
Richard Jolly
Volume 1, Number 3, 2000, pages 1 - 15
In this rejoinder to David Henderson’s article "False Perspective: the UNDP view of the world" (World Economics Vol 1 No 1 January-March 2000), Richard Jolly, former special adviser to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, argues that Henderson’s criticisms of the UND ... Read more
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Is there a Case for an Asian Monetary Fund?
Graham Bird & Ramkishen Rajan
Volume 1, Number 2, 2000, pages 135 - 143
The East Asian financial crisis has spawned a number of proposals for institutional reform. Some envisage reforming existing institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while others suggest that new institutions are needed. Amongst them is the idea of establishing an Asian Mone ... Read more
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Proposals for a better International Financial System
Stephany Griffith-Jones
Volume 1, Number 2, 2000, pages 111 - 133
This paper analyses three essential functions of global financial market management that currently are not properly met, and could best be met by new institutional developments: 1. prudential regulation; 2. provision of official liquidity to countries or markets in crises; and 3. emergency orderly w ... Read more
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False Perspective: The UNDP View of the World
David Henderson
Volume 1, Number 1, 2000, pages 1 - 19
Despite some searching and unanswered criticisms of its treatment of statistical evidence, the UNDP Human Development Report has become established as a widely-quoted and influential survey of the world scene. The 1999 Report, reviewed here, focuses on ‘globalization’. This is described as a dominan ... Read more
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