- Nobel Laureate, in Cuba, Speaks Against US Aid Policies (February 11, 2002)
...nday. Instead of taking advice from the U.S. Treasury Department or the International Monetary Fund, many struggling countries would rebound from economic crisis more quickly... - Creditors To Forgive 80% Of Iraqi Debt (November 20, 2004)
...off immediately, another 30% in a second stage "tied to a programme of the International Monetary Fund" and a further 20% linked to the success of this programme," he said. "... - IMF, World Bank 'to Quit Iraq' (August 20, 2003)
...The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are to pull their staff out of Iraq after the devastating bomb attack on t... - U.S. accused of depleting Iraq fund (July 3, 2004)
...The board is made up of representatives of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. In February, the... - Southern Nations Demand More Power in IMF, World Bank (April 24, 2004)
...As several thousand people protested outside the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) here Saturday, a coalition of developing countries also complained l... - A20: Palestinian Supporters Outnumber Globalization Protesters (April 21, 2002)
...ovided the majority of the protesters in Washington for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings. Around 35ñ50,000 protesters massed at sites across Washington... - Fight Terrorism by Aiding Poor (April 14, 2002)
...nistration and the international aid finance institutions, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and United Nations, on how and how much. The United Nations wants the... - 'Free Speech Zones' Shouldn't Squelch Right to Disagree (May 5, 2003)
...arge numbers of protesters for mass arrests at last September's World Bank-International Monetary Fund demonstration in Washington. The goal, he thinks, was to break the protest... - A20: 'Perfect Storm' of Protests Blows into DC Today (April 20, 2002)
... the weekend's largest events, the downtown area around the World Bank and International Monetary Fund buildings – the sister global financial institutions holding spring meetin... - U.S. Funds for Iraq Are Largely Unspent (July 4, 2004)
...d composed of representatives from the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development to oversee the CPA's... - Cancel Iraqi Debt? What About Africa? (January 26, 2004)
... Iraq's is owed mainly to various countries. Africa's main lenders are the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which have strongly resisted public pressure for debt... - EU Threatens to Block Afghan Aid (April 15, 2002)
...e commission is demanding that Mr Karzai restore discipline by adopting an International Monetary Fund proposal involving the "dollarisation" of the state sector. But the Karzai... - A20: Thousands March Peacefully in Nation's Capital (April 21, 2002)
...colorfully for a range of causes under the watchful eyes of police. An International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting, Middle East tensions, the ongoing U.S.-led war on terr... - US Will Attack Iraq With or Without Turkey (July 17, 2002)
...ey is already economically fragile, relying on a $16 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Bush signed an order earlier this year directing t... - A20: Thousands Rally at Washington Summit (April 20, 2002)
...lobalisation. Mass rallies were taking place around the capital as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank began their annual spring meeting. Hundreds o... - 1946 - 1951 - Camille Gutt
- 1951 - 1956 - Ivar Rooth
- 1956 - 1963 - Per Jacobsson
- 1963 - 1973 - Pierre-Paul Schweitzer
- 1973 - 1978 - H. Johannes Witteveen
- 1978 - 1987 - Jacques de Larosière
- January 16, 1987 - February 14, 2000 - Michel Camdessus
- May 1, 2000 - Horst Köhler
- April 2000 -- IMF World Outlook Report
- "In the recent decades, nearly 20% of the world population has regressed. This is arguably one of the greatest economic failures of the 20th Century."
- April 2001 -- former World Bank economist Joseph E. Stiglitz
- "When a nation is down and out, the IMF takes advantage and squeezes the last pound of blood out of them. They turn up the heat until, finally, the whole cauldron blows up. It has condemned people to death." (1 p.50-51)
- International Monetary Fund website http://www.imf.org
International Monetary Fund
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The IMF (International Monetary Fund) is an international organization. It is responsible for managing the global financial system and for providing loans to its member states to help alleviate balance of payments problems. Part of its mission is to help countries that experience serious economic difficulties. In return, the countries who are helped are obliged to launch certain reforms, such as privatizations.
| Table of contents |
History and Background
Agreement for its creation came at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA, in 1944; the organization came into existence in 1946, as part of a post-WWII reconstruction plan, and began financial operations on March 1, 1947. Accordingly, it is sometimes referred to as "a Bretton Woods institution", along with the Bank for International Settlements(BIS) and the World Bank. Together, these three institutions define the monetary policy shared by almost all countries with market economies. In order to gain access to IMF loans, BIS privilege, and strategic World Bank development loans, a country must normally agree to terms set forth by all three organizations.Argentina, which was considered by the IMF to be a model country, experienced a serious economic crisis in 2001. This crisis created a movement of hatred against this institution.
Criticisms
The role of these institutions has been controversial among some since the late Cold War period. Critics claim that IMF policy makers deliberately supported military dictatorships that were friendly to American and European corporations. Critics also claim that the IMF is generally hostile to democracy, human rights, and labor rights. These criticisms generated a controversy that helped spark the anti-globalization movement.Others say the IMF has little power to democratize sovereign states, nor is that its stated objective. However, they say its advice is intended to promote financial stability, which in turn may indirectly further democracy. Economic chaos is seldom a good starting point for a stable democracy.
Most altermondialists, like ATTAC, believe that IMF interventions aggravate the poverty and the debts of Third World and developing countries.
Adherents of supply-side economics generally find themselves in open disagreement with the IMF because typically the IMF advocates a Keynesian approach to economics. That is, the IMF typically advocates increasing taxes so as to generate more government revenue and stabalize the economy (referred to by the IMF as austerity) and currency devaluation so as to export more goods (which supply-siders see as "inflationary). Both ideas are frequently recommended by the IMF to the governments of poor nations with struggling economies. Supply-side economists typically see these IMF policies as been destructive to economic prosperity.
Opposition to the IMF is very fragmented. For instance advocates of Supply-side economics would in general regard the policies advocated by ATTAC to be little different in form to the ideas peddled by the IMF. In other words, they would see ATTAC tax and spend policies and the IMFs austerity policies as being fundamentally similar.
Leaders of the IMF
The IMF is headed by a Managing Director:
Quotes
See also
External link
References