This book offers a concise but thorough analysis of the International Monetary Fund reform debate. Since the advent of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, a lengthy deliberation has ensued over whether the IMF should be reformed, abolished, or left as is. The authors approach this debate from a normative perspective while looking at arguments from all sides, as well as reflecting on the history, functions, and ideology of the IMF. This unique approach gives weight to the authors’ perspectives and their conclusion that the IMF ultimately does more harm than good. Written to analyze and contribute to the current IMF debate, this Palgrave Pivot is a must-read for scholars and policymakers invested in the conversation surrounding IMF reform.

This volume provides an analysis of the global monetary system and proposes a comprehensive yet evolutionary reform of the system aimed at creating better monetary cooperation for the twenty-first century.

Questions of international debt, world economic growth rates, and demands by the Third World nations for a "new international economic order" have thrust two relatively unknown international institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, into public prominence. Controversy over the IMF--which helps debtor countries balance current accounts and meet debt payments--enters on the "conditions" that the lending institution places on receiving nations. Basically, debtor countries are required to put their economic house in order, usually by decreasing imports, increasing exports, and eliminating subsidies on food, gasoline, and other goods. Often, it is such subsidies that allow a government to maintain political support and control. Thus, meeting the requirements of the IMF can lead to domestic instability, as the riots in the Dominican Republic illustrated. Critics of the IMF often agree with the economic medicine but decry the side effects of the cure. Is enough attention being paid to the diversity of the debt-troubled nations? Is there a separate set of standards for the borrowers and the lenders in the IMF decision-making process? Is the IMF lending process fair? What are the often unintended effects of the IMF on foreign policy?

Drawing on evidence from a sample of emerging market economies over the period 1990-2004, this evaluation report reviews the IMF’s approach to capital account liberalization and related issues. The evaluation seeks to contribute to transparency by documenting what in practice has been the IMF's approach to these issues and to identify areas where the IMF’s instruments and operating methods might be improved, in order to deal with these issues more effectively.

Brings together leading experts from all over the world to further the debate on the various dimesions of accountability of IMF to its various sharholders and stakeholders. Having fully explored how the notion of accountability can be pragmatically applied it then tests various alternative appriaches and makes some recommendations.

The explosive growth and increasing complexity of global financial markets are defining characteristics of the contemporary world economy. Unfortunately, financial globalization has been accompanied by a marked increase in the frequency and severity of financial crises. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has taken a central role in managing these crises through its loans to developing countries. Despite extensive analysis and criticism of the IMF in recent years, key questions remain unanswered. Why does the Fund treat some countries more generously than others? To what extent is IMF lending driven by political factors rather than economic concerns? In whose interests does the IMF act? In this book, Mark Copelovitch offers novel answers to these questions. Combining statistical analysis with detailed case studies, he demonstrates how the politics and policies of the IMF have evolved over the last three decades in response to fundamental changes in the composition of international capital flows.