This book explains how global public goods should be defined, how global economic institutions work, and looks at the effect major organizations such as WTO, IMF, etc. have on finance, the environment and transport.

There can be little doubt that a group of prominent and influential organizations lie at the heart of international economic law (IEL). These include the Bretton Woods institutions, regional development banks and economic organizations, and various specialized global institutions primarily active in norm generation. This volume possesses the unique distinction of presenting the perspectives – both institutional and personal – of legal counsels in some key international economic organizations regarding their work and the role of law within the framework of their organizations, with particular attention to the conditions within which they can optimally contribute to the development of IEL. This last consideration is emphasized in three ‘external’ academic perspectives that focus mainly on what the role of counsels in international economic organizations ought to be. Each first-hand perspective focuses on counsel’s involvement in such aspects of IEL as the following: providing internal advice on the law of the organization; assisting members with respect to domestic institutions and law in the economic sphere; to what extent (if any) legal counsels are normally involved in policy making for issues that are not strictly of a legal nature; intellectual contributions both to the development of international law and the dissemination and exchange of legal knowledge among various stakeholders; ethical challenges and response to possible conflicts of interests; generation of soft law economic instruments; legal issues on replenishment of resources for development funding; setting of internationally recognized standards or best practices for commercial and financial legislation; informal networks of lawyers and lawyer functions which cut across institutional and territorial boundaries; and negotiation and management of free trade agreements from a legal perspective.

Global Geopolitical Power and African Political and Economic Institutions: When Elephants Fight describes the emergence and nature of the prevailing African political and economic institutions in two periods. In the first, most countries adopted political and economic institutions that funneled significant levels of political and economic power to the political elites, usually through one- or no-party (military) political systems, inward-oriented development policies, and/ or state-led—and often state-owned—industrialization. In the second period, most countries adopted institutions that diluted the overarching political and economic power of ruling elites through the adoption of de jure multiparty electoral systems, more outward-oriented trade policies, and the privatization of many state owned or controlled sectors, though significant political and economic power remains in their hands. The choices made in each period were consistent with prevailing ideas on governance and development, the self-interests of political elites, and the perceived availability of support or autonomy vis-à-vis domestic, regional, and international sources of power at the time. This book illustrates how these two region-wide shifts in prevailing political and economic institutions and practices of Africa can be linked to two prior global geopolitical realignments: the end of WWII with the ensuing American and Soviet led bipolar system, and the end of the Cold War with American primacy. Each period featured changed or newly empowered international and regional leaders with competing national priorities within new intellectual and geopolitical climates, altering the opportunities and constraints for African leaders in instituting or maintaining particular political and economic institutions or practices. The economic and political institutions of Africa that emerged did so as a result of a complex mix of contending domestic, regional, and international forces (material and intellectual)—all which were themselves greatly transformed in the wake of these two global geopolitical realignments.

In this new volume in the Elements series, Daniel D. Bradlow traces the history and development of international law and international financial institutions from 1918 to today, providing a detailed overview of the legal frameworks within which such institutions were established and operate, and which structure their relationships with their member states and their citizens. The book opens with the inter-war years, the Bretton Woods Conference, and background on the treaties establishing the IMF and the World Bank. It then discusses the Articles of Agreement of the IMF and the IBRD, providing information on their governance arrangements, mandates, and operating principles. The international legal status of these two international financial institutions, their international legal rights, responsibilities and obligations, and their privileges and immunities are also examined. In later chapters, the book explores how the structure, functions, and operations of the World Bank and IMF have evolved since their establishment and examines the regional development banks and the regional financial arrangements that were created after them. The book concludes by exploring the challenges that international financial institutions are currently facing, and the contributions that international law can make to help them successfully meet these challenges.

Der Worte sind genug gewechse/t, lasst mich auch endlich Taten sehn. J.W. GOETHE Since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which are analysed in Part 1, are spe cialized agencies linked by special agreements with the United Nations, a few words about the UN and two of the other specialized agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Labour Organization, are called for. This is followed by a short account of the Bank for International Settlements, which is also referred to in connection with the IMF and the IBRD. The rest of this introduction is devoted to some non-European attempts at economic integration (which have not yet been very successful) and to the regional development banks. 1. The United Nations (UN) The United Nations comprises 159 countries (September 1986) which have accepted the Charter of the United Nations, which was signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945 by fifty-one states and came into force on 24 October 1945. The aims of the organization include the maintenance of peace and security, the promotion of better standards of living and the encouragement of economic and social progress for all nations by means of international cooperation. The principal organs of the UN are: The General Assembly The Security Council The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) The Trusteeship Council The International Court of Justice The Secretariat.

A thoroughly revised and updated edition of a textbook for graduate students in finance, with new coverage of global financial institutions. This thoroughly revised and updated edition of a widely used textbook for graduate students in finance now provides expanded coverage of global financial institutions, with detailed comparisons of U.S. systems with non-U.S. systems. A focus on the actual practices of financial institutions prepares students for real-world problems. After an introduction to financial markets and market participants, including asset management firms, credit rating agencies, and investment banking firms, the book covers risks and asset pricing, with a new overview of risk; the structure of interest rates and interest rate and credit risks; the fundamentals of primary and secondary markets; government debt markets, with new material on non-U.S. sovereign debt markets; corporate funding markets, with new coverage of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurial ventures; residential and commercial real estate markets; collective investment vehicles, in a chapter new to this edition; and financial derivatives, including financial futures and options, interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange derivatives, and credit risk transfer vehicles such as credit default swaps. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with bullet point takeaways and questions.

This book offers a skilled arms-length evaluation, from a legal perspective, of the main criticisms that have been leveled recently at the key global economic organizations – that is, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and its fellow multilateral developmental banks (MDBs), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS stands out from most of the growing body of literature on the IMF, MDBS, and the WTO in two main respects: the book’s scope and the author’s experience. Whereas numerous commentators have focused on particular strengths and weaknesses of one or the other of the GEOs, and have argued for changes on the basis of specific areas of operation, this book takes a wider view to examine all the GEOs at once. This broader scope reveals commonalities in the criticisms. For example, complaints about so-called “democracy deficit” obviously can be applied to all GEOs but with different nuances in emphasis and sting. Against the background of his own experience as a legal counsel for one of the regional MDBs and for the IMF and a legal career that has focused on international economic law, Head distills the swarm of complaints leveled at the IMF, MDBS, and the WTO into 25 specific criticisms and then offers succinct explanations of why some of those criticisms should be dismissed, why some of them are valid, and how those valid criticisms should form the basis for an important restructuring of the institutions, including amendments to the charters that establish and govern their operations. Head speaks largely to three audiences here: persons in various professional positions; persons in national governments and politics around the world who are responsible for implementing their government’s foreign policy; and to more general curious readers on whose involvement in civic life any society ultimately depends. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

The fundamental recognition in this book is that the issue of what international legal principles are applicable to the operations of the IFIs is an important topic that would benefit from more rigorous study. Twelve deeply committed contributors - whose work spans the academic, policy, and activist spectrum - suggest that a better understanding of these legal issues could help both the organizations and their Member States structure their transactions in ways that are more compatible with their developmental objectives and their international responsibilities.

'Bretton Woods' has become shorthand for the post-war international financial and economic framework. Mindful of the historic 1944 conference and its legacy for the discipline of international economic law, the American Society of International Law's International Economic Law Group (IELG) chose Bretton Woods as the venue for a landmark scholarly meeting. In November of 2006, a diverse group of academics and practitioners gathered to reflect on the past, present and future of international economic law. They sought to survey and advance three particular areas of endeavour: research and scholarship, teaching, and practice/service. This book represents an edited collection of some of the exceptional papers presented at the conference including contributions from Andreas Lowenfeld, Joel Trachtman, Amelia Porges and Andrew Lang. The volume is organised into three parts, each covering one of the three pillars in the discipline of international economic law: research and scholarship; teaching; and practice/service. It begins with an assessment of the state and future of research in the field, including chapters on questions such as: what is international economic law? Is it a branch of international law or of economic law? How do fields outside of law, such as economics and international relations, relate to international economic law? How do research methodologies influence policy outcomes? The second part examines the state and future of teaching in the subject. Chapters cover topics such as: how and where is international economic law taught? Is the training provided in the law schools suitable for future academics, government officials, or practitioners? How might regional shortcomings in academic resources be addressed? The final part of the book focuses on the state and future of international economic law practice in the Bretton Woods era, including institutional reform. The contributors consider issues such as: what is the nature of international economic law practice? What are the needs of practitioners in government, private practice, international and non-governmental organisations? Finally, how have the Bretton Woods institutions adapted to these and other challenges-and how might they better respond in the future? International Economic Law: The State and Future of the Discipline will be of interest to lawyers, economists and other professionals throughout the world-whether in the private, public, academic or non-governmental sectors-seeking both fresh insights and expert assessments in this expanding field. Indeed, the book itself promises to play a role in the next phase of the development of international economic law.