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International Monetary Fund

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Coordinates: 38°54′00″N 77°2′39″W38.9°N 77.04417°W

International Monetary Fund

IMF member states in green[1]

Headquarters Washington, D.C., USA
Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Central Bank of
Currency Special Drawing Rights
ISO 4217 Code XDR
Base borrowing rate 3.49% for SDRs[2]
Website www.imf.org

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees

the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member
countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rate and the balance of
payments. It is an organization formed with a stated objective of stabilizing international
exchange rates and facilitating development.[3] It also offers highly leveraged loans,
mainly to poorer countries. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., United States.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 Organization and purpose

o 1.1 History
o 1.2 Today
• 2 Data dissemination systems
• 3 Membership qualifications
• 4 Members' quotas and voting power, and Board of Governors
• 5 Assistance and reforms
• 6 IMF/World Bank support of military dictatorships
• 7 Criticism
o 7.1 Impact on access to food
o 7.2 Impact on public health
o 7.3 Criticism from free-market advocates
o 7.4 Attempts to repair image
• 8 Managing Director
• 9 Media representation of the IMF
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 Further references

• 13 External links

[edit] Organization and purpose

Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The International Monetary Fund was created in July 1944, originally with 45 members,
[4]
with a goal to stabilize exchange rates and assist the reconstruction of the world's
international payment system. Countries contributed to a pool which could be borrowed
from, on a temporary basis, by countries with payment imbalances (Condon, 2007). The
IMF was important when it was first created because it helped the world stabilize the
economic system. The IMF is still important because it works to improve the economies
of its member countries.[5]
The IMF describes itself as "an organization of 186 countries (as of June 29, 2009),[6][7]
working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate
international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and
reduce poverty". With the exception of Taiwan (expelled in 1980),[8] North Korea, Cuba
(left in 1964),[9] Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Tuvalu and Nauru, all UN member
states participate directly in the IMF. Member states are represented on a 24-member
Executive Board (five Executive Directors are appointed by the five members with the
largest quotas, nineteen Executive Directors are elected by the remaining members), and
all members appoint a Governor to the IMF's Board of Governors.[10]

[edit] History

The International Monetary Fund was conceived in July 1944 during the United Nations
Monetary and Financial Conference. The representatives of 45 governments met in the
Mount Washington Hotel in the area of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States,
with the delegates to the conference agreeing on a framework for international economic
cooperation.[11] The IMF was formally organized on December 27, 1945, when the first
29 countries signed its Articles of Agreement. The statutory purposes of the IMF today
are the same as when they were formulated in 1943 (see #Assistance and reforms).

[edit] Today

The IMF's influence in the global economy steadily increased as it accumulated more
members. The number of IMF member countries has more than quadrupled from the 44
states involved in its establishment, reflecting in particular the attainment of political
independence by many developing countries and more recently the collapse of the Soviet
bloc. The expansion of the IMF's membership, together with the changes in the world
economy, have required the IMF to adapt in a variety of ways to continue serving its
purposes effectively.

In 2008, faced with a shortfall in revenue, the International Monetary Fund's executive
board agreed to sell part of the IMF's gold reserves. On April 27, 2008, IMF Managing
Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn welcomed the board's decision of April 7, 2008 to
propose a new framework for the fund, designed to close a projected $400 million budget
deficit over the next few years. The budget proposal includes sharp spending cuts of $100
million until 2011 that will include up to 380 staff dismissals.[12]

At the 2009 G-20 London summit, it was decided that the IMF would require additional
financial resources to meet prospective needs of its member countries during the ongoing
global financial crisis. As part of that decision, the G-20 leaders pledged to increase the
IMF's supplemental cash tenfold to $500 billion, and to allocate to member countries
another $250 billion via Special Drawing Rights.[13][14]

[edit] Data dissemination systems

IMF Data Dissemination Systems participants: IMF member using SDDS IMF
member, using GDDS IMF member, not using any of the DDSystems non-IMF entity
using SDDS non-IMF entity using GDDS no interaction with the IMF

In 1995, the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards
with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and
financial data to the public. The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC)
endorsed the guidelines for the dissemination standards and they were split into two tiers:
The General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) and the Special Data Dissemination
Standard (SDDS).

The International Monetary Fund executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in
1996 and 1997 respectively and subsequent amendments were published in a revised
“Guide to the General Data Dissemination System”. The system is aimed primarily at
statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is
also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction
Strategic Papers.

The IMF established a system and standard to guide members in the dissemination to the
public of their economic and financial data. Currently there are two such systems:
General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) and its superset Special Data Dissemination
System (SDDS), for those member countries having or seeking access to international
capital markets.

The primary objective of the GDDS is to encourage IMF member countries to build a
framework to improve data quality and increase statistical capacity building. This will
involve the preparation of metadata describing current statistical collection practices and
setting improvement plans. Upon building a framework, a country can evaluate statistical
needs, set priorities in improving the timeliness, transparency, reliability and accessibility
of financial and economic data.

Some countries initially used the GDDS, but lately upgraded to SDDS.

Some entities that are not themselves IMF members also contribute statistical data to the
systems:
 • Palestinian Authority – GDDS
• Hong Kong – SDDS
• European Union institutions:
o the European Central Bank for the Eurozone – SDDS
o Eurostat for the whole EU – SDDS, thus providing data from Cyprus
(not using any DDSystem on its own) and Malta (using only GDDS
on its own)

The biggest borrowers are Mexico, Hungary and Ukraine.

[edit] Membership qualifications

Any country may apply for membership to the IMF. The application will be considered
first by the IMF's Executive Board. After its consideration, the Executive Board will
submit a report to the Board of Governors of the IMF with recommendations in the form
of a "Membership Resolution." These recommendations cover the amount of quota in the
IMF, the form of payment of the subscription, and other customary terms and conditions
of membership. After the Board of Governors has adopted the "Membership Resolution,"
the applicant state needs to take the legal steps required under its own law to enable it to
sign the IMF's Articles of Agreement and to fulfill the obligations of IMF membership.
Similarly, any member country can withdraw from the Fund, although that is rare. For
example, in April 2007, the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa announced the expulsion
of the World Bank representative in the country. A few days later, at the end of April,
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced that the country would withdraw from the
IMF and the World Bank. Chavez dubbed both organizations as “the tools of the empire”
that “serve the interests of the North”.[15] As of June 2009, both countries remain as
members of both organizations. Venezuela was forced to back down because a
withdrawal would have triggered default clauses in the country's sovereign bonds.

A member's quota in the IMF determines the amount of its subscription, its voting
weight, its access to IMF financing, and its allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
A member state cannot unilaterally increase its quota—increases must be approved by the
Executive Board and are linked to formulas that include many variables such as the size
of a country in the world economy. For example, in 2001, China was prevented from
increasing its quota as high as it wished, ensuring it remained at the level of the smallest
G7 economy (Canada).[16] In September 2005, the IMF's member countries agreed to the
first round of ad hoc quota increases for four countries, including China. On March 28,
2008, the IMF's Executive Board ended a period of extensive discussion and negotiation
over a major package of reforms to enhance the institution's governance that would shift
quota and voting shares from advanced to emerging markets and developing countries.
The Fund's Board of Governors must vote on these reforms by April 28, 2008.

[edit] Members' quotas and voting power, and Board of

Governors
Major decisions require an 85% supermajority.[17] The United States has always been the
only country able to block a supermajority on its own.[18]

Table showing the top 20 member countries in terms of voting power (2,216,193 votes in
total):[19]

Quota:
IMF Quota: Votes:
millions Alternate Votes:
member percentage Governor percentage
of Governor number
country of total of total
SDRs
United Timothy F.
37149.3 17.09 Ben Bernanke 371743 16.77
States Geithner
Masaaki
Japan 13312.8 6.12 Naoto Kan 133378 6.02
Shirakawa
Axel A. Wolfgang
Germany 13008.2 5.98 130332 5.88
Weber Schäuble
Christine Christian
France 10738.5 4.94 107635 4.85
Lagarde Noyer
United Alistair
10738.5 4.94 Mervyn King 107635 4.85
Kingdom Darling
Zhou
China 8090.1 3.72 Hu Xiaolian 81151 3.66
Xiaochuan
Giulio
Italy 7055.5 3.25 Mario Draghi 70805 3.2
Tremonti
Saudi Ibrahim A. Hamad Al-
6985.5 3.21 70105 3.17
Arabia Al-Assaf Sayari
Canada 6369.2 2.93 Jim Flaherty Mark Carney 63942 2.89
Aleksei Sergey
Russia 5945.4 2.74 59704 2.7
Kudrin Ignatiev
Netherla L.B.J. van
5162.4 2.38 Nout Wellink 51874 2.34
nds Geest
Jean-Pierre
Belgium 4605.2 2.12 Guy Quaden 46302 2.09
Arnoldi
Pranab Duvvuri
India 4158.2 1.91 41832 1.89
Mukherjee Subbarao
Switzerla 3458.5 Jean-Pierre Hans-Rudolf
1.59 34835 1.57
nd Roth Merz
Australia 3236.4 1.49 Wayne Swan Ken Henry 32614 1.47
Agustín Guillermo
Mexico 3152.8 1.45 31778 1.43
Carstens Ortiz
Miguel
Elena
Spain 3048.9 1.40 Fernández 30739 1.39
Salgado
Ordóñez
Brazil 3036.1 1.40 Guido Henrique 30611 1.38
 Mantega Meirelles
South Seong Tae
2927.3 1.35 Okyu Kwon 29523 1.33
Korea Lee
Rodrigo
Venezuel Gastón Parra
2659.1 1.22 Cabeza 26841 1.21
a Luzardo
Morales
remaining
166 60081.4 29.14 respective respective 637067 28.78
countries

[edit] Assistance and reforms

Main articles: Washington consensus and Structural adjustment program

The primary mission of the IMF is to provide financial assistance to countries that
experience serious financial and economic difficulties using funds deposited with the
IMF from the institution's 186 member countries. Member states with balance of
payments problems, which often arise from these difficulties, may request loans to help
fill gaps between what countries earn and/or are able to borrow from other official
lenders and what countries must spend to operate, including to cover the cost of
importing basic goods and services. In return, countries are usually required to launch
certain reforms, which have often been dubbed the "Washington Consensus". These
reforms are thought to be beneficial to countries with fixed exchange rate policies that
may engage in fiscal, monetary, and political practices which may lead to the crisis itself.
For example, nations with severe budget deficits, rampant inflation, strict price controls,
or significantly over-valued or under-valued currencies run the risk of facing balance of
payment crises. Thus, the structural adjustment programs are at least ostensibly intended
to ensure that the IMF is actually helping to prevent financial crises rather than merely
funding financial recklessness.

[edit] IMF/World Bank support of military

dictatorships
The role of the Bretton Woods institutions has been controversial since the late Cold War
period, as the IMF policy makers supported military dictatorships friendly to American
and European corporations. Critics also claim that the IMF is generally apathetic or
hostile to their views of democracy, human rights, and labor rights. The controversy has
helped spark the Anti-globalization movement. Arguments in favor of the IMF say that
economic stability is a precursor to democracy; however, critics highlight various
examples in which democratized countries fell after receiving IMF loans.[20]

In the 1960s, the IMF and the World Bank supported the government of Brazil’s military
dictator Castello Branco with tens of millions of dollars of loans and credit that were
denied to previous democratically-elected governments.[21]
Countries that were or are under a military dictatorship whilst being members of the
IMF/World Bank (support from various sources in $Billion):[22]

Dictat
Debt % Dictat or
Coun
Country In In [clarification
Debt % at try or genera
indebted to powe pow needed] at end of debts debts ted
Dictator r
IMF/World er start of dictatorsh in genera debt
Bank from to dictatorshi ip ted $ % of
1996
p billion total
debt

Argentin Military
1976 1983 9.3 48.9 93.8 39.6 42%
a dictatorship
Military
Bolivia 1962 1980 0 2.7 5.2 2.7 52%
dictatorship
Military
Brazil 1964 1985 5.1 105.1 179 100 56%
dictatorship
Chile Augusto Pinochet 1973 1989 5.2 18 27.4 12.8 47%
El Military
1979 1994 0.9 2.2 2.2 1.3 59%
Salvador dictatorship
Mengistu Haile
Ethiopia 1977 1991 0.5 4.2 10 3.7 37%
Mariam
Jean-Claude
Haiti 1971 1986 0 0.7 0.9 0.7 78%
Duvalier
Indonesi
Suharto 1967 1998 3 129 129 126 98%
a
Kenya Moi 1979 2002 2.7 6.9 6.9 4.2 61%
Liberia Doe 1979 1990 0.6 1.9 2.1 1.3 62%
Malawi Banda 1964 1994 0.1 2 2.3 1.9 83%
Buhari/Babangida
Nigeria 1984 1998 17.8 31.4 31.4 13.6 43%
/Abacha
Pakistan Zia-ul Haq 1977 1988 7.6 17
Pakistan Pervez Musharraf 1999 2008
Paragua
Stroessner 1954 1989 0.1 2.4 2.1 2.3 96%
y
Philippi
Marcos 1965 1986 1.5 28.3 41.2 26.8 65%
nes
Somalia Siad Barre 1969 1991 0 2.4 2.6 2.4 92%
South
apartheid 1948 1992 18.7 23.6 18.7 79%
Africa
pres
Sudan Nimeiry/al-Mahdi 1969 0.3 17 17 16.7 98%
ent
Syria Assad 1970 pres 0.2 21.4 21.4 21.2 99%
 ent
Military
Thailand 1950 1983 0 13.9 90.8 13.9 15%
dictatorship
Zaire/De
mocratic
Mobutu 1965 1997 0.3 12.8 12.8 12.5 98%
Republic of
the Congo

Notes: Debt at takeover by dictatorship; earliest data published by the World Bank is for
1970. Debt at end of dictatorship (or 1996, most recent date for World Bank data).

[edit] Criticism
"The interests of the IMF represent the big international interests that seem to be established and
concentrated in Wall Street."
— Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary, 1959[23]

Two criticisms from economists have been that financial aid is always bound to so-called
"Conditionalities", including Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP). It is claimed that
conditionalities (economic performance targets established as a precondition for IMF
loans) retard social stability and hence inhibit the stated goals of the IMF, while
Structural Adjustment Programs lead to an increase in poverty in recipient countries.[24]

One of the main SAP conditions placed on troubled countries is that the governments sell
up as much of their national assets as they can, normally to western corporations at
heavily discounted prices.[citation needed]

That said, the IMF sometimes advocates "austerity programmes," increasing taxes even
when the economy is weak, in order to generate government revenue and balance budget
deficits. Countries are often advised to lower their corporate tax rate. These policies were
criticized by Joseph E. Stiglitz, former chief economist and Senior Vice President at the
World Bank, in his book Globalization and Its Discontents.[25] He argued that by
converting to a more Monetarist approach, the fund no longer had a valid purpose, as it
was designed to provide funds for countries to carry out Keynesian reflations, and that
the IMF "was not participating in a conspiracy, but it was reflecting the interests and
ideology of the Western financial community".[26]

Argentina, which had been considered by the IMF to be a model country in its
compliance to policy proposals by the Bretton Woods institutions, experienced a
catastrophic economic crisis in 2001,[27] which some believe to have been caused by IMF-
induced budget restrictions — which undercut the government's ability to sustain national
infrastructure even in crucial areas such as health, education, and security — and
privatization of strategically vital national resources.[28] Others attribute the crisis to
Argentina's misdesigned fiscal federalism, which caused subnational spending to increase
rapidly.[29] The crisis added to widespread hatred of this institution in Argentina and other
South American countries, with many blaming the IMF for the region's economic
problems.[30] The current — as of early 2006 — trend towards moderate left-wing
governments in the region and a growing concern with the development of a regional
economic policy largely independent of big business pressures has been ascribed to this
crisis.

Another example of where IMF Structural Adjustment Programmes aggravated the

problem was in Kenya. Before the IMF got involved in the country, the Kenyan central
bank oversaw all currency movements in and out of the country. The IMF mandated that
the Kenyan central bank had to allow easier currency movement. However, the
adjustment resulted in very little foreign investment, but allowed Kamlesh Manusuklal
Damji Pattni, with the help of corrupt government officials, to siphon off billions of
Kenyan shillings in what came to be known as the Goldenberg scandal, leaving the
country worse off than it was before the IMF reforms were implemented.[citation needed] In an
interview, the former Romanian Prime Minister Tăriceanu stated that "Since 2005, IMF
is constantly making mistakes when it appreciates the country's economic performances".
[31]

In September 2007 the IMF said "given the Irish economy's strong fundamentals and the
authorities' commitment to sound policies, the Directors expected economic growth to
remain robust over the medium term".[32] Seventeen months later in April 2009 the New
York Times quoted Nobel prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, who identified
Ireland as a model for the worst-case scenario for the global economy.[33]

Overall the IMF success record is perceived as limited.[citation needed] While it was created to
help stabilize the global economy, since 1980 critics claim over 100 countries (or
reputedly most of the Fund's membership) have experienced a banking collapse that they
claim have reduced GDP by four percent or more, far more than at any time in Post-
Depression history.[citation needed] The considerable delay in the IMF's response to any crisis,
and the fact that it tends to only respond to them (or even create them)[34] rather than
prevent them, has led many economists to argue for reform. In 2006, an IMF reform
agenda called the Medium Term Strategy was widely endorsed by the institution's
member countries. The agenda includes changes in IMF governance to enhance the role
of developing countries in the institution's decision-making process and steps to deepen
the effectiveness of its core mandate, which is known as economic surveillance or
helping member countries adopt macroeconomic policies that will sustain global growth
and reduce poverty. On June 15, 2007, the Executive Board of the IMF adopted the 2007
Decision on Bilateral Surveillance, a landmark measure that replaced a 30-year-old
decision of the Fund's member countries on how the IMF should analyse economic
outcomes at the country level.

[edit] Impact on access to food

A number of civil society organizations[35] have criticized the IMF's policies for their
impact on peoples' access to food, particularly in developing countries. In October 2008,
former US President Bill Clinton joined this chorus in a speech to the United Nations
World Food Day, which criticized the World Bank and IMF for their policies on food and
agriculture:

We need the World Bank, the IMF, all the big foundations, and all the governments to admit that,
for 30 years, we all blew it, including me when I was President. We were wrong to believe that
food was like some other product in international trade, and we all have to go back to a more
responsible and sustainable form of agriculture.

– Former US President Bill Clinton, Speech at United Nations World Food Day, October 16,
2008 [36]

[edit] Impact on public health

In 2008, a study by analysts from Cambridge and Yale universities published on the
open-access Public Library of Science concluded that strict conditions on the
international loans by the IMF resulted in thousands of deaths in Eastern Europe by
tuberculosis as public health care had to be weakened. In the 21 countries to which the
IMF had given loans, tuberculosis deaths rose by 16.6 %.[37]

[edit] Criticism from free-market advocates

Typically the IMF and its supporters advocate a monetarist approach. As such, adherents
of supply-side economics generally find themselves in open disagreement with the IMF.
The IMF frequently advocates currency devaluation, criticized by proponents of supply-
side economics as inflationary. Secondly they link higher taxes under "austerity
programmes" with economic contraction.

Currency devaluation is recommended by the IMF to the governments of poor nations

with struggling economies. Some economists claim these IMF policies are destructive to
economic prosperity.[citation needed]

Complaints have also been directed toward the International Monetary Fund gold reserve
being undervalued. At its inception in 1945, the IMF pegged gold at US$35 per Troy
ounce of gold. In 1973, the Nixon administration lifted the fixed asset value of gold in
favor of a world market price. This need to lift the fixed asset value of gold had largely
come about because Petrodollars outside the United States were worth more than could
be backed by the gold at Fort Knox under the fixed exchange rate system.[citation needed]
Following this, the fixed exchange rates of currencies tied to gold were switched to a
floating rate, also based on market price and exchange. The fixed rate system had only
served to limit the nominal amount of assistance the organization could provide to debt-
ridden countries. Current IMF rules prohibit members from linking their currencies to
gold.[citation needed]

[edit] Attempts to repair image

Research by the Pew Research Center shows that more than 60 percent of Asians and 70
percent of Africans feel that the IMF and the World Bank have a positive effect on their
country. However it is pertinent to note that the survey aggregated international
organizations including the World Trade Organization. Also, a similar percentage of
people in the Western world believed that these international organizations had a positive
effect on their countries. In 2005, the IMF was the first multilateral financial institution to
implement a sweeping debt-relief program for the world's poorest countries known as the
Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. By year-end 2006, 23 countries mostly in sub-Saharan
Africa and Central America had received total relief of debts owed to the IMF[citation needed].

[edit] Managing Director

Historically the IMF's managing director has been European and the president of the
World Bank has been from the United States. However, this standard is increasingly
being questioned and competition for these two posts may soon open up to include other
qualified candidates from any part of the world. Executive Directors, who confirm the
managing director, are voted in by Finance Ministers from countries they represent. The
First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, the second-in-command, has traditionally
been (and is today) an American.

The IMF is for the most part controlled by the major Western Powers, with voting rights
on the Executive board based on a quota derived from the relative size of a country in the
global economy. Critics claim that the board rarely votes and passes issues contradicting
the will of the US or Europeans, which combined represent the largest bloc of
shareholders in the Fund. On the other hand, Executive Directors that represent emerging
and developing countries have many times strongly defended the group of nations in their
constituency. Alexandre Kafka, who represented several Latin American countries for 32
years as Executive Director (including 21 as the dean of the Board), is a prime example.
Mohamed Finaish from Libya, the Executive Director representing the majority of the
Arab World and Pakistan, was a tireless defender[citation needed] of the developing nations'
rights at the IMF until the 1992 elections.

Rodrigo Rato became the ninth Managing Director of the IMF on June 7, 2004 and
resigned his post at the end of October 2007.

EU ministers agreed on the candidacy of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director

of the IMF at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on July
10, 2007. On September 28, 2007, the International Monetary Fund's 24 executive
directors elected Mr. Strauss-Kahn as new managing director, with broad support
including from the United States and the 27-nation European Union. Strauss-Kahn
succeeded Spain's Rodrigo de Rato, who retired on October 31, 2007.[38] The only other
nominee was Josef Tošovský, a late candidate proposed by Russia. Strauss-Kahn said: "I
am determined to pursue without delay the reforms needed for the IMF to make financial
stability serve the international community, while fostering growth and employment."[39]
 Dates Name Country

May 6, 1946 – May 5, 1951 Camille Gutt Belgium

August 3, 1951 – October 3, 1956 Ivar Rooth Sweden

November 21, 1956 – May 5, 1963 Per Jacobsson Sweden

September 1, 1963 – August 31, 1973 Pierre-Paul Schweitzer France

September 1, 1973 – June 16, 1978 Johannes Witteveen Netherlands

June 17, 1978 – January 15, 1987 Jacques de Larosière France

January 16, 1987 – February 14, 2000 Michel Camdessus France

May 1, 2000 – March 4, 2004 Horst Köhler Germany

June 7, 2004 – October 31, 2007 Rodrigo Rato Spain

November 1, 2007 – present Dominique Strauss-Kahn France

[edit] Media representation of the IMF

Life and Debt, a documentary film, deals with the IMF's policies' influence on Jamaica
and its economy from a critical point of view. In 1978, one year after Jamaica first
entered a borrowing relationship with the IMF, the Jamaican dollar was still worth more
on the open exchange than the US dollar; by 1995, when Jamaica terminated that
relationship, the Jamaican dollar had eroded to less than 2 cents US. Such observations
lead to skepticism that IMF involvement is not necessarily helpful to a third world
economy.
The Debt of Dictators[40] explores the lending of billions of dollars by the IMF, World
Bank multinational banks and other international financial institutions to brutal dictators
throughout the world. (see IMF/World Bank support of military dictatorships)

Radiohead mentions the IMF in their song "Electioneering" on their 1997 release, OK
Computer. The lyrics state, "It's just business/Cattle prods and the IMF/I trust I can rely
on your vote". Bruce Cockburn mentions the IMF in his song "Call It Democracy". The
lyrics state "IMF dirty MF/takes away everything it can get/always making certain that
there's one thing left/keep them on the hook with insupportable debt". Rage Against The
Machine in "Wind Below" from Evil Empire makes reference to IMF with the lyrics
"Flip this capital eclipse/ Them bury life with IMF shifts, and poison lips". Thievery
Corporation mention the IMF in their song "Vampires" on their album Radio Retaliation:
the lyrics are "Lies and theft/ Guns and debt/ Life and death/ IMF".

[edit] See also

• Third world debt
• Economics
• Special Drawing Rights
• Development aid
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Globalization and Its Discontents
• Managing for development results
• Globalization and Health
• Bancor
• Bank for International Settlements
• World Bank
• Inter-American Development Bank
• Bretton Woods system
• Global Governance Watch

[edit] References
1. ^ IMF Members' Quotas and Voting Power, and IMF Board of Governors
2. ^ Exchange Rate Archives by Month
3. ^ Sullivan, Arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in action.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 488. ISBN 0-
13-063085-3. http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?
locator=PSZ3R9&PMDbSiteId=2781&PMDbSolutionId=6724&PMDbCategoryI
d=&PMDbProgramId=12881&level=4.
4. ^ "Factsheet - The IMF at a Glance". IMF. June 2009.
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/glance.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
5. ^ Escobar, Arturo. 1988. Power and Visibility: Development and the Invention
and Management of the Third World. Cultural Anthropology 3 (4): 428-443.
6. ^ "Republic of Kosovo is now officially a member of the IMF and the World
Bank". The Kosovo Times. 2009-06-29. http://www.kosovotimes.net/flash-
news/676-republic-of-kosovo-is-now-officially-a-member-of-the-imf-and-the-
world-bank.html. Retrieved 2009-06-29. "Kosovo signed the Articles of
Agreement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) on behalf of Kosovo at the
State Department in Washington."
7. ^ International Monetary Fund (2009-06-29). "Kosovo Becomes the International
Monetary Fund’s 186th Member". Press release.
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09240.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
8. ^ Andrews, Nick; Bob Davis (2009-05-07). "Kosovo Wins Acceptance to IMF".
The Wall Street Journal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124154560907188151.html. Retrieved 2009-05-
07. "Taiwan was booted out of the IMF in 1980 when China was admitted, and it
hasn't applied to return since."
9. ^ "Brazil calls for Cuba to be allowed into IMF". Caribbean Net News. 2009-04-
27. http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cuba/cuba.php?
news_id=15996&start=0&category_id=5. Retrieved 2009-05-07. "Cuba was a
member of the IMF until 1964, when it left under revolutionary leader Fidel
Castro following his confrontation with the United States."
10. ^ IMF Articles of Agreement, Article XII Section 2(a) and Section 3(b).
11. ^ Brief video of the Bretton Woods Conference is available at YouTube.com
12. ^ IMF.org
13. ^ NEWS.BBC.co.uk
14. ^ G20: Gordon Brown brokers massive financial aid deal for global economy
15. ^ BrettonWoodsProject.org
16. ^ Barnett, Michael; Finnemore, Martha (2004), Rules for the World:
International Organisations in Global Politics, Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
ISBN 9780801488238.
17. ^ CounterPunch, 2 September, Multilateral Money
18. ^ However, the 27 member states of the European Union have a combined vote of
710,786 (32.07%).
19. ^ "Members". IMF. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/memdir/members.htm#3.
Retrieved 2007-09-24.
20. ^ "World Bank - IMF support to dictatorships". cadtm.
http://www.cadtm.org/spip.php?article809. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
21. ^ BRAZIL Toward Stability, TIME Magazine, December 31, 1965.
22. ^ "Dictators and debt". Jubilee 2000.
http://www.jubileeresearch.org/analysis/reports/dictatorsreport.htm. Retrieved
2007-09-21.
23. ^ An interview with Che Guevara for Radio Rivadavia of Argentina on
November 3, 1959.
24. ^ Hertz, Noreena. The Debt Threat. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2004.
25. ^ Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalization and its Discontents. New York: WW Norton &
Company, 2002.
26. ^ Globalization: Stiglitz's Case
 27. ^ Memoria del Saqueo, Fernando Ezequiel Solanas, documentary film, 2003
(Language: spanish; Subtitles: english) YouTube.com
28. ^ Economic debacle in Argentina: The IMF strikes again
29. ^ Stephen Webb, "Argentina: Hardening the Provincial Budget Constraint," in
Rodden, Eskeland, and Litvack (eds.), Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge
of Hard Budget Constraints (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003).
30. ^ How the IMF Props Up the Bankrupt Dollar System, by F. William Engdahl,
US/Germany
31. ^ Tăriceanu: FMI a făcut constant greşeli de apreciere a economiei româneşti -
Mediafax
32. ^ IMF.org
33. ^ IrishTimes.com
34. ^ Budhoo, Davidson. Enough is Enough: Dear Mr. Camdessus... Open Letter to
the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. New York: New
Horizons Press, 1990.
35. ^ Oxfam, Death on the Doorstep of the Summit, August 2002.
36. ^ Bill Clinton, "Speech: United Nations World Food Day", October 13, 2008
37. ^ International Monetary Fund Programs and Tuberculosis Outcomes in Post-
Communist Countries PLoS Medicine. The study has not been independently
verified, nor have the authors published parts of their supporting data. Retrieved
29-7-2008.
38. ^ Yahoo.com, IMF to choose new director
39. ^ BBC NEWS, Frenchman is named new IMF chief
40. ^ NewsReel.org

[edit] Further references

• Jan Joost Teunissen and Age Akkerman (eds.) (2005). Helping the Poor? The
IMF and Low-Income Countries. FONDAD. ISBN 90-74208-25-8.
• Dreher, Axel (2002). The Development and Implementation of IMF and World
Bank Conditionality. HWWA. ISSN 1616-4814.
http://econwpa.wustl.edu/eps/if/papers/0207/0207003.pdf.
• Dreher, Axel (2004). "A Public Choice Perspective of IMF and World Bank
Lending and Conditionality". Public Choice 119 (3–4): 445–464.
doi:10.1023/B:PUCH.0000033326.19804.52.
• Dreher, Axel (2004). "The Influence of IMF Programs on the Re-election of
Debtor Governments". Economics & Politics 16 (1): 53–75. doi:10.1111/j.1468-
0343.2004.00131.x.
• Dreher, Axel (2003). "The Influence of Elections on IMF Programme
Interruptions". The Journal of Development Studies 39 (6): 101–120.
doi:10.1080/00220380312331293597.
• The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast (2002)
• The IMF and The World Bank: How do they differ? by David D. Driscoll
• Rivalries between IMF and IBRD, "Sister-talk", The Economist (2007-03-01)
• George, S. (1988). A Fate Worse Than Debt. London: Penguin Books.
 • Hancock, G. (1991). Lords of Poverty: The Free-Wheeling Lifestyles, Power,
Prestige and Corruption of the Multi-billion Dollar Aid Business. London:
Mandarin.
• Markwell, Donald (2006), John Maynard Keynes and International Relations:
Economic Paths to War and Peace, Oxford & New York: Oxford University
Press.
• Rapkin, David P. and Jonathan R. Strand (2005) “Developing Country
Representation and Governance of the International Monetary Fund,” World
Development 33, 12: 1993–2011.
• Strand, Jonathan R and David P. Rapkin (2005) “Voting Power Implications of a
Double Majority Voting Procedure in the IMF’s Executive Board,” in Reforming
the Governance of the IMF and World Bank, Ariel Buira, ed, London: Anthem
Press.
• Williamson, John. (August 1982). The Lending Policies of the International
Monetary Fund, Policy Analyses in International Economics 1, Washington D.C.,
Institute for International Economics. ISBN 0-88132-000-5
• Chomsky, Noam. Interview with Amy Goodman. Noam Chomsky on the Global
Economic Crisis, Healthcare, US Foreign Policy and Resistance to American
Empire. Democracy Now!. New York. April 13, 2009.

[edit] External links

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or
guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive and inappropriate
external links or by converting links into references. (January 2010)

• IMF and International Economic Policy U.S. House of Representatives

• Recent Bailouts and Reform of the International Monetary Fund, Joint Economic
Committee Study
• International Monetary Fund website
• Finance & Development - A quarterly magazine of the IMF
• Annual Reports of the Executive Board
• World Economic Outlook Reports
• IMF Publications
• IMF Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD)
• August Review - Global Banking: The IMF
• Kenneth Rogoff - The sisters at 60
• How the IMF Props Up the Dollar System
• IMF’s Origins as a Blueprint for Its Future, Anna J. Schwartz, National Bureau
of Economic Research
• Center for International Finance & Development by the University of Iowa
research center
• IMF-Supported Macroeconomic Policies and the World Recession: A Look at
Forty-One Borrowing Countries, October 2009, report from the Center for
Economic and Policy Research
 • What's the difference between the IMF and the World Bank? by economist Arthur
MacEwan, in Dollars & Sense magazine
• "Monetary Freedom Act" HR 391, by Congressman Ron Paul, 1981
• Bretton Woods Project Critical voices on the World Bank and IMF
• Eurodad report: Critical conditions: The IMF maintains its grip on low-income
governments
• The IMF Rules the World by Michael Hudson, Counterpunch, April 6, 2009
• Reforming the IMF: A Debate, from Summer 2007 issue of International Finance
• Fallacy and the Reality of IMF Standby Arrangement for Sri Lanka by The
Sunday Times

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