The failure of the IMF, World Bank and WTO to represent and further the interests of the developing world, through their one-size-fits-all approach, has lead to the collapse of trade negations, widespread criticism of their effectiveness, and bitter international protest. Many countries are rejecting the neoliberal ideologies of the ‘unholy trinity’ with intensifying calls for their reform or decommissioning.
Because it did not come amidst a sex scandal and because the outgoing leader was not one of the architects of the Iraq War, the surprise June resignation of the International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato did not garner the gleeful, gossipy headlines surrounding Paul Wolfowitz's disgraceful exit from the World Bank.
We are living in a world that has entered into a reproductive system of war, militarization, destruction and dehumanization. For different reasons the US has emerged as the centre of this global system.
By insisting that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) promotes an extreme form of free enterprise capitalism, some commentators believe it should be closed down. But considering the IMF’s record, one has to be hooked on hallucinogenic drugs to believe it holds a corporate view in support of economic fundamentalism.
Every year, the World Bank (Bank) channels US$ 18-20 billion to developing countries in the form of loans and grants with the ostensible aim of reducing poverty and promoting economic growth. The Bank always acts in tandem with its sibling agency, the International Monetary Fund (Fund), even in countries that no longer borrow from the Fund. Not all Bank financing and support goes to governments. A significant amount goes directly to the private sector, especially large corporations, in the form of loans, technical assistance and mitigation of investment risks.
Despite the long-stated policy of the World Bank and IMF to monitor the impact of their advice on poor people, this Eurodad joint-NGO report argues that these institutions consistently fail to ensure that there is a proper assessment of the likely consequences of different policy actions.
Popular resistance to neoliberal “reform” was the underlying cause of Peru’s July general strike. On July 5, public schoolteachers walked off the job over government plans to privatise education. Within days, discontented workers from other industries joined the embattled teachers. Before long, schools, mines, factories and construction sites were shut down as tens of thousands of striking protesters took to the streets of every major city demanding higher pay, improved conditions and revisions to the US-Peru free-trade agreement. Peasant farmers joined the mass mobilisation, closing roads and paralysing transport networks.
After reviews of its engagement with low-income members the IMF is in the process of redesigning its programmes, but its recent changes on dealing with aid inflows have not satisfied critics of the Fund’s inflexibility in allowing the scaling up of social spending.
