Argentina is a well known case study of the failure or negative outcome of some IMF's standard policies. In fact, Argentina carefully applied policies dictated by IMF, but, until it stuck up with those policies, it couldn't step out from its crisis, and it ran into even deeper economic and social problems. This failure of the IMF has often been cited as the demonstration of unsuitability of the standard IMF approach (the usual so-called Washington Consensus) for solving economic crisis in developing countries (Serra & Stiglitz, 2008, p. 44). Also, this failure led to hostile feelings versus IMF among the population of Argentina (Kanenguiser, 2000) and fueled generalised suspects over IMF decision-making process being politicized and serving …show more content…
According to this approach, in order to get IMF loans, any assisted country should go through reforms focused on the three major pillars of fiscal austerity, privatization and liberalization (Stiglitz, 2002, p. 53). During all the 90s, Argentina's economic policies were under the strict control of a supporting program established by IMF (IEO of IMF, 2003), so during the deep crisis happened between 1998 and 2002, IMF was already in charge with its approach. Throughout all this period, Argentina strictly applied the IMF formula and realized a number of structural reforms, "reducing budget and balance of payment deficits, raising interest rates, reducing inflation, privatizing state assets, and reducing trade barriers and regulation on capital flows in and out of the country" (Paddock, 2002, p. 158). This program did not produce the results expected by IMF. Instead, it produced recession and a strong dependence of Argentina's government on IMF loans to support its growing debt (Paddock, 2002). Primary economic and social indicators clearly show the sufferings of Argentina during that period: between 1998 and 2002, GDP passed from 292 billion dollars to 97 billion dollars (The World Bank, 2017), while unemployment grew from to 12.8% to 19.6% (The World Bank, 2017). Argentina stepped out of the crisis only after defaulting and devaluating, i.e. after …show more content…
This failure was harshly criticized by some economists as a failure of the "one size fits all" Washington Consensus approach (Stiglitz, 2008). Also, IMF itself admitted some responsibility and mistakes in worsening Argentina crisis (Conway, 2004). Anyway, while IMF never considered the Washington Consensus approach as the root of the problems in Argentina, and explained its faults as being a matter of growth forecast errors (Blanchard & Leigh, 2013), most of the widely agreed criticisms to IMF targeted exactly the Washington Consensus approach and the mindset behind it: "Government as the problem, and markets as the solution" (Stiglitz, 2008, n.d.). In practice, IMF is sometimes perceived as an institution much more involved in liberalization and privatization than in solving economic crisis, and this perception fuels hostile feelings among the population of assisted countries suffering for structural reforms. So, though it is still not proven that the Washington Consensus policies are definitely wrong, it is clear enough that IMF should revise its approach and mindset and should take more care of the social outcome of the economic policies it requests, if it wants to stop being blamed for social riots. A simple way to achieve this goal could be the sharing of risks and responsibilities for erroneous policies that IMF dictates. The righteousness of policies could be judged in respect to the spread between real growth
nd Goodness of God, a detailed narrative of Mary Rowlandson's eleven week captivity among Narragansett Indians, one cannot help but become aware of the presence of two distinct and alternating narrative voices throughout the body of the text. In fact, numerous scholars have taken pause to make note of this undeniable shift in voice within their critical reflections of Rowlandson's narrative. David Minter describes a "curious and double present-mindedness" that exists in the text, explaining that on one hand Rowlandson is attempting to use her experience as a lesson for those who walk a troubled path away from salvation, while on the other hand she is using the act of writing about her experience to mark her own place as one of the Elect declared
An example of the IMF’s ability to promote strong, stable economies is the case of Jordan. In the 1980s the declining oil prices and the related recessions in the Middle Eastern oil exporting countries was disadvantageous to Jordan. In 1989 Jordan had a 30-35 percent unemployment rate and was having a hard time due to their external debt. This led the authorities to request the country’s first arrangement with the IMF. Economic reforms were a part of the agreement between Jordan and the IMF. Jordan agreed to a series of five year reforms financed by the IMF, therefore the government took on huge reforms prioritizing foreign investment and easier trade policies. They were ultimately able to reduce the overall debt payment up to a manageable level. Jordan is currently regarded as a country by which the effectiveness of the IMF assistance is assessed.
The International Monetary Fund is an organization created in 1945 consisting of 187 member-countries with goals to foster a global cooperative monetary system, promote international trade growth and exchange rate stability, and maintain a multilateral system of payments. The IMF attempts to achieve these goals by surveilling the global economy, providing financial assistance through credits and loans, and by providing technical assistance. The organization has been surrounded in controversies due to their severe policies that nations are required to follow in order to receive loans, assistance, and debt relief. With this influence on debtor nation’s economies, the IMF controls how much is spent on environmental protection, healthcare, and education. These strict policies undermine political institutions and have had a negative impact on many nations, including Argentina.
This can be shown by the US having 17% control of the executive board meaning they have the right to veto as board approval requires 85%. Whereas India has only 2.44% of voting rights compared to the Netherlands who are significantly weaker in terms of economic power who have 2.17% . It can be argued that the way the voting structure works iensures that the IMF would prioritise its creditors and voters, so the EU and USA have a combined total of 49% thus they hold great sway over the institution. This can explain how in terms of loans 79.5% have gone to European countries, with the largest loans going to Greece, Portugal and Ireland to bail out their banks. Another accusation is that the IMF in general tends to create more harm than good when attempting to help countries as shown in the fast track scheme. Where they gave far too much loans to Argentina and they were forced to default . A similar event occurred to create the 1997 East Asia crisis where the IMF encouraged countries affected to borrow their way out of trouble thus making the crisis worse. These events were not prioritised by western country whereas when the Euro crisis hit the west only then did the IMF pour in billions to save essential countries in Europe. The IMF can be considered strongly European for all 11 directors in the IMF’s history have been European. So the IMF can be considered to be working in favour of western interests as
The IMF and World Bank providing loans to impoverished and financially unstable countries is not only irresponsible, it's unethical. I intend to use the example of the loans provided to Mexico during the Mexican peso crisis, also called the Tequila crisis or December mistake crisis to illustrate this, and then provide what I believe would be a better solution
Each country is different, different people, different resources, different culture and an exhaustive analysis was necessary to implement any policy . If the IMF had respected the sovereignty of the country, letting them follow their own rules and letting the people from the country create their own strategy get afloat, they would have had better
Throughout, there is a keen sense that the IMF is completely guided by ideology which is focused on the free market and the markets’ ability to guide the economy properly at all times. It would seem that all those who work at the IMF are misguided and/or towing the party line in the form of the Washington Consensus. Moreover, of greater concern is perhaps that throughout this piece, it would seem that the World Bank could do no wrong. Stiglitz portrays himself and the World Bank as the white knight(s) who were championing the rights of those who could not fight for themselves against the US government, the US Treasury and even the Federal Reserve. He does so with little regard to any policies or actions that these organizations have done for positive reasons or with positive results. He displays unwavering support for governments to stimulate aggregate demand via social spending, so it is surprising that he is so punitive towards Western governments.
During this time period the IMF took on a new role of lending to countries on the brink of default. By the mid 1980s, some observers noted that the loan qualifying austerity policies implemented by many borrowers were prolonging and deepening the debtor nations’ problems.
International institutions reflect the interests of core capitalists and therefore do not essentially alter the economic positions of core and periphery countries. Global institutions and organizations are usually created by core countries and often refrain from undermining the authority of the core. Instead, IGOs and NGOs tend to perpetuate the power of the core by encouraging policies that align with the interests of wealthy countries and consequently exacerbate underdevelopment in peripheries. A significant example of mistreatment against Chile is the debt crisis it faced since the late 1900s. The USA and lending agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) declined
I want to write about this topic although I am aware that the IMF is said not to be directly related to Plan Colombia. This information does not seem accurate and of course you can find different points of view on this “fact”. I believe the IMF is most definitely related to Plan Colombia which has had a negative effect on the poor by cutting back on public services. This topic is particularly interesting to me because I am Colombian-American and this puts me in a difficult situation between my two countries.
The three major international economic institutions are the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization; this book mainly focuses on the IMF and the World Bank, due to the author’s first-hand experience with both institutions. The IMF, a public institution built as a guiding hand for economic stability around the world, has brought false
Following a steep currency devaluation and the largest sovereign debt default in history, Argentina entered a deep recession with high unemployment and social upheaval
However, although globalization has helped several countries, "in some developing countries, foreign aid and investments are not relieving widespread poverty, and policies forced by global institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have created more harm than good, because the policies are based on models constructed by the developed countries and are not customized for each developing country 's situation" (2003).
International banks have made risky loans all over the world because they knew that if trouble arose, the fund would step in to resolve the situation – as it has done in the past. The IMF has played a critical role in many of the epochal events in the 1990’s. The IMF lent 18 billion dollars to Mexico in 1994, after the peso collapsed. It gave Russia over 10 billion dollars in 1999. The IMF has helped drive inflation from 1,000 percent a year down to a tolerable 10 percent a year, thanks to Russia listening to what the IMF said and doing as they suggested. It has given Indonesia 10 billion dollars, and has helped Indonesia demonopolize industries. It gave 4 billion to Thailand, which was the epicenter of the East Asian Crisis. The IMF helped closed dozens of reckless banks. True, the IMF did many little things wrong, however, it did the important ones right. The Philippines is a prime example on how effectively the IMF can work. For years, Filipinos suffered the weaknesses of economic and business policies. Under the tutelage of the International Monetary Fund for nearly 30 years, and especially during the past decade, they faced up to their problems. Many sectors of their society suffered greatly, and some complained loudly. However, they persisted and, with the help of the IMF and the courage of the Philippine people, they exited from the IMF program. How did they do this? They assembled one of the best economic
The Argentine debt restructuring is a process of debt restructuring by Argentina which began on January 14, 2005, and allowed it to resume payment on the majority of the USD 82 billion in sovereign bonds that defaulted in 2002 at the depth of the worst economic crisis in the nation 's history. A second debt restructuring in 2010 brought the percentage of bonds, out of default, to 93%, though ongoing disputes with holdouts remained. Bondholders who participated in the restructuring, accepted repayments of around 30% of face value and deferred payment terms, and began to be paid punctually; the value of their bonds also began to rise.The remaining 7% of bondholders later won the right to be repaid in full.