The Politics of IMF Conditions
Wed, April 15, 2009 There is a tendency I detect, especially among those in the corporate sector, who are as conscious of their location and responsibilities as nationals of this country, as I am, to view what ever conditions the Fund may impose as being beyond politics; good technocratic advise that we must take, for our own good. This is of course prompted in part by the mismanagement in a context of hyper politicization of our own monetary policy, but its also catalyzed by a view, infrequently challenged, in the English language press in this country at least, that the Bank the Fund and their allied institutions are rule-governed and ethical, non-political, technocratic and expert, almost infallible. But are they really?
Not at all. The World Bank and IMF come out of a neo-imperial arraignment through which the US and Europe still attempt to rule the world; it still goes with out saying the head of the Bank is a US citizen and head of the Fund, a European, with the US having a veto on IMF policies. And their respective Boards push for policies that will assist these national formations. Furthermore, the US itself does not subject itself to scrutiny from the IMF.