Is the IMF Still Relevant?

For much of the 20th century, the United States has toggled between two foreign policy impulses: to actively insert itself in the affairs of the world or to hang back and focus on its own domestic issues. Advocates of the two approaches to international relations have had various ...  Show more

In large parts of the world, economic and technological progress has made people’s lives significantly better over the past few decades. From China to Africa to Latin America, large swaths of the population are healthier and more prosperous than ever.   But even as humanity has a ...  Show more

Since the second world war, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have attempted to help countries in financial difficulties by providing low interest loans. This week the two Bretton Woods institutions have been holding their annual meetings in the Moroccan to ...  Show more

The 2023 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings took place from April 10-16, amidst a backdrop of challenges: from stress in the banking sector, persistent inflation, rising debt, climate change and of course Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Addressing this instability, and lo ...  Show more

Live from the World Bank/IMF Meetings in Washington DC. Christine Lagarde, IMF's managing director, says the IMF has repeatedly said corporate tax reform was needed in the U.S. Prior to that, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim says the World Bank is talking with the U.S. about inf ...  Show more

The world bank was set up in 1944. In the aftermath of the second world war, the institution was there to give loans to countries rebuilding after the conflict. Their first loan went to France - but with stipulations about repayment that set a tone for future funds. A new series ...  Show more