CONTENTS

Economic Perspectives

An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, Vol. 6, No. 1, February 2001

Articles Facts and Figures Information Resources

Reforming The International Financial Institutions

REFORMING AND REFOCUSING THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
By Senator Phil Gramm, Chairman, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate
The IMF has expanded its mission, making poorer countries more dependent on its lending, without promoting their economic progress. This debt-driven cycle of poverty will not be broken until the IMF reforms both its priorities and its mission.

REFORMING THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: A PLAN FOR FINANCIAL STABILITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
By Allan H. Meltzer, Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
The IFIs have failed to keep pace with changes in the global economy. Future international economic stability will require a more focused mission for the IMF and a new approach by the development banks.

THE IMF AND THE WORLD BANK: ADDRESSING FINANCIAL CRISES AND DEVELOPMENT
An Interview With Timothy Geithner, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Former U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs
The IMF, operating in a world of sovereign states and increasingly integrated capital markets, has played a crucial role in stabilizing countries where financial crises have flared up.

MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS IN A CHANGING GLOBAL ECONOMY
By Nancy Birdsall, Senior Associate, and Brian Deese, Junior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
While many developing countries can now borrow in private capital markets, this access is tentative, a fact that underscores the continued need for the multilateral development banks to provide financing that can reassure the private markets. But the banks must adapt their activities to be more sustainable and cost effective.

REGIONAL PUBLIC GOODS IN INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE
By Lisa D. Cook, Research Associate, and Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Harvard University's Center for International Development
Development assistance should more focused on those public goods -- i.e., environmental protection, public health, and law enforcement -- that private markets cannot adequately provide. Public goods that must be provided "regionally" are particularly important.

THE IMF/WORLD BANK FINANCIAL SECTOR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
By Paul Hilbers, Deputy Chief, Financial Systems Surveillance I Division, Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund
A new joint IMF-World Bank program that focuses on a country's financial sector should help reduce the incidence of financial crises by providing authorities with an objective review of conditions and identifying weaknesses at an earlier stage.

FACTS AND FIGURES

THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

SELECTIVE CHRONOLOGY OF THE IFIS

THE HIPC INITIATIVE

INFORMATION RESOURCES

KEY CONTACTS AND INTERNET SITES

ADDITIONAL READINGS ON REFORMING THE INTERNATIONAL
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Economic Perspectives

An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State

Volume 6, Number 1, February 2001

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Editor, Economic Perspectives
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E-mail: [email protected]

Publisher

Judith Siegel

Editor

Jonathan Schaffer

Managing Editor

Warner Rose

Associate Editors

Wayne Hall


Kathleen Hug

Contributing Editors

Gretchen Christison


Eileen Deegan


Martha Deutscher


Barbara Durant

Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.

Martin Manning

Bruce Odessey

Art Director

Sylvia Scott

Editorial Board

Howard Cincotta


Judith Siegel

Leonardo Williams

U.S. Department of State
Office of International Information Programs
February 2001

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