Papers
UN commission recommendations; Commission of experts of the president of the UN General Assembly, chaired by Joseph Stiglitz
Makes recommendations for international monetary and financial system reform, calling for a global reserve system and a new credit facility with better governance arrangements than the IMF.
un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/docs/FinalReport_CoE.pdf
Put people first; UK NGO platform
Proposals for creating a fair, functioning and green global economy to help chart a path out of recession.
putpeoplefirst.org.uk/about-us/policy-platform
Power, responsibility and accountability: Rethinking the legitimacy of institutions for climate finance; World Resources Institute
Outlines the desired shape of climate finance in an analysis of ongoing efforts to finance mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
wri.org/publication/power-responsibility-accountability
Are we nearly there? Bridging UK supported funds and a post 2012 climate architecture; BOND, BWP
Highlights the form that financial architecture for climate related interventions should take, what development models it should build upon and what technological approaches it should encompass.
tinyurl.com/fcpffpp
Moving the goal posts: Accountability failures of the World Bank’s FCPF; Forest Peoples Programme
Warns that the internal due diligence and the effective application of Bank environmental and social safeguards under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility have been hugely problematic.
forestpeoples.org/documents/forest_issues/fcpf_briefing_oct09_eng.pdf
Zedillo commission report: Repowering the World Bank for the 21st century; High level commission on the modernisation of World Bank Group governance
Argues that the Bank’s decision making process is too exclusive and calls for more radical reform.
go.worldbank.org/2I98FYWNJ0
The great land grab; Oakland Institute
Examines the acquisition of land in developing countries by foreign investors or wealthy nations often linked to the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation.
http://www.tinyurl.com/OaklandInst
IMF financial crisis loans: no change in conditionalities; Third World Network
Finds that despite rhetoric about flexibility, the IMF’s fiscal and monetary policy framework has not changed for countries seeking assistance to cope with the effects of the crisis.
tinyurl.com/itwnimf
IMF supported macroeconomics policies and the world recession: A look at forty-one borrowing countries; CEPR
Shows that 31 of 41 countries with the IMF agreements have been have been subjected to pro-cyclical macroeconomic policies that would be expected to have exacerbated economic slowdown.
cepr.net/documents/publications/imf-2009-10.pdf
Books
Global poverty, ethics and human rights; Desmond McNeill and Asunción Lera St Clair
Illustrates how, despite the rhetoric within the World Bank and UNDP, issues of ethics and human rights have been effectively prevented from being implemented.
Routledge; ISBN: 9780415445948
Behind the development banks: Washington politics, world poverty, and the wealth of nations; Sarah Babb
Argues that the World Bank and other MDBs have been indelibly shaped by Washington politics, particularly by the legislative branch and its power of the purse.
University of Chicago Press; ISBN: 978022603365
Inside the World Bank: Exploding the myth of the monolithic bank; Yi-Chong Xu and Patrick Weller
Challenges the view that the World Bank can be seen as a unitary player, arguing that is internally fragmented and dispersed, with considerable discretion delegated to the staff.
Palgrave Macmillan; ISBN: 9780230616721
The deadly ideas of neoliberalism: How the IMF has undermined public health and the fight against AIDS; Rick Rowden
Shows that neoliberalism and IMF policies bear significant responsibility for the limitations on health policies and budgets in the poor countries, especially for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Zed Books; ISBN: 9781848132856
Capital ideas: The IMF and the rise of financial liberalisation; Jeffrey Chwieroth
Explores what the staff of the IMF came to believe about freedom of capital flows and, more importantly, why the IMF holds those beliefs and how its views have evolved over the past six decades.
Princeton University Press; ISBN: 9780691142327
The World Bank unveiled: Inside the revolutionary struggle for transparency (Our National Conversation); David Ian Shaman
Relates an insiders’ attempt to get the Bank to be more transparent and the Machiavellian tactics of a management determined to thwart him.
Parkhurst Brothers Publishers; ISBN: 9781935166030
Electronic resources:
rethinkingfinance.org
A site, run by several international civil society organisations, which analyses and puts forward alternatives to the current global financial architecture.
redd-monitor.org
Analysis, opinions, news and views about reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
municipalservicesproject.org
An interactive platform for researchers and others around the world to engage in discussion on alternatives to the privatisation and commercialisation of service provision in the health, water, sanitation and electricity sectors.
