While the recent reforms to the IMF and World Bank governance reforms and the establishment of new Southern-led IFIs are symbolically important, they are thus far not a rupture with the Western-dominated international financial architecture.
Capital flows
Finance
News
IMF reopening case for capital controls?
An IMF policy paper on the international monetary system considers its future policy on capital controls and proposes a review of the IMF's institutional view on the liberalisation and management of capital flows.
Finance
Analysis
UN Financing for Development: the Fund and Bank's role & influence
This briefing analyses the role of the Bank and Fund in the UN Financing for Development negotiations.
Private Sector
Analysis
Follow the money
New Bretton Woods Project report reveals World Bank Group channelling crucial development resources to banks instead of directly investing in pro-poor projects.
Finance
Background
Financial tremors in developing countries: is another earthquake on the way?
Aldo Caliari Monetary policy changes in rich world are now starting – the reversal of…
Finance
Analysis
The IFIs in 2013: year in review
The Bretton Woods Project review of the most important developments at the World Bank and IMF in 2013.
Conditionality
Analysis
IMF blames the victims as markets thow another taper tantrum
As emerging markets suffer renewed bout of financial volatility, risk of worse to come as IMF struggles to provide even-handed global policy coordination.
IFI governance
Analysis
Annual meetings 2013: communiqués coverage
Detailed analysis of the communiqués from the 2013 World Bank and IMF annual meetings.
Finance
Analysis
IMF gets emerging markets wrong, again
The Fund has had to conduct another embarrassing “U-turn” to warn of the growing risks to the stability of developing countries, while cautiously accepting the need for capital controls in principle, but not necessarily in practice.
Finance
News
IFIs on capital: flowing in same direction
The IMF's long-awaited guidance note on capital flows fails to remedy the faults of the 'institutional view' on capital account. The World Bank's long-term thinking is also emphasises liberalisation.
Featured briefings
15 August 2019
The World Bank and gender equality: Development Policy Financing
New BWP briefing offers critical gender analysis of World Bank lending instrument to borrowing countries.
30 July 2019
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2019
30 July 2019
The Bretton Woods Institutions and the second crisis of multilateralism
At 75, the World Bank and IMF face a crisis of multilateralism in no small part of their own making as failed economic policies have resulted in skepticism of the international order they helped to create.