Bretton Woods Project Annual Report 2018

In 2018 BWP’s work contributed to important victories, such as relative progress on the World Bank’s climate initiatives, the publication of the IFC’s policy on retaliation against human rights defenders, and the IMF’s cautious steps to address harmful impacts of its policy advice on gender equality.

Ten years after the financial crisis, 2018 was characterised by trade tensions and a deepening of the very dynamics that contributed to the last crash. The end of the commodities super-cycle and the increase in US interest rates worsened prospects for the Global South. The long-awaited global recovery was undermined: suppression of domestic demand and growing inequality caused by lacklustre wage growth and attacks on labour rights; sky-rocketing levels of public and private debt; the erosion of policy space; and the retrenchment of the state and corresponding deepening of financialisation.

Instead of providing leadership and advocating for urgent change, the Bank and Fund seemed intent on supporting the expansion of the failed model that drives the trends above and contributed to the widespread sense of disempowerment and injustice that was pivotal to the rise of far-right groups and increased attacks on human rights
defenders.

With President Jim Yong Kim’s unexpected departure at the start of 2019 amid a troubled international landscape, the coming year – which marks the 75th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Institutions – is likely to prove eventful. In the face of enormous challenges, strong resistance to discredited BWI policies remains crucial.

The Project will therefore continue to play its part in supporting the struggles of the millions disadvantaged by the Bank and Fund throughout 2019.