Nominate Nine Wise Men and Women to Restore IMF's Credibility
Published on the Editorial Page of Financial Times , May 4, 2009 Letter to the Editor Dear Sir/Madame, The London Summit of the G20 went some ways toward strengthening the capacity of the IMF to assist emerging markets currently suffering the spill-over effects of the financial crisis. The Summit seems to have been less successful in updating the governance structure of the IMF, to better reflect the changes which have taken place in the structure of the global economy during the past quarter century. Thus, at least until 2011 (maybe even longer), IMF decisions will continue to be made in an absurd system where the voting power of the EU currently stands at 32.4 percent, whereas the combined voting power of the United States, China, India, Brazil and Russia—accounting for a much larger share of global GDP—is 26.9 percent. The G20 also decided to finally break, at least nominally, with the convention adhered to ever since the IMF’s creation, which establishes that its managing director ...