Since the 1990s, criticism has mounted regarding the IMF's narrow construction of a 'one size fits all' economic policy. "Policies of privatization and deregulation may work better in developed countries in the West, but, maybe more difficult to implement in the developing world" (Pettinger 2009). There is also alarm that the IMF is excessively directive when extending loans to nations -- for example, mandating user fees for health care, an important issue in the current struggle for Jamaica to borrow funds from the IMF. Jamaica charges no user fees in its system of nationalized care, although the IMF argues that charging money, according to classical economic theory, enables more effective use of scarce healthcare resources. Yet "there is compelling evidence of a link between user fees and poverty. In a study that shows the 'poverty impact' of out-of-pocket payments (OOP), 78 million people in 11 low/middle income countries in Asia were pushed below the international poverty line of a $1 a day because of OOP. Bangladesh, India and China experienced percentage point increases of 3.8, 3.7 and 2.6 per cent respectively, attributed to OOP" (Graham 2009). Furthermore, this type of healthcare rationing strategy may be exemplary of a 'penny wise but pound foolish' strategy. Charging money for routine healthcare services can be prohibitively costly or act as a deterrent to going to the doctor for the very poor, and lead to public health crises such as epidemics. This will only further impoverish struggling nations.
The stripping away of one of the most basic principles of political autonomy, such as healthcare decisions, is highly controversial, even though the defenders of the IMF allege that it is essential that it ensures its funds are spent responsibly by recipient nations. And not all critics of the IMF are from the left. "The IMF has also been criticized by free market economists arguing that they [IMF bureaucrats] do too much" and enable countries to use IMF loans as a fallback strategy for reckless policies (Pettinger 2009). Yet despite the anger on the right and the left, few would deny the IMF has proved useful....
The IMF currency reserve units are called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs); from 1974 to 1980 the value of SDRs was based on the currencies of 16 leading trading nations. Since 1980 it has been reevaluated every five years and based on the relative international economic importance of the British pound sterling, the European Union euro (formerly the French franc and German mark), the Japanese yen, and the U.S. Dollar."
3) The most major problems currently facing the World Trade Organization come from within. Its image among many poorer nations and certain groups of first world citizens is not the creation of misconceptions, but a reaction to real world consequences of the policies and attitudes that govern the Organization's actions. The World Trade Organization needs to begin operating with more transparency and in tandem with governments, rather than undermining fledgling democracies
Origins, History of the IMF The International Monetary Fund was first conceived between July 1-22, 1944, at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The conference was attended by representatives of 45 nations, which were called together in order to plan and lay the groundwork for a cooperative economic framework to solve global financial crises before they occur. One key reason for the conference was to
Because the home country is not required to reimburse foreign depositors for losses, there is no corresponding financial penalty for lax supervision; there is, though, a benefit to the country with lenient regulatory policies because of increased revenues generated and the employment opportunities these services provide (Edwards 1999). Furthermore, banks seeking to conduct multinational business are attracted to countries where incorporation laws and the regulatory framework offer less regulatory oversight
Global Financial Crisis Since the early 2008, financial institutions started to go through chaos all over the globe. The stock markets were beginning to crash, businesses were shutting down, and investors were losing their money. This was to indicate that the entire globe had been hit by a period of economic crisis leading to a large number of corporate collapses of banks, investment companies, multinational corporations, etc. This downfall of economic
To respond to the newly emerged policies and become responsible entrepreneurs, corporate entities invest significant financial resources in replacing the older technologies and training their staff members how to be responsible employees and consumers. In this context then, a decision to purchase a cheaper technology would be replaced with a decision to purchase a more expensive technology, which eliminates less waste. The International Monetary Fund promulgates numerous laws that regulate
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