The International Monetary Fund Financial Medic to the World?

This useful compendium provides both background information and current public policy discussions on an organization that a large segment of society knows little about. The article and opinion pieces on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) represent a diversity of views on the origins, operations, and effectiveness of the IMF. The book specifically examines the mission and operations of the IMF, now more than fifty years old, and the effects of its financing programs and loan conditions on the countries accepting IMF funding. The editors look at the historical record as well as recent IMF activity in Mexico, East Asia, and Russia and present a dialogue on "mission creep." Finally, the book presents opposing viewpoints on whether the IMF should continue to exist. Among the Among the contributors are Doug Bandow, Robert Barro, Sebastian Edwards, Stanley Fischer, Milton Friedman, James Glassman, Jim Hoagland, Jack Kemp, Paul Krugman, Lawrence Lindsey, George Melloan, Peter Passell, David Rockefeller, Jeffrey Sachs, Robert Samuelson, Bernard Sanders, David Sanger, Anna Schwartz, Judy Shelton, George Shultz, William Simon, Robert Solomon, Lawrence Summers, Walter Wriston, and Leland Yeager.