"Instead of developing the Third World, it is clear that the Third World dependency is a policy of the major powers, and the world leaders insist on restricting consumer buying power in the Third World as a price for what is essentially maintenance loans."--J.W. Smith, economist

I am a kind of curious fellow, and as I read that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned about the predicament of the US's budget and trade deficits and related effects on the world economy I become a bit cynical.

I am sadly laughing as I find out that the IMF is composed of 184 countries and that its board is composed of one governor from each country, each country having different voting weights. The United States has the highest voting weight of 17.14 percent while the second highest is Japan with a voting weight of 6.15 percent.

The main objective of the IMF is to provide the needed international assistance to promote the stability of the international currencies and promote the growth of international trade.

The World Bank works in conjunction with the IMF and its main objective is "to fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results." The World Bank has 184 member countries as well and it has practically the same organization as the IMF.

Now, as dogmatic privatisation has engulfed all the countries of this world (privatization in China has not been dogmatic) and as this privatisation has been accomplished with the significant assistance of the banking system, I have strong reservations about how the IMF and the World Bank can provide the needed assistance to any country to help themselves as the beneficiaries of such assistance are ultimately the banks and the privateers.

This is why dogmatic privatization has increased the gap between the privateers and the rest of us. Anyhow, I apologize for my cynicism about the effectiveness of the IMF and the World Bank in trying to assist the "so called" developing countries in becoming developed countries. But can developing countries become developed countries under the Chicago boys of the Free Market and the present international functioning of the IMF and World Bank? I don't think so.

References

Pertinent articles published in Ensign

Friedman, Milton The Social Responsibilty of Business is to Increase Its Profits September 13, 1970 The New York Times Magazine, http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/dunnweb/rprnts.friedman.html

Smith, J.W. The World's Wasted Wealth 2, Global Issues, http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/Scale.asp

IMF-International Monetary Fund http://www.imf.org/

The World Bank group http://www.worldbank.org

Denny, Charlotte and Larry Elliott IMF warns trade gap could bring down dollar September 19, 2003 The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4756685-110878,00.html

Kangas, Steve The Chicago boys and the Chilean 'economic miracle' http://www.parallelo-distance.net/shared/The_Chicago_boys.html

Al Maktoum, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Exerpts for the plenary: Call for a fairer world, September 24, 2003, Gulf News, Dubai (Same article as a PDF) http://www.ftlcomm.com:16080/ensign/desantisArticles/2003_800/desantis830/gulfnews.pdf

Nair, Manoj, World Bank-IMF meetings attract over 15,000 people, September 24, 2003, Gulf News, dubia

Melly, Paul, Gailani sees no need to rush with privatisation, September 24, 2003, Gulf News, Dubia (Same article as a PDF) http://www.ftlcomm.com:16080/ensign/desantisArticles/2003_800/desantis830/privatisation.pdf