Are the Bretton Woods Institutionsi necessary?
• Yes. A globalized economy demands global governance. Public/democratic governance demands international institutions. • However, the existing IFIs are neither public nor democratic. They serve mainly the interests of transnational corporations and the richest countries. They are corporatocratic, not democratic. • The IMF, WB and WTO have served faithfully the goals of the Washington Consensus. The global financial crisis is proving the bankruptcy of the neoliberal doctrine sponsored by the IFIs! Alternatives: either RADICAL REFORMS or totally NEW INSTITUTIONS. The IMF, the WB and the WTO are useless for the goal of a new global financial architecture, unless: – they are fully reshaped to serve a different mode of development, and – they are no longer allowed to violate their Statutes. IV. Corporatocracy and the current crisis “We are too complex to be regulated. Give us the freedom to regulate ourselves.” • Scandals like Enron and WorldCom, the recurrent financial crises, the collaps
