International Monetary Fund: An organization with global goals? A theoretical thesis analyzing the link between the USA and the IMF

Abstract

Global financial crises and recessions are raising persistent skepticism about the activities of international financial institutions such as the IMF. Protests erupt against the IMF policies attached to loans it grants to borrowing countries. This thesis examines the impacts of IMF policies on developing countries and the connection between those policies and US interests. In doing this, the IMF's brief history and activity structure, especially lending, is discussed first. Then, cooperative game theory and Coleman-Banzhaf power indices are used to investigate the member countries' power relations. This thesis concludes that the IMF’s policies mirror the economic interests of the USA.