The Future of the IMF and the World Bank

The Bretton Woods sisters, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (henceforth the World Bank) and the Inter? national Monetary Fund (IMF), were set up in 1944. The original purpose of the former was to help post-World War II reconstruction; the purpose of the latter was to help revive global trade while averting the "beggar-thy-neighbor" exchange rate policies that characterized the interwar years. Over the years, the World Bank has refocused on helping poor countries grow, while the Fund broadly attempts to foster coun? try policies that ensure macroeconomic stabil? ity and limit adverse spillovers to the rest of the world. It still is in the world's self-interest to reduce