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Will the IMF Survive to 100?
Despite the increasingly glaring imbalances between economic clout and voting power within the International Monetary Fund, the institution's founding Western members still call the shots. But unless the Fund can find a way to give middle-income countries a greater say, its influence will inevitably wane.
WASHINGTON, DC – The International Monetary Fund has been operating for almost 80 years, yet its decision-making still reflects the era of Western colonialism in which it was founded. Although virtually all sovereign states are formally represented in its governance structure, a small cohort of Western nation-states, representing 15% of the global population, calls the shots.