Rapidly Changing Functions and Slowly Evolving Structures: The Troubling Case of the IMF

Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in the mid-1970s, the international financial institutions (IFIs), primarily the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, have helped the world avoid the horrors of a systemic economic collapse. This paper argues that while the IFIs' policies and the appropriate scope of their activities are open to debate, the primary cause of their unsatisfactory performance is their failure to adapt their structure and operating practices to their changing functions. Further, unless they correct these problems, they will never be able to fulfill their responsibilities effectively.