The IMF and Economic Development

Extract

The IMF and Economic Development. By James Raymond Vreeland. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 216p. $70.00 cloth, $22.00 paper.

This insightful and carefully researched work by James Raymond Vreeland should end once and for all the debate on whether participation in an International Monetary Fund program tends to improve or depress economic growth. The answer is a resounding no in that, on average, economic growth is roughly 1.5% slower when countries are under an IMF program than otherwise, according to Vreeland. This finding is consistent with several studies—mostly written by authors on the Left—although he takes pains to leave ideology at the door. Rather, he puts together the most systematic and exhaustive study of the subject to date in order to show how the same finding can be arrived at with methods that are qualitative and quantitative, empirical and abstract. Although the result tends toward repetition, there is something here for everyone.