Voxeu
05 August 2014
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Conflict between U.S.-led and China-led Economic Architecture
Conflict between U.S.-led and China-led Economic Architecture
China’s frustration with the slow progress of IMF governance reform has contributed to the evolution of a China-led architecture that locks out the West – the latest examples being the New Development Bank and the Credit Reserve Arrangement established by the BRICS. This column argues that these institutions are not a threat to the IMF and the World Bank, but they complicate global economic governance. It is unlikely that Europe’s ‘troika’ model – where the IMF works jointly with regional financing facilities – will be possible in Asia. We perhaps need a New Bretton Woods.
The Bretton Woods agreement – which is 70 years old this month – established three institutions to promote law and order in international economic relations:
- The IMF to promote macroeconomic stability,
- The GATT (and its successor, the WTO) to ensure an open trading environment, and
- The World Bank to provide development finance for poverty reduction.
The smooth operation of this rules-based, US-led global economic architecture contributed to the unprecedented economic growth and worldwide prosperity of the post-WWII period.
CMS / GPO / RSIS / Online
Last updated on 07/08/2014
