Wto/Imf International Economic Cooperation Without

¶ … Wto/Imf

International Economic Cooperation

Without a doubt, the most important factor in the Group of Eight nations (G8), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are the fact that they are all in the hands of developed first world. These organizations have no real motive (other than altruism and goodwill) to aid the developing nations of the world economically. Though it is in the long-term interest of the first world countries of the world to aid the developing world and so produce a better class of consumer and forestall major global crises that demand attention, and even though this fact is acknowledged (or at least given lip service) by these organizations and the countries of which they are comprised, the actions and policies they carry out are not in line with their stated beliefs and intents. Instead, such organizations create short-term profits for the banks and nations that constitute the organizations.

1)

There are many things that prevent the International Monetary Fund from acting as the economic savior of the developing world, which is how the fund has been touted. Dedicated to giving short-term loans and considered a "last resort" of lending to nations, the countries that owe the most to the fund are also those with the least say in how the fund is run. The weighted voting system ensures that richer nations -- who have little need to borrow from the fund and the most ability to contribute to them -- have almost total say over the way the money is distributed, and the terms of loans to poorer countries.

3)

The most major problems currently facing the World Trade Organization come from within. Its image among many poorer nations and certain groups of first world citizens is not the creation of misconceptions, but a reaction to real world consequences of the policies and attitudes that govern the Organization's actions. The World Trade Organization needs to begin operating with more transparency and in tandem with governments, rather than undermining fledgling democracies by restricting bans made for socially responsible reasons and manipulating trade for the benefit of already developed countries and established banks.

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