Quotessence
Home / Topics / Imf Quotes

Imf Quotes

Browse 53 quotes about Imf.

Related topics

World

Imf Quotes

“Marcia Wilson was a good example of Omega’s core strategy for creating a New World Order. It involved placing their people, or moles, in positions of power within the CIA, the NSA, the Pentagon, the White House and global organizations like the UN, the IMF and the World Bank. This enabled Omega to pull some of the strings of these organizations and to direct American, and world politics, to an extent.”

United NationsCiaNew World OrderNsaNwoImfWorld BankUn
Book:The Ninth Orphan
Create image

“The multilateral institutions that were introduced in the Post World War II period to coordinate international aid – the IMF and the World Bank – have failed in their respective missions. They became agents for the ‘free market’ ideology and through their structural adjustment packages and related policies have made it harder for a nation to develop.”

EconomicsDeveloping CountriesMacroeconomicsImfWorld BankDeveloping Nations
Book:Modern Monetary Theory: Key Insights, Leading Thinkers
Create image

“When crises hit the South, the masters of the international economy turn to the IMF solution. The costs are transferred to the public, which had nothing to do with the risky choices but is now compelled to pay the costs: the poor countries are instructed to raise interest rates, slow the economy, pay their debts (to the rich), privatize (so that the Western corporations can buy their assets), and suffer. The instructions for the rich are virtually the opposite: lower interest rates, stimulate the economy, forget about debts, consume, have the government take over (but don’t “nationalize”—the takeover is a temporary measure to hand it back to the owners in better shape). And the public has almost no voice in determining these outcomes, any more than poor peasants have a voice in being subjected to cruel structural adjustment programs.”

EconomicsPrivatizationFree Market CapitalismImfFree MarketsFree Market IdeologyPredatory CapitalismFree Market Economics
Book:Hopes and Prospects
Create image

“The United States is in deficit on raw materials account, but is unwilling to limit its industrial expansion correspondingly. It is in surplus on farm products account, but is unwilling to limit its agriculture accordingly. The peoples of developing countries therefore are to be turned into the instrument through which the otherwise untenable U.S. economic process is perpetuated.”

AgricultureMineralsImfWorld BankSuper ImperialismFree Trade Imperialism
Book:Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance
Create image

“The easy kind of liberalism, with its hope for ready-to-hand technocratic solutions to social problems, has led them to support the major way in which liberal institutions among backward peoples can be prevented from evolving. Their support for higher living standards for all has been exploited into de facto support of the oppressive and militarist regimes in backward countries. That indeed has become the purpose of the Malthusianism promoted by the World Bank and the government of the United States. American liberals have been its unwitting allies, and thereby the allies of the world’s most reactionary regimes.”

ImfWorld BankSuper ImperialismUs Liberalism
Book:Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance
Create image

“I became convinced that the advanced industrial countries, through international organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Bank, were not only not doing all that they could to help these [developing] countries but were sometimes making their life more difficult. IMF programs had clearly worsened the East Asian crisis, and the "shock therapy" they had pushed in the former Soviet Union and its satellites played an important role in the failure of the transition.”

PoliticsEconomicsImf
Book:Making Globalization Work
Create image

“Once you understand the process of corporate globalization, you have to see that what happened in Argentina, the devastation of Argentina by the IMF, is part of the same machine that is destroying Iraq. Both are efforts to break open and to control markets. And so Argentina is destroyed by the chequebook, and Iraq is destroyed by the cruise missile. If the chequebook won't work, the cruise missile will. Hell hath no fury like a market scorned.”

IraqGlobalizationArgentinaCorporate WorldImf
Book:The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile: Conversations With Arundhati Roy
Create image

“Under the rules of the Western-run international economy, investors make loans to third world tyrannies, and since the loans carry considerable risk, make high profits. Suppose the borrower defaults. In a capitalist economy, the lenders would incur the loss. But existing capitalism really functions quite differently. If the borrowers cannot pay the debts, then the IMF steps in to guarantee that lenders and investors are protected. The debt is transferred to the poor population of the debtor country, who never borrowed the money in the first place and gained little if anything from it. The method is called “structural adjustment.” And taxpayers in the rich country, who also gained nothing from the loans, sustain the IMF through their taxes. These doctrines do not derive from economic theory; they merely reflect the distribution of decision-making power.”

PowerCapitalismEconomicsNeoliberalismFree Market CapitalismImfStructural Adjustment
Book:Hopes and Prospects
Create image

“The United States has given frequent and enthusiastic support to the overthrow of democracy in favor of "investor friendly" regimes. The World Bank, IMF, and private banks have consistently lavished huge sums on terror regimes, following their displacement of democratic governments, and a number of quantitative studies have shown a systematic positive relationship between U.S. and IMF / World Bank aid to countries and their violations of human rights.”

WorldHumansCountryStatesGovernmentGivenUnitedNumbersUnited StatesSupportDemocracyStudyRightsHugeDemocraticHuman RightsTerrorFollowingAidsFavorsFriendlyInvestorsRegimesConsistentlyEnthusiasticViolationSystematicDisplacementDemocratic GovernmentImfWorld BankViolation Of Human RightsPositive Relationship
Author:Edward S. Herman
Create image

“What can Americans learn from the Olympics spectacle? According to the IMF, China will succeed America as the dominant economic power in the course of the next presidential term, so Howard Fineman, editorial director of the Huffington Post and MSNBC mainstay, was anxious to pick up tips. 'Brits long ago lost their empire,' he tweeted, 'but overall show us how to lose global power gracefully.' So there's that.”

LongShowsAmericaCoursesNextLostTermLosesEconomicSucceedDirectorsPicksChinaPostsPresidentialEmpiresAnxiousLong AgoOlympicsDominantEditorialsEconomic PowerBritsImf
Author:Mark Steyn
Create image

“In Egypt the neoliberal programs have meant statistical growth, like right before the Arab Spring, Egypt was a kind of poster child for the World Bank and the IMF [International Monetary Fund:] the marvelous economic management and great reform. The only problem was for most of the population it was a kind of like a blow in the solar plexus: wages going down, benefits being eliminated, subsidized food gone and meanwhile, high concentration of wealth and a huge amount of corruption.”

WorldKindChildrenProblemGrowthWealthGoneEconomicHugeAmountBenefitsSpringProgramManagementInternationalPopulationBlowCorruptionReformConcentrationFundMarvelousEgyptWagesMonetaryPostersArab SpringImfWorld BankConcentration Of Wealth
Author:Noam Chomsky
Create image

“The United States is pushing as policy division of the world into rival currency camps - the dollar area on the one hand, and the Russia-Chinese-Shanghai Cooperation Organization group on the other, especially now that the IMF has changed its rules. People think that if there are rival currency groupings and national currencies are going bust, we might as well use gold as a safe haven.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWellsStatesUseHandsMightUnitedUnited StatesGroupsHavensPolicyChangedSafeAreasGoldOrganizationDollarsRussiaChinesePushingDivisionCampsCooperationCurrencyRivalsSafe HavenShanghaiImf
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“Look at Ukraine. Its currency, the hernia, is plunging. The euro is really in a problem. Greece is problematic as to whether it can pay the IMF, which is threatening not to be part of the troika with the European Central Bank and the European Union making more loans to enable Greece to pay the bondholders and the banks. Britain is having a referendum as to whether to withdraw from the European Union, and it looks more and more like it may do so. So the world's politics are in turmoil.”

WorldLooksMayProblemPayUnionsBritainCurrencyThreateningLoanGreeceUkraineEuropean UnionTurmoilEuroCentral BanksReferendumsImfHernias
Author:Michael Hudson
Create image

“Too many politicians seem to reach for 'infrastructure' as the default answer to investment, as if roads and bridges were the answer to everything. Even the IMF and the World Bank seem to mainly offer infrastructure spending as an alternative to austerity, although they are right to focus on the need for investment.”

IfsWorldNeedsSeemsAnswersFocusPoliticianOffersInvestmentSpendingAlternativesBridgesInfrastructureDefaultAusterityImfWorld Bank
Author:Mariana Mazzucato
Create image

“Political uncertainty around the world has more than doubled since the election of Trump. To find anything comparable we have to go way back, to the late 1920s for example, the times of the Great Depression. Or think of the United Kingdom in the 1970s, when the International Monetary Fund had to help the country out with a dramatic rescue operation. Up until the Greek crisis, that was the last time that the IMF was forced to intervene to such an extent in Europe.”

ThinkingWorldWayCountryHelpingLastsPoliticalUnitedExampleTrumpLateEuropeElectionCrisisInternationalKingdomsAround The WorldUncertaintyOperationsGreekDramaticFundRescueLast TimeMonetaryGreat DepressionUnited KingdomImf
Author:Nicholas Bloom
Create image

“The IMF is a more complicated issue. I think there is a broad sentiment among both the left and the right that the IMF may be doing more harm than good. On the right, there's the view that it represents a form of corporate welfare that is counter to the IMF's own ideology of markets. But anybody who has watched government from the inside recognizes that governments need institutions, need ways to respond to crises. If the IMF weren't there, it would probably be reinvented. So the issue is fundamentally reform.”

IfsThinkingWayNeedsMayGovernmentFormLeftViewsIssuesCrisisInstitutionsComplicatedHarmIdeologyReformCorporateWelfareSentimentsBroadsImf
Author:Joseph Stiglitz
Create image

“The IMF insisted that both Russia and Brazil maintain their currency at over-valued levels. Who are you protecting when you try to maintain that exchange rate by having high interest rates? You're protecting domestic and foreign firms that have gambled on the exchange rate. And who is paying the price? The small businesses that did not gamble [and no longer can afford loans], the workers who are going to be put out of jobs.”

TryingJobsInterestLevelsWorkersRateRussiaFirmCurrencySmall BusinessLoanGambleBrazilInterest RateImf
Author:Joseph Stiglitz
Create image

“What is the worst, is that you will have the meltdown of Zimbabwe that the IMF is talking about. And indeed what you will have is growing unemployment in Zimbabwe, growing impoverishment among the people, growing social conflict. And I think that is the worst sort of outcome, that collapse of Zimbabwe certainly would have a much, much worse effect on the region than mere image.”

PeopleThinkingSocialTalkingGrowingWorstEffectsConflictMereOutcomesRegionsCollapseUnemploymentZimbabweImfMeltdowns
Author:Thabo Mbeki
Create image

“The culture of death is imposed by economic and political interests, the arrogance of power, corruption. I blame the first world for having taken our riches for so many years. I am speaking of the superpowers that dominate the life of the world. More concretely, the World Bank, the IMF. Those that have caused and tolerated the death of our people, those responsible for the plundering of the third world. Silence is also part of repression.”

PeopleWorldYearsFirstsPoliticalCultureInterestSilenceTakenEconomicThirdsResponsibleBlameCorruptionRichesArroganceSilence IsRepressionThird WorldSuperpowerPower CorruptsImfWorld BankPower Corruption
Author:Rigoberta Menchu
Create image

“The IMF and the World Bank, the most opaque and secretive entities, put millions into NGOs who fight against "corruption" and for "transparency." They want the Rule of Law - as long as they make the laws. They want transparency in order to standardise a situation, so that global capital can flow without any impediment.”

WorldWantLongLawOrderFightingSituationMillionsFlowCorruptionEntityTransparencyRule Of LawImpedimentsSecretiveOpaqueImfWorld Bank
Author:Arundhati Roy
Create image

“There have been many claims that [U.S.] sanctions have hurt Burma economically, but I did not agree with that point of view. If you look at reports by the IMF, for example, they make quite clear that the economic impact on Burma has not been that great. But I think the political impact has been very great and that has helped us in our struggle for democracy.”

IfsThinkingLooksHas BeensPoliticalHurtViewsStruggleDemocracyClearEconomicExampleClaimsAgreeImpactPoint Of ViewReportsSanctionsBurmaImf
Author:Aung San Suu Kyi
Create image

“With all that IMF money, the Thailand's and Mexico's are spared the consequences of their fiscal incompetence, and Wall Street's heavy hitters are spared the consequences of their stupid investments. The global economy is a rigged game, rigged so Third World politicians, rich investors and global corporations win - and U.S. taxpayers lose.”

WorldGamesWinningLosesLibertyEconomyRichStreetsStupidWallPoliticianConsequenceThirdsInvestmentHeavyLibertarianCorporationsInvestorsMexicoLibertarianismTaxpayersIncompetenceThird WorldGlobal EconomyThailandRiggedImf
Author:Pat Buchanan
Create image

“One by one, these governments came undone, and were forced into IMF tutelage (and national illegitimacy) by the careening oil prices, the debt imbroglio, and falling terms of trade. The last of these governments to fall were the Communist regimes of eastern Europe, which have now gone the way of other Third World countries. The second in the cascade of bifurcations is thus symbolized by 1989.”

WorldWayCountryGovernmentLastsFallTermGoneCapitalismEuropeThirdsTradeDebtOilCommunistRegimesEasternUndoneThird WorldEastern EuropeThird World CountriesCascadeImfOil PriceTutelageBifurcation
Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
Create image

“The dirty little secret is that both houses of Congress are irrelevant. ... America's domestic policy is now being run by Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve, and America's foreign policy is now being run by the International Monetary Fund [IMF]. ...when the president decides to go to war, he no longer needs a declaration of war from Congress.”

NeedsLittlesWarRunningAmericaHousePresidentSecretPolicyHistoricalInternationalCongressDirtyFundForeign PolicyReservesDeclarationIrrelevantMonetaryFederal ReserveImfDomestic PolicyDeclaration Of War
Author:Robert Reich
Create image

“We must work to repeal trade agreements that impede access to affordable generic drugs. We must work to cause the IMF and the World Bank to reduce and eventually eliminate the debt that takes poor nations' resources away from crises like AIDS. We must focus America's leadership on addressing and ending this epidemic.”

WorldAmericaNationsCausesPoorFocusDrugResourcesCrisisTradeDebtAidsAccessAgreementAffordableEpidemicsGenericTrade AgreementsImfWorld BankPoor Nations
Author:Dennis Kucinich
Create image