Publication

This paper presents a detailed account of IMF initiatives to address global trade and capital flow imbalances prior to the 2008 financial crisis. It explains how and why these efforts went awry and helps illuminate the problems besetting international coordination in general, and the weaknesses of the IMF in particular. The author contends that the failure of these initiatives is profoundly relevant to the efforts being undertaken in the G20 to deal with global imbalances in 2012.