Introduction
The novelty of the current process of reforming the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is that heads of state and of government, through the G20 summits, have taken on a task traditionally assigned to their finance ministers. If this effort proves sustainable, there is an opportunity to address the greatest challenge that the IMF has faced since the end of the Bretton Woods era in the 1970s, when its member countries withdrew political capital, making the institution ineffective as a forum for multilateral discussions. This shift in authority, away from the IMF back to member countries, was a defining feature of its role that emerged after the demise of the Bretton Woods system, whereby national policymakers claimed for themselves more discretion in setting their economic policies.
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This was originally publised under the title "Under Pressure" and republished here with permission by the G8 Research Group and Newsdesk Communications Limited."