When the World Bank and IMF were conceived 80 years ago, the world was a very different place. Over half of the population lived in extreme poverty, protectionism was rife, and much of Europe had been razed to the ground. Tasked with postwar reconstruction and development, and promoting monetary co-operation, the Bretton Woods twins helped to turn things around.
Destitution has fallen sharply. Trade now accounts for over 60 per cent of global GDP, and liberal democracies have sprouted across the world. Of course, the World Bank and IMF were not solely responsible for this progress, nor were their interventions without flaws. But armed with technical expertise, significant lending capacity, and convening power, the pair did fill a void where global co-ordination was lacking.
As the twins gather next week for their annual meetings, however, they are confronting a new set of challenges which risk undoing some of what they have achieved so far.