The Politics of the New International Financial Architecture

Recent years have witnessed a veritable epidemic of financial crises - from Mexico, through South East Asia, Russia, Brazil and now Argentina. The rich industrial countries, led by the United States, have had to respond. This book examines the G7's attempts over the past decade to re-establish rules and a degree of order in the world financial system through the creation of the Financial Stability Forum and the G20, which they are calling the New International Financial Architecture. Susanne Soederberg asks:· Why has the New International Financial Architecture emerged?· At whose initiative?· What does it involve?· What are the underlying power relations?· Who is benefiting?· Will it really work?The author argues, however, that this tinkering with the capitalist system will not achieve either sustained economic growth or stability in financial markets, let alone enhance the capability of developing countries to tackle the problems of mass poverty and social injustice.

This is a critique of the attempts of the G7 industrialized countries to rewrite the rules of international finance. It includes case studies on capital controls from Chile and Malaysia and is aimed at scholars and students of international political economy and development and reform activists.

1. Transcending the 'Common Sense' of the New International Financial Architecture2. The Mexican Peso Crisis and the Foundations of the New International Financial Architecture3. The New International Financial Architecture: A New Procrustean Bed for the South?4. Unravelling Washington's Judgement Calls: The Cases of the Chilean and Malaysian Capital Controls5. Deconstructing the New International Standard of Corporate Governance: An Emerging Disciplinary Strategy for the South?6. Linkages between the New International Financial Architecture and the Emerging Development Architecture: The Case of the Monterrey Consensus