The Rot At Bretten Woods

Context: The recent case of Data Manipulation in Ease of Doing Business by the World Bank raised questions on the mechanism of Bretten Woods Institutions.

Issues associated with Bretton Woods institutions

• Dual monopoly selection procedure: Only an American and European can be head of the Bank and the IMF respectively, which shows the institutions have influence of western powers only.
• Personal integrity in question: Recent case of data manipulation in Ease of Doing Business raised questions on personal integrity of institutions and leaders.
• Lags in effectiveness and legitimacy: These institutions rank countries on the basis of good governance, corruption and data integrity, but individually, they have lack of accountability on those metrics.
• Questionable integrity and accountability: International institutions operate in a grey zone, having lack of transparency and weaker mechanisms of accountability.
• Dominance of China in other International Organisations: As an emerging power across the world, China is placing their own nationals in existing IOs and creating new ones. Currently, China is heading four of the 15 UN specialised agencies.
  • Its influence is raising deep concern, most notably the suppression of inquiry into origins of coronavirus.

Way forward: The global political leaders must act with urgency and conviction to stem the rot. They must open the selection of the heads of these institutions to the best candidate, regardless of nationality, to prevent its credibility and legitimacy.