May 20, 2011 5:08PM # The IMF—A Reading List By [Ian Vásquez](https://www.cato.org/people/ian-vasquez) --- SHARE Now that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund, the debate has turned to who will lead the lending agency as it goes through its usual non-transparent and politicized selection process. (Of course, virtually all decisions at the IMF are politicized since it is primarily a political institution, a club in which rich countries’ governments with diverse interests and political priorities typically lend money to governments with track records of mismanaging their economies.) The IMF is a fundamentally flawed institution, a problem independent of whether the new Fund chief is French or South African. Here’s a brief reading list for anybody more interested in the scandal of IMF lending than of the scandals of IMF personalities. - In this [*Cato Handbook* essay](https://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb109/hb_109-66.pdf) I provide an overview of the IMF’s poor record at promoting growth or reform, and of the moral hazard of providing big bailouts to countries, beginning with Mexico in 1995. - In [“The IMF’s Imprudent Role as Lender of Last Resort,”](https://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj17n3-11.html) Charles Calomiris describes how IMF rescue packages undermine global financial stability. - In this [Cato study](https://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb54.pdf), I review the evolution of the IMF, show that its lending tends to last for decades rather than be short term, and that it tends to slow rather than accelerate reforms. I argue for market solutions to debt crises. - In [“International Financial Crises: Myths and Realities,”](https://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj17n3-3.html) Anna Schwartz explains that financial contagion during the Asian financial crisis—a key justification for IMF intervention—was not occurring. Only countries with flawed economic policies suffered crises. - [Here](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11722), Swami Aiyar argues that the IMF has no business lending to Greece. - In [“Asian Problems and the IMF,”](https://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj17n3-10.html) Allan Meltzer criticizes the Fund’s subsidization of risk. - [Here](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1599) Anna Schwartz takes on the Fund’s “dubious proposal” to turn itself into a sort of bankruptcy court for nations. - In this [study](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10331) Swami Aiyar takes on another bad idea: creating an IMF currency to rival the dollar. [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).