The Benefits of Reducing International Trade Barriers
As you read this section, think about the products or services you use daily that are possible due to international trade. How would you have to adapt if governments began to restrict international trade?
Criticism of the IMF and the World Bank
In recent years, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have faced mounting criticism, though both have their supporters. Some analysts, for example, think that the IMF is often too harsh in its demands for economic reform; others argue that troubled economies can be turned around only with harsh economic measures. Some observers assert that too many World Bank loans go to environmentally harmful projects, such as the construction of roads through fragile rain forests. Others point to the World Bank's efforts to direct funding away from big construction projects and toward initiatives designed to better the lot of the world's poor - educating children, fighting AIDS, and improving nutrition and health standards".