Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn brilliant, novel detail, A Thousand Cuts provides a devastating indictment of the IMF's austerity-driven conditionality and its systemic undermining of social policies and outcomes. It should be required reading not just for scholars and policy activists, but also for IMF staff intent on substantively changing the institution's practices. * Daniela Gabor, Professor of Economics and Macro-Finance, University of the West of England *
A Thousand Cuts is the most significant piece of research on austerity's pernicious effects in the Global South. Alexandros Kentikelenis and Thomas Stubbs meticulously demonstrate that budget cuts fail poorer countries time and time again. This is essential reading for anyone concerned with how the world can avoid economic mistakes of the past, and how governments can implement policies that promote social protection. * Mark Blyth, The William R. Rhodes '57 Professor of International Economics, Brown University *
This carefully researched book examines more than 6,000 IMF loan documents over four decades to show convincingly that IMF conditionalities still require regressive public policies that in turn have regressive socio-economic outcomes. Such an important book must be read carefully in every national capital, and most of all in Washington, D.C. It forms the basis for arguments for major change if the IMF is to be fit for purpose in the contemporary world economy. * Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst *
A Thousand Cuts is the first comprehensive, data-driven analysis of the outcomes of IMF lending policies. While the methodology is rigorous and writing style elegant, the conclusions are not pretty. Kentikelenis and Stubbs document the consistently devastating social consequences of ill-conceived austerity measures by the IMF. This truly original and alarming new volume is mandatory reading for anyone interested in how to build a more progressive global economic governance based on evidence over ideology. * Kevin P. Gallagher, Director of the Global Development Policy Center, Boston University *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments 1. Introduction Part I: Forty Years of Structural Adjustment 2. The Evolution of IMF Conditionality 3. How to Evaluate the Effects of IMF Conditionality Part II: Social Protection and Structural Adjustment 4. Conditionality and Health Policy 5. Conditionality and Income Inequality 6. Conditionality and Health Outcomes Part III: Looking Forward 7. The IMF and the Covid-19 Response 8. The Future of IMF Conditionality: A Better Way? Appendix: A New Dataset on Conditionality, 1980-2019 Bibliography Index
