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16 Apr, 4 tweets, 3 min read
Much recent talk on whether we are entering a new or post Washington Consensus period — is the original term still relevant at all?

Sarah Babb and I explore its life and times over the past three decades in new @washingtonpost @monkeycageblog article:

washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…
Check out the — somewhat optimistic — take by the FT's Martin Sandbu on a "new Washington Consensus" that likes states, social protection and fighting inequality.

ft.com/content/3d8d22…
Also check out a recent overview about why revisionist history about the legacy of the Washington Consensus is problematic, conceptually and methodologically.

By @cacrisalves @DanielaGabor @ingridharvold
developingeconomics.org/2021/04/08/the…
While you are here, Sarah Babb and I have written a longer review of the Washington Consensus and its legacy.

We argue that reports of the death of the Washington Consensus may have been greatly exaggerated.

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Alex Kentikelenis Profile picture
17 Dec 20
🎂🎂Birthday alert:

2020 marks the 30th birthday of the term Washington Consensus, coined by J Williamson to refer to "what Washington means by reform" in dev countries.

In new article, S Babb & I take stock (forthc. in Annual Rev Soc).

A thread.

PDF: bit.ly/WashCon
Let's start with the basics: what was the Washington Consensus?

For supporters, it was shorthand for the list of reforms that were necessary to overcome debt problems and unlock the development potential of low- and middle-income countries. Image
For opponents, the term was used to describe the scourge of radical market-oriented reforms that trapped countries in conditions of dependency and underdevelopment.

As Naomi Klein put it in the Shock Doctrine: Image
Read 24 tweets
Alex Kentikelenis Profile picture
12 Oct 20
🚨📰 Just out: "Legitimacy Challenges to the Liberal World Order: Evidence from UN Speeches"- w/ @ErikVoeten in Review of Int'l Orgs

We put current legitimacy challenges of int'l economic institutions in a half-century context.

A thread.

✅ Open access:
doi.org/10.1007/s11558…
Global economic institutions currently find themselves on the firing line, whether from anti-liberal states or from populists/nationalists in liberal democracies.

But this is not the first time they have attracted intense criticism and challenges to their legitimacy.
To understand these processes, we examined world leaders' speeches on the podium of the UN General Assembly.

We spotted references to liberal economic institutions, and created a coding scheme drawing on Albert Hirschman’s 'exit, voice and loyalty' typology.

What did we find?
Read 14 tweets
Alex Kentikelenis Profile picture
10 Apr 20
Softening the blow of Covid-19 in low- and middle-income countries: will the IMF and World Bank make things worse?

In @LancetGH, we review policies & alternatives.

Thread on article w/ @DanielaGabor @IsabelOrtizUN @thomstubbs @martinmckee @davidstuckler
thelancet.com/journals/langl…
Developing countries will face enormous economic fallout from Covid-19. Already there are massive capital outflows.

This constrains governments from spending on health systems at a time when capacity urgently needs to expand and depresses economic activity.

2/17
The G20 expects IMF and World Bank to playing central role in supporting these countries, and both announced a set of tools to deal with the pandemic's impact.

But is this the best way to achieve lasting global health security?

3/17
france24.com/en/20200326-we…
Read 18 tweets
Alex Kentikelenis Profile picture
18 Oct 19
Fascinating new article on debt crises by @JeromeRoos: “Can’t Pay, Will Pay: Historical Change in the Management of International Debt Crises”

A short thread.

jeromeroos.com/cms/wp-content…

1/8
Pre-1980s, when countries were faced with external economic shocks, they commonly chose to pursue “a unilateral suspension of payments followed by a lengthy moratorium and an eventual settlement on debtor-friendly terms.”

Sounds alien, right?

2/8
That is because from the 1980s onwards the US and the IMF started implementing large-scale financial interventions in countries going through debt crises.

These interventions were underpinned by the principle that repayment was sacrosanct.

Why?

3/8
Read 8 tweets
Alex Kentikelenis Profile picture
10 Sep 19
New in @socscimed: We study the impact of IMF structural adjustment programs on health in developing countries; w/ T Forster, @thomstubbs, L King

In short: IMF programs increase neonatal mortality & lower access to health systems.

THREAD.

Open-access: doi.org/10.1016/j.socs…
International organizations are broadcasting their commitment to aiding #SDG attainment. But might their actual policy advice hurt progress towards these goals? We look at the case of the #IMF.

2/9
IMF structural adjustment programs—mandating austerity, deregulation, liberalization, & privatization—have been the workhorse of neoliberal globalization. For the history of such policies, see here:

3/9
Read 10 tweets
Alex Kentikelenis Profile picture
6 Jun 19
New in AJS: "The Making of Neoliberal Globalization" w/ S Babb.

We examine the rise of Washington Consensus policies in 1980s.
The US engineered the policy agenda, but how? A nerdy thread on institutional change
Paywall: doi.org/10.1086/702900
Ungated: bit.ly/NeoliberalGlob…
In 1980s, int'l orgs set up to support post-war "embedded liberal" order were refashioned to become leading promoters of neoliberalism.

We focus on the rise of "structural adjustment" at the IMF: deregulation, liberalization, & privatization mandated through IMF loans.

2/18
The rise of structural adjustment at the IMF is puzzling: a massive departure from the founding treaty (prohibiting IMF policy activism) but occurred without formal renegotiation.

We argue that the Americans achieved this through a three-pronged *normative* strategy.

3/18
Read 18 tweets

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