International Monetary Fund: From Stabiliy to Instability (The Washington Consensus and Structural Reforms in Latin America

Abstract

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created to set a standard for development and to facilitate the exchange transactions of the lnternational Financial System (IFS) in the framework of the established international economic order. During the last three decades, the IMF has transformed itself into an international financial organization whose main objective has been to act as a "lender of last resort" in the face of the instability generated by financial crises during this period. The Washington Consensus and the Structural Reforms in Latin America have jointly contributed to increase the instability in the region in a democratic context. It is therefore important to establish the reasons for the creation of a post war international monetary system and for the ongoing changes in the relationship between international financial institutions and the economic and political international arder. In addition, financial globalization and financial markets have fulfilled a strategic role in the performance of emerging economics, resulting from changes in the global financial system. Also, the development of capitalism and the economic reforms of the Washington Consensus have deepened the transformation of the economic structures of goverments, which have passed from authoritarian and regulated regimes to deregulated, democratic and market-driven systems. However, democracy and its significance on the path of economic, political social reorganization, has not given opportunities to the majority of the population, which has not seen the benefits from the reorganization of relations between countries in the process of globalization