The IMF and the Politics of Austerity in the Wake of the Global Financial Crisis

This book analyses the IMF’s role as arbiter of legitimate economic policy since the 2008 crash, and during aftershocks of the Eurozone crisis, and interrogates how economic orthodoxies get constructed and altered. A central political battleground of crisis responses has been contested meanings of ‘sound’ fiscal policy. Exploring the internal and external battles of economic ideas, the book charts how the IMF has intervened in crucially important debates about austerity, debts, deficits - and which economic policies will boost growth. This book draws back the veil on the internal workings of the IMF, penetrating its technocratic, apolitical facade to reveal a revival of Keynesian insights. Operating at the intersection of comparative and international political economy, the book generates new knowledge about how International Organizations change and influence world politics. Detailed case studies of UK and France drill down into Fund/government relations to account for the scope and limits of IMF influence.