This paper outlines the contemporary challenges for International Monetary Fund (IMF) reform. The chapter argues that market principles and disciplines have been abrogated systematically by IMF policy makers whenever the unimpeded operation of markets has failed to deliver profits to the...

The financial crisis of 2008–9 and the ‘Great Recession' that it precipitated highlighted a number of troubling dynamics in contemporary capitalism. Rising financial instability has received particular attention (Obstfeld and Rogoff 2009), as have other social problems such as trends of...

In spite of the broad-ranging nature of the literature on democratic transitions, it is possible to provide a general assessment of the state of the literature. This review stresses a series of disagreements concerning the effect of the <I>ancien regime</I> on the processes of transition and democratic...</i>

Using an improved definition and indicator of growth accelerations, we examine whether political regimes, regime changes, and economic reform are related to growth accelerations. Our results show that economic growth accelerations are preceded by economic reforms. Furthermore, we find that...