Global market integration, crisis management and the limits of the macro-social turn: The case of IMF inequality pilots

For almost eight decades, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with other international bodies, has played a pivotal role in fostering global market integration and crisis management. However, critics have argued that policies promoted by the Fund have had negative social impacts, including in relation to inequality. In recent times, the IMF has shifted its focus to “macro-social” concerns, including inequality, signaling an apparent departure from its traditional emphasis on fiscal consolidation above all else. This chapter scrutinizes the IMF’s post-2015 “inequality pilots,” assessing policy advice changes in the pilot countries and elsewhere. It is argued that the Fund’s ability to actually make a positive impact on macro-social issues like inequality is hindered by internal constraints and geo-political dynamics.

https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/58800/chapt...