The Domestic Politics of IMF Lending

This week we’re focusing on a new book about IMF lending. The IMF – the International Monetary Fund – exists, among other things, to provide policy advice and financial support to governments facing economic difficulties. But are its programmes effective? EPISODE NOTES The book that we’re discussing in this episode suggests that IMF funding becomes a resource held by local leaders, which those leaders can use to benefit their own supporters to the detriment of the rest of the population. The book – called IMF Lending: Partisanship, Punishment, and Protest – has two authors, and we are joined by both of them. - Dr Rod Abouharb is Associate Professor in International Relations here in the UCL Department of Political Science. - Dr Bernhard Reinsberg is Reader in Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow and also a Research Associate in Political Economy at the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge. For more information and to access the transcript: https://ucl-uncovering-politics.simplecast.com/episodes/the-domestic-politics-of-imf-lending/transcript