1. International Monetary Fund By Daniel Mulligan

2. Description The International Monetary Fund is a global organization that works to foster growth and economic stability. It provides policy advice and financing to members in economic difficulties and also works with developing nations to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty.

3. Description It currently has 188 member countries, with its headquarters in Washington D.C. It is run by an executive board of 24 directors representing countries or whole groups of countries and has a staff of about 2,600 people

4. History The organization was founded July 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire by 45 countries coming together to create a framework for international economic cooperation hoping to avoid a repetition of the policies that contributed to the Great Depression

5. Goals They are focused on promoting international monetary cooperation, facilitating the expansion and balanced growth of international trade, promoting exchange stability, assisting in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments, and make resources available (with adequate safeguards) to members experiencing balance of payment difficulties

6. Today On September 26th the IMF Executive Board approved emergency financing to countries hit hard by the Ebola Virus. They provided a total of 130 million dollars in emergency financial assistance to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone

7. Criticisms Critics say that conditions placed on loans are too intrusive and compromise the economic and political sovereignty of receiving countries. Structural adjustments typically call for major changes, for example, in the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the IMF suggested that fighting inflation should be the primary purpose of the Korean Central Bank

8. Criticisms Also, they are not very open to criticism or public oversight when working on policies and some agreements have been kept a secret from the general public in those countries and the governments feel powerless to question the conditions of the loans and feel like the agreement could be jeopardized

9. Criticisms Some opponents of the IMF claim that the entire international finance system is corrupt and unfair. A group called 50 years is enough, argues that the IMF, the world bank, and the World Trade Organization are anti-democratic institutions, responsible for the impoverishment of developing countries

10. http://bcove.me/nv1cp4nf

11. Bibliography http://www.globalexchange.org/resources/wbim f/origins http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm http://www.globalization101.org/why-is-the-imf- controversial/