Table Of ContentTHE UN AND THE BRETTON WOODS INSTITUTIONS
Also by Mahbub ul Haq
A STRATEGY OF ECONOMIC PLANNING
THE POVERTY CURTAIN
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FROM CONCEPT TO ACTION
NEW PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Also by Richard Jolly
ADJUSTMENT WITH A HUMAN FACE (co-editor with Andrea Cornia and
Frances Stewart)
DISARMAMENT AND WORLD DEVELOPMENT
EMPLOYMENT, INCOMES AND EQUALITY
REDISTRIBUTION WITH GROWTH
Also by Paul Streeten
DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES
ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
FIRST THINGS FIRST
THE FRONTIERS OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
WHAT PRICE FOOD?
Also by Khadija Haq
CRISIS OF THE '80s
DIALOGUE FOR A NEW ORDER
EQUALITY OF A NEW ORDER
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY WITHIN AND AMONG NATIONS
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: THE NEGLECTED DIMENSION (co-editor)
THE INFORMATICS REVOLUTION AND THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The UN and the Bretton
Woods Institutions
New Challenges for the Twenty-First
Century
Edited by
Mahbub ul Haq
Special Adviser to UNDP Administrator
New York
Richard Jolly
Deputy Executive Director
UNICEF
Paul Streeten
Emeritus Professor
Boston University
and
Khadija Haq
Executive Director
North South Roundtable
New York
M
MACMillAN
© North South Roundtable 1995
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Pa!ents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1995 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-62894-2 ISBN 978-1-349-23958-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-23958-0
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95
Contents
Preface vii
List ofA bbreviations ix
Conference Participants and Contributors X
Part I
Overview
Part II
The Bretton Woods System
An Historical Perspective
H. W. Singer 17
2 The Vision and the Reality
Mahbub ul Haq 26
3 A Changing Institution in a Changing World
Alexander Shakow 34
4 The Keynesian Vision and the Developing Countries
La/ Jayawardena 49
5 An African Perspective on Bretton Woods
Adebayo Adedeji 60
6 A West European Perspective on Bretton Woods
Andrea Boltho 83
Part III
Reforms in the UN and the Bretton Woods Institutions
7 A Comparative Assessment
Catherine Gwin 95
8 A Blueprint for Reform
Paul Streeten 117
9 A New International Monetary System for the Future
Carlos Massad 127
v
VI Contents
10 On the Modalities of Macroeconomic Policy Coordination
John Williamson 140
Part IV
Priorities for the Twenty-first Century
11 Gender Priorities for the Twenty-first Century
Khadija Haq 157
12 Biases in Global Markets: Can the Forces of Inequity and
Marginalization be Modified?
Frances Stewan 164
13 Poverty Eradication and Human Development: Issues for
the Twenty-first Century
Richard Jolly 185
14 Role of the Multilateral Agencies after the Earth Summit
Maurice Williams 196
15 New Challenges for Regulation of Global Financial
Markets
Stephany Griffith-Jones 210
16 A New Framework for Development Cooperation
Mahbub ul Haq 239
Index 246
Preface
With the end of the cold war, the United Nations is experiencing a new
lease on life. In political and peace-keeping matters, it has often been thrust
to centre-stage. However, in economic and social development, the United
Nations continues much as before, with most of the finance and much of
the action concentrated on the Bretton Woods institutions.
This book explores why this is unsatisfactory and how it can be changed.
It presents the papers and conclusions prepared for and reviewed by two
meetings of the North-South Roundtable of the Society for International
Development, in April and September 1993, on the eve of the fiftieth
anniversary of the conference in Bretton Woods which laid the basis for the
institutions which bear that name.
Earlier meetings of the North-South Roundtable had considered meas
ures to strengthen the United Nations for the 1990s. Other reports, notably
the series of reports under the Nordic Project, reviewed changes of policy
and actions needed to reform the United Nations. But most of these took
only marginal account of the Bretton Woods institutions, and discussions of
the need for reforms of the Bretton Woods institutions have so far con
centrated on measures to improve internal effectiveness with no funda
mental questioning of their basic objectives and roles in relation to the
world economy of the next century.
The papers in this volume consider reform of global economic
governance from a perspective given by four concerns:
• An integral view of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods insti
tutions taken together;
• A priority for human development, including gender awareness, not just
economic and financial concerns;
• A long-term perspective, looking to global issues of the twenty-first
century, not merely problems ofthe 1990s;
• Perspectives given by needs and concerns in the South as well as the
North, taking account also of regional perspectives in Asia, Africa, Latin
America and the Middle East.
Forty-five eminent personalities from different backgrounds, national
ities and expertise participated in the discussions of these papers organized
by the North-South Roundtable meeting in Bretton Woods. The par
ticipants are listed on pp. x-xi. About half have worked in the United
VII
viii Preface
Nations at different times and about one-quarter in the Bretton Woods insti
tutions. Nine have served as ministers in their own countries and most have
at one time or another been members or advisers of governments and the
international agencies. Thus, although most had reputations as academics
or analysts, the wealth of practical experience was also considerable.
Part I of the volume presents an overview of the main themes and con
clusions of the discussion. This summary has been prepared by a small
team consisting of Mahbub ul Haq, Khadija Haq, Lal Jayawardena and
Richard Jolly and was published as a summary report of the Bretton Woods
meeting. Part II analyses the Bretton Woods system in the light of the orig
inal vision of the founders. Two regional perspectives, African and West
European, are also presented here. Part III offers some proposals for
reform. Part IV sets out the priority areas for global governance for the next
century.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions took place in
1994; the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations will take place in 1995.
Both events mark the need for fundamental rethinking of these institutions
in relation to the needs and challenges of the final part of the twentieth
century and the opening years of the next. It is hoped that this book will
provide a stimulus and challenge to the new thinking and perspectives
required for this task.
New York Mahbub ul Haq, Richard Jolly,
March 1994 Paul Streeten and Khadija Haq
List of Abbreviations
A SEAN Association of South-East Asian Nations
ECA Economic Commission for Africa
ECOSOC Economic and Social Council of the UN
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
GATI General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GNP Gross national product
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
IDA International Development Association
IFA D International Fund for Agricultural Development
ILO International Labour Organisation
IMF International Monetary Fund
INSTRAW United Nations International Research and Training
Institute for the Advancement of Women
LPA Lagos Plan of Action
NAFfA North American Free Trade Agreement
NGO Non-governmental organisation
OAU Organisation for African Unity
OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
OPEC Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
SAP Structural Adjustment Programmes
SDR Special drawing rights of IMF
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund
UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women
WHO World Health Organisation
IX
