Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 04/2015

Over Their Heads: The IMF and the Prelude to the Euro-zone Crisis

Paul Blustein

March 2015

Centre for International Governance Innovation

Abstract

The years prior to the global financial crisis were a peculiar period for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It was struggling to define its role and justify its existence even as trouble was brewing in countries it would later help to rescue. To understand the Fund’s current strengths and weaknesses, a look back at this era is highly illuminating. Three major developments for the IMF, spanning the years 2005–2009, are chronicled.