Staying Alive

This chapter examines how the design and enforcement of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) lending arrangements affect the political survival of economic policymakers in borrowing governments. It first considers anecdotal evidence on the IMF's impact on the appointment and retention of economic officials in the borrowing country before discussing the variation in the types of officials that occupied the top policymaking posts in developing countries. The evidence suggests that the power of the IMF extends beyond influencing how the borrowing economies are governed. It argues that the IMF, through its conditional lending programs, also influences who governs the economy. It also discusses the association between participation in IMF lending arrangements and the presence of neoliberal policymakers in the borrowing government.