Rating agency S&P's decision to downgrade Greek debt to "junk" may lead to softened pre-conditions for an IMF-EU bailout and a swifter European response, says CFR's Marc Levinson.

Developed countries should embrace a stronger IMF while pressing for more equitable voting rights that would boost the institution's legitimacy, says former IMF board member Domenico Lombardi.

Analyst Edwin Truman says the IMF is gaining power but its influence will depend on its assertiveness with countries like the United States and China, as well as the pace of its own reforms.

Despite early signs of a global economic recovery, CFR Steven Dunaway says it's too early to determine how lasting the rebound might be. "The world economy is not out of the woods yet," he says.

The Financial Times' Martin Wolf argues that massive accumulations of currency reserves enabled housing bubbles in developed economies and sparked the current financial crisis. The shakeout, Wolf says, could take years.

The IMF's proposals to tax the banks will be popular, but are incomplete.

This special report examines the potential adaptations of the International Monetary Fund to the global financial crisis, calling this "an ideal stage for the IMF to reaffirm its position as a pivotal institution in bringing together information and analysis on a global scale, and in trying to console the diverging interests of its member states."

This article posits how to recover from the financial crisis and work towards globalizing in a fair manner.

Allan H. Meltzer comments on the need for IMF reform and discusses how this should happen.

Barry Eichengreen comments on the need for IMF reform and addresses exactly how this should happen.

An external report commissioned by the IMF in response to criticsm of its reporting on Argentina finds an influential 2004 IEO report had toned down criticisms of IMF staff and focused on the mistakes of Argentine authorities.

The International Monetary Fund’s legitimacy and status must be strengthened now so that it can be an effective manager when the next global crisis breaks out, urges a new Council Special Report. “Economic and financial conditions can change with alarming speed, and crises are bound to recur,” warns report author and Council Senior Fellow Peter Kenen, a renowned economist. “It would be far harder to reform the Fund in the midst of a new crisis than to do so now. It is easier to modernize a fire brigade when there are few fires than in the midst of a major conflagration.”

Michael Spence emphasizes the importance of a fair and open selection process in choosing the IMF's next leader.

Sebastian Mallaby contends Christine Lagarde's bid to run the International Monetary Fund will endanger the legitimacy and independence of the institution.

Sebastian Mallaby criticizes the IMF for endorsing capital controls.

Brad Setser argues that the internal decisions countries make during and after a crisis--rather than their participation in international summits--will be the driving force to reform the international financial system.

Brad Setser argues that while national policy considerations dominate debates on macroeconomic policies, these debates need to take into account the global consequences of their policy choices.

The financial insurance scheme known as the IMF has not kept up with the volume of capital flooding through the world's system. Sebastian Mallaby argues that it is time to radically update this insurance scheme and that government commitments to the IMF should be tripled.

In this Wall Street Journal op-ed, Sebastian Mallaby writes that persuading China to change its currency policy would be a worthy goal for a 21^st-Century Bretton Woods. It will be up to the two great powers -- the U.S. and China -- to fashion a deal that brings China into the heart of the multilateral system.

The Europeans have pressed successfully for a new Bretton Woods summit in response to the global financial crisis, but the Bretton Woods analogy is contrived. Sebastian Mallaby argues that while there is a role for global cooperation, it is worth remembering that after the last global crisis in 1997-98, the only important reforms were national ones.