RealNews Video: The lame duck economic summit

When asked what is the bargaining power of developing countries sitting at the G20 this weekend, Weisbrot advises "they have plenty."  All the countries with reserves could go around the IMF and the G7 countries and create their own stabilization fund.  He doesn't think they will do that.  Another bit of bargaining power they have is by refusing to coordinate their policies with IMF's expansionary policies only as applied to the G7.

The part that's bad is that "the IMF has had this double standard for decades.  They promote the counter-cyclical – that is, expansionary - policies in a recession for the rich countries... but then they promote the opposite for the developing countries.  That's the real problem.

"I have to emphasize this because the biggest change that we've had in the international financial system, really, since the collapse of Bretton Woods thirty-five years ago, has been the collapse of the IMF's creditor's cartel - their power to impose conditions on developing countries has really fallen apart in the last decade. 

"And now, they're trying to get it all back. They're trying to take advantage of the crisis.  When I say 'they,' it's really not even worth criticizing the IMF because, it's – they really answer to the U.S. Treasury Department.  That's who's trying to reestablish this relationship that they had for all these years that imposed, basically, in many countries, neoliberal economic policies."