Role of international institutions in the world's economic governance since 1945

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↪ 1971- Nixon Shock => the president ends the Gold Standard Act, end of fixed changes rates and BW system

Second Period : Economic Governance of the World since 80’s

I) The new actors of the global economy

→ the increase of globalisation

↪sudden growth of globalisation in the 80’s/90’s with booming exchanges, financial liberalisation and capital flows (also delocalisations)

↪ this phenomena supposes the possibility of a new governance

→ a multipolar world

↪ globalisation helped new countries to emerge like the NICs of Asia ( four “dragons”: S.Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taïwan)

↪ globalisation benefited to BRICS which have known incredible economic growth => China became the world’s first economic power

↪ these countries are the most attractive for FDIs

↪ in the 80/90’s, the world governance started to take in account the power of those emerging countries => 2008: creation of G20

→ multiplication of economic crises

↪ the recurrent crises are shaking up the global economy => 2008 financial crisis (subprimes)

II) Difficulties in the economic governance of the world

→ a much needed evolution of supranational institutions

↪ because they failed to prevent and resolve the economic crises

↪ GATT => WTO in 1995

↪ will reinforce its powers with a larger range of sanctions and economic rules.

↪ its actions in commercial negotiations will be widened to agriculture and services

→ states back at it again

↪ states will take the lead in the governance of the global economy => multiplication of meetings and summits : G6 (1975), G20 (2008)

↪ more and more states involved

↪ decisive meetings where the “big lines” (main priorities) of the world economic governance are drawn

↪ states are creating trade blocs to gain more influence in the global economy

↪ trade blocs allow gains in competitivity : (EU/ NAFTA)

↪ the consequences of eco/financial crises are lessened in trade blocs

→ non-states actors

↪ nowadays the influence of TNCs is even more important than the international institutions

↪ the control of the economy is given to independent actors => ECB in the EU, rating agencies

↪people’s power shouldn’t be neglected as the civil society can be an important factor influencing world eco governance ( ex: Davos club- conclave of global elites)

III) For another global governance

→ alter-globalisation

↪ a new movement born in the 80’s and gathering actors with diverse interests

↪some wish to fight inequalities created by globalisation or by the TNCs

↪ fighting against the american hegemony

↪ all actors aspire to break up with liberal capitalism and create a new and fairer economic governance which would take the “human” into account

↪ since 2001 and the first congress in Porto Alegre (Brazil), the anti-globalist meet every year in social conclaves

↪ sometimes protests of anti-globalists can become violent

→ stakes rising in the XXIe

↪ new challenges concerning sustainable development

↪ multiplication of economic and financial crises

↪ new issues calling for a reform of the global eco governance

→ 2008, reformation of the IMF’s governance which reinforced developing countries’s power

↪ today the IMF’s politics are fighting against poverty

↪ UN could become one of economic governance’s major actors as it has created institutions in charge of economic problems : UNDP / Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

CONCLUSION

From 1944, the world has witnessed the creation of a new global economic governance founded by the Bretton Woods agreement.

From the 1970’s, with the acceleration of globalisation, the growing power of emerging countries, the multiple economic crises have led to a change in global governance.

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