The dominant policy response to economic crises over the past four decades has been the introduction of austerity--a mix of budget cuts and reforms to downsize the role of the state. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been the world's lender of last resort and leading advocate of austerity, and has been consistently chastised by policymakers and civil society for the consequences of its economic policy reforms on social protection. Critics of the IMF have identified so-called structural adjustment programs as a key cause of global increases in poverty, widespread disease, and unemployment. In the face of such criticisms, the IMF has advanced a narrative of wholesale reform to its practices. In A Thousand Cuts, Alexandros Kentikelenis and Thomas Stubbs provide a systematic and comprehensive analysis of IMF policies around the world. Based on novel data from the IMF archives, Kentikelenis and Stubbs have generated a replicable database of all IMF-mandated reforms from 1980-2019 to examine their effects on social policies and outcomes. They reveal that although the precise content of IMF-mandated austerity has changed considerably over time, the organization continues to place a high burden of reform on countries in crisis. These reforms then decrease the availability of important social services and contribute to rises in income inequality and decline in population health. Kentikelenis and Stubbs argue that in spite of reform rhetoric, the IMF's practices--and the outcomes they produce--have changed very little over the past three decades. As one of the first systematic assessments of the impact of austerity on people's lives around the world, A Thousand Cuts makes an important contribution to the continuing debate regarding the consequences of the IMF and how it might better support social protection.

About the Author
Alexandros Kentikelenis is Associate Professor of Political Economy and Sociology at Bocconi University in Milan. His research focuses on decisionmaking within global governance and the social consequences of economic policies. Thomas Stubbs is a Reader in Global Political Economy at Royal Holloway, University of London. He also holds an associate position at the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the activities of international financial institutions and their relationship with economic policy and outcomes throughout the Global South. He is also the curator of the IMF Monitor website, a data hub used by academics, civil societies, and policymakers to track the activities of the International Monetary Fund.

Reviews
In brilliant, novel detail, A Thousand Cuts provides a devastating indictment of the IMF's austerity-driven conditionality and its systemic undermining of social policies and outcomes. It should be required reading not just for scholars and policy activists, but also for IMF staff intent on substantively changing the institution's practices. * Daniela Gabor, Professor of Economics and Macro-Finance, University of the West of England *
A Thousand Cuts is the most significant piece of research on austerity's pernicious effects in the Global South. Alexandros Kentikelenis and Thomas Stubbs meticulously demonstrate that budget cuts fail poorer countries time and time again. This is essential reading for anyone concerned with how the world can avoid economic mistakes of the past, and how governments can implement policies that promote social protection. * Mark Blyth, The William R. Rhodes '57 Professor of International Economics, Brown University *
This carefully researched book examines more than 6,000 IMF loan documents over four decades to show convincingly that IMF conditionalities still require regressive public policies that in turn have regressive socio-economic outcomes. Such an important book must be read carefully in every national capital, and most of all in Washington, D.C. It forms the basis for arguments for major change if the IMF is to be fit for purpose in the contemporary world economy. * Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst *
A Thousand Cuts is the first comprehensive, data-driven analysis of the outcomes of IMF lending policies. While the methodology is rigorous and writing style elegant, the conclusions are not pretty. Kentikelenis and Stubbs document the consistently devastating social consequences of ill-conceived austerity measures by the IMF. This truly original and alarming new volume is mandatory reading for anyone interested in how to build a more progressive global economic governance based on evidence over ideology. * Kevin P. Gallagher, Director of the Global Development Policy Center, Boston University *
Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. * Choice *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190637736
Author Alexandros Kentikelenis
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 526g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 167mm * 23mm