Table of Contents
List of Tables ix
List of Illustrations x
List of Abbreviations xii
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
The IMF and macroeconomic stability in fragile economies 5
Seeing like the IMF on institutional change 10
Plan of the book 13
1 Institutional Change and the IMF 17
Everyday practices and institutional change 17
The political economy of institutional change 19
Economic uncertainty and policy credibility 23
The reputational authority of the IMF 25
Strategic games over policy efficacy 29
Moving beyond criticisms of the Washington consensus 32
Seeing like the IMF 34
IMF loan conditionality 39
IMF technical assistance 41
Conclusion 43
2 Expanding the International Monetary Order after the Cold War 45
The contemporary international monetary order 47
The political economy of central bank independence 50
The political economy of current account convertibility 53
Currency reform in postcommunist economies 56
A new mission for the IMF 57
The IMF's monetary reform template 61
The demise of the Soviet Union 66
Adapting the IMF to the post-Soviet transition 69
Conclusion 75
3 The Disintegration of the Ruble Zone 77
The breakdown of Soviet monetary control 78
The growth of barter economies 80
The legacy of Soviet monetary norms 88
The political economy of the ruble zone 90
The end of the ruble zone façade 95
The IMF and the ruble zone crisis 99
Monetary sovereignty versus multilateralism 101
Loan conditionality and monetary independence 106
Conclusion 109
4 Designer Capitalism in Central Asia 112
Post-Soviet political regimes in Central Asia 113
Fiscal capacity in Central Asia 116
The economic environment in Central Asia 122
Establishing an IMF loan program with the Kyrgyz Republic 125
The Executive Board and the battle of the som 129
The Kyrgyz Republic's first IMF loans 133
Establishing an IMF loan program with Kazakhstan 137
Establishing monetary independence in Kazakhstan 140
The difficult case of Uzbekistan 143
Developing the IMF's policy dialogue with Uzbekistan 145
Establishing an IMF loan program with Uzbekistan 148
Conclusion 150
5 The Scope of the IMF's Influence in Central Asia 152
Changing monetary norms in the Kyrgyz Republic 155
Embedding IMF-friendly policies in the Kyrgyz Republic 159
Changing monetary norms in Kazakhstan 161
Embedding IMF-friendly policies in Kazakhstan 163
The challenge of changing monetary norms in Uzbekistan 168
The suspension of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the IMF 173
Economic nationalism in Uzbekistan 175
The limits of the IMF's influence 178
Conclusion 181
Conclusion 185
The IMF as an intellectual actor 186
IMF-friendly institutional change 187
The IMF's record in Central Asia 189
Lessons from the frontier 191
Implications for future research 192
The independence of the IMF 195
References 196
Index 216
