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WE CALL ON those who rallied in Seattle against the World Trade Organization, and those who supported them, to come to Washington in April. In Seattle we contributed to the collapse of a dangerous attempt to control the worldâs economy and resources for the benefit of corporations and the wealthy. That was an exhilarating, landmark victory. But of course it was just a beginning. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are the architects of the world economy, and spawned the WTO. In Seattle, the heads of the three institutions issued a joint statement saying, "The IMF, the World Bank and the WTO · will continue to work together closely, under our Cooperation Agreements to help increase the coherence of economic policy-making."

We must make our demands for economic justice heard. We are bringing thousands of activists to Washington for the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings (April 16-17, 2000). Finance ministers from around the world will be in Washington to ratify their plans for the expansion of elite, corporate power. We need to share the spirit of Seattle with them.

The IMF and World Bank have been empowered by the governments which control it (led by the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Germany, France, Canada, and Italy -- the "Group of 7," which holds over 40% of the votes on their boards) with imposing economic austerity policies in the countries of the so-called "Third World" or "global South." Once Southern countries build up large external debts, as most have, they cannot get credit or cash anywhere else and are forced to go to these international institutions and accept whatever conditions are demanded of them. None of the countries has emerged from their debt problems; indeed most countries now have much higher levels of debt than when they first accepted IMF/World Bank "assistance."

The IMF/World Bank conditions ö "structural adjustment programs" ö force Southern countries to promote sweatshops, exports to rich countries, and high-return cash investment. The resulting increase in international commerce ö corporate globalization ö led to demands by corporations and investors for ways to lock in their privileges and protection against the perceived danger of governments seizing assets or imposing new regulations. The WTO was the answer to those demands, an institution whose secret tribunals can overrule national laws if they are found to violate the rights of corporations.

The World Bank is best known for financing big projects like dams, roads, and power plants, supposedly designed to assist in economic development, but which have often been associated with monumental environmental devastation and social dislocation. In recent years, about half of its lending has gone to programs indistinguishable from the IMFâs: austerity plans that "reform" economic policies by suffocating the poor and inviting corporate exploitation.

Although the IMF finally got some of the criticism due it with the East Asian financial crisis (where it imposed austerity programs on South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand), the two institutions continue to be the chosen tools of the political and business elites for ruling the global economy, and run, to one degree or another, about 90 Southern countriesâ economies. These countries are forced to adopt policies even more committed to deregulation and withdrawal of government from insuring public welfare than those in the U.S. Considering how impoverished many of these countries were to start with, the effects of these policies have been predictably devastating. The of "emerging market success stories" we sometimes read about generate wealth which goes to very small segments of the populations, and much of it ends up in the North. The great majority of the people of the South are enduring increased poverty, decreased access to basic services, and decreased control over their own economies.

How -- and why -- do the structural adjustment programs that the IMF & World Bank impose create conditions that multinational corporations desire and that devastate most people in the Southern countries? A look at the most common SAP conditions show how economic "advice" is used to maintain the interests of the wealthy at the expense of continued suffering for the bulk of the people.

SAPs are anti-democratic in more than one way. The institutions are correct in saying that the plans are formulated in part, and agreed to, by the governments. But the government officials involved are usually limited to the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank, usually among the most conservative, Northern-educated, and wealthy members of the government -- in other words, those most likely to agree with IMF economics and benefit from the policies. In many cases even they feel coerced into going along with IMF/World Bank demands. If they donât cooperate, the consequence can be a complete cut-off of credit because other lenders follow the lead of these institutions.

With such unpopular policies, it is the rare government that can "sell" structural adjustment to its people, especially after 20 years of similar failed policies. The slogan "short-term pain for long-term gain" sounds hollow when people have heard it for a whole generation. SAPs encourage instability in democratic countries by forcing elected governments to institute measures which make them illegitimate among their people. It has been argued that the IMF prefers dictatorships to democratic governments, because dictators can more successfully impose SAPs. And once the rules are in place the WTO extends the attack on democracy by overruling any regulations that corporations claim interfere with their right to profits.

The fact that institutions based in Washington and largely controlled by the U.S. Treasury Department have been starving peoples around the world for two decades is a scandal. That people in the U.S. are barely aware of the fact is a disgrace.

In April we have the opportunity, building on the momentum of Seattle, to alert the people of the U.S. and deliver a strong message to the Finance Ministers who plan to meet at the IMFâs headquarters to tighten their grip on the global economy. We will be doing so in solidarity with the peoples of the countries controlled by the IMF and World Bank, to claim for all people, including those in the North who know the dangers of the powers given the WTO, the power to make the economic decisions affecting their lives.

50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice