AMERICA, the International Monetary Fund’s largest and most influential shareholder, has lately been its most troublesome too. In 2010 the world agreed to expand the IMF’s lending power and rejig its voting rights. But because Congress has not approved America’s contribution to the proposed increase in capital, the reforms have yet to take effect. In December Congress once again passed a budget without paying up.
The rest of the world is growing impatient. The IMF’s capital has been steadily shrinking relative to the world economy: its clout is half what it was in 2000. Moreover, the giants of the emerging markets—Brazil, China and India—have only 8% of the voting rights, even though they account for 19% of global output.