4074 - Inside the International Monetary Fund: Origins, Operations and Global Role
In-Person Course | Registration opens 9/8/2026 10:00 AM EDT
This overview of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will begin with its origins at the Bretton Woods Conference. Then the instructor will trace its development through significant economic events and reforms in the international monetary system. The six sessions have been designed to build a comprehensive understanding of the IMF's role in the global economy.
- Origins and Evolution: The historical foundations of the IMF, from the Bretton Woods Conference to its evolution through major global economic crises and structural changes in the international monetary system.
- Governance and Institutional Structure: The IMF’s governance framework, internal organizational structure, accountability mechanisms, and the role of the Annual and Spring Meetings.
- Financing and Legal Framework: How the IMF is financed, including the quota system; Special Drawing Rights; gold reserves; and the legal basis of IMF operations under the Articles of Agreement.
- Surveillance: The IMF’s surveillance activities, including Article IV consultations, country monitoring, risk identification, and global and regional surveillance through flagship reports.
- Lending and Conditionality: The IMF’s lending role, the range of financial instruments it uses and the conditionality attached to IMF programs.
- Capacity Development and Support for Low-Income Countries: The IMF’s capacity development work across fiscal, financial, legal, and statistical areas, as well as debt sustainability frameworks and support mechanisms for low-income countries.
This course will be offered in-person at George Mason University.
Geerten Michielse
Geerten Michielse is a native of the Netherlands and lives in Arlington. He received his PhD from the Katholieke Universiteit Brabant in Tilburg and taught tax law as a tenured professor in the Netherlands. He was a visiting professor in Paris and at Georgetown University. Since 2000, he has worked at the International Monetary Fund, first as a lawyer drafting tax laws and later as a senior economist designing tax policies. He has advised governments in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.