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In the late 1800s,world migration and communication technology facilitated unprecedented growth in international trade and investment.At the onset of World War I,trade contracted as foreign exchange markets became paralyzed by money market illiquidity.Countries sought to defend against external shocks with protectionist policies and trade virtually halted by 1933,worsening the effects of the global Great Depression until a series of reciprocal trade agreements slowly reduced tariffs worldwide.Efforts to revamp the international monetary system after World War II improved exchange rate stability,fostering record growth in global finance.
The International Monetary Fund(IMF)is an international organization headquartered in Washington,D.C.,in the United States,of 188 members working to foster global monetary cooperation,secure financial stability,facilitate international trade,promote high employment and sustainable economic growth,and reduce poverty around the world.Formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference,it came into formal existence in 1945 with29 members and the goal of reconstructing the international payment system.Members contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries with payment imbalances can borrow.As of 2010,the fund had SDR476.8 billion,about US＄755.7 billion at then-current exchange rates.Through this fund,and other activities such as statistics keeping and analysis,surveillance of its members‘economies and the demand for self-correcting policies,the IMF works to improve the economies of its members.
The IMF was one of the key organizations of the international economic system;its design allowed the system to balance the rebuilding of international capitalism with the maximization of national economic sovereignty and human welfare.The IMF‘s influence in the global economy steadily increased as it accumulated more members.The increase reflected in particular the attainment of political independence by many African members and more recently the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union because most members in the Soviet sphere of influence did not join the IMF.
IMF“Headquarters1”in Washington,D.C.
History
The IMF was originally laid out as a part of the Bretton Woods system exchange agreement in 1944.During the Great Depression,countries sharply raised barriers to trade in an attempt to improve their failing economies.This led to the devaluation of national currencies and a decline in world trade.
This breakdown in international monetary co-operation created a need for oversight.The representatives of 45 governments met at the Bretton Woods Conference in the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods,New Hampshire,in the United States,to discuss a framework for postwar international economic cooperation and how to rebuild Europe.
There were two views on the role the IMF should assume as a global economic institution.British economist John Maynard Keynes imagined that the IMF would be a co-operative fund upon which the members could draw to maintain economic activity and employment through periodic crises.This view suggested an IMF that helped governments and to act as the U.S.government had during the New Deal in response to World War II.American delegate Harry Dexter White foresaw an IMF that functioned more like a bank,making sure that borrowing states could repay their debts on time.Most ofWhite‘s plan was incorporated into the final acts adopted at Bretton Woods.
The IMF formally came into existence on 27 December 1945,when the first 29 members ratified its Articles of Agreement.By the end of 1946 the IMF had grown to 39 members.On 1 March 1947,the IMF began its financial operations,and on 8 May France became the first member to borrow from it.As of January 2012,the largest borrowers from the IMF in order were Greece,Portugal,Ireland,Romania,and Ukraine.
Not all members of the IMF are sovereign states,and therefore not all members of the IMF are members of the United Nations.Amidst members of the IMF that are not members of the UN are non-sovereign areas with special jurisdictions that are officially under the sovereignty of full UN members,such as Hong Kong,Macau,and Kosovo.All members of the IMF are also International Bank for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD)members and vice versa.
Apart from Cuba,the other UN states that do not belong to the IMF are Andorra,Liechtenstein,Monaco,Nauru,and North Korea.
Qualifications
Any country or region may apply to be a part of the IMF.Members needed to make periodic membership payments towards their quota,to refrain from currency restrictions unless granted IMF permission,to abide by the Code of Conduct in the IMF Articles of Agreement,and to provide national economic information.However,stricter rules were imposed on governments that applied to the IMF for funding.
Some members have a very difficult relationship with the IMF and even when they are still members they do not allow themselves to be monitored.Argentina,for example,refuses to participate in an Article IV Consultation with the IMF.
Benefits
Members of the IMF have access to information on the economic policies of all members,the opportunity to influence other members’economic policies,technical assistance in banking,fiscal affairs,and exchange matters,financial support in times of payment difficulties,and increased opportunities for trade and investment.
Board of Governors
The Board of Governors consists of one governor and one alternate governor for each member.Each member appoints its two governors.The Board normally meets once a year and is responsible for electing or appointing executive directors to the Executive Board.While the Board of Governors is officially responsible for approving quota increases,Special Drawing Right allocations,the admittance of new members,compulsory withdrawal of members,and amendments to the Articles of Agreement and By-Laws,in practice it has delegated most of its powers to the IMF‘s Executive Board.
The Board of Governors is advised by the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee.The International Monetary and Financial Committee has 24 members and monitors developments in global liquidity and the transfer of resources to developing countries.Countries or regions.The Development Committee has 25 members and advises on critical development issues and on financial resources required to promote economic development in developing countries.They also advise on trade and environmental issues.
Executive Board
24 Executive Directors make up Executive Board.The Executive Directors represent all 188 members in a geographically based roster.Members with large economies have their own Executive Director,but most members are grouped in constituencies representing four or more countries or regions.
Following the 2008 Amendment on Voice and Part icipation which came into effect in March 2011,eight members each appoint an Executive Director:the United States,Japan,Germany,France,the UK,China,the Russian Federation,and Saudi Arabia.The remaining 16 Directors represent constituencies consisting of 4 to 22 countries or regions.
Managing Director
The IMF is led by a managing director,who is head of the staff and serves as Chairman of the Executive Board.The managing director is assisted by a First Deputy managing director and three other Deputy Managing Directors.Historically the IMF‘s managing director has been European and the president of the World Bank has been from the United States.However,this standard is increasingly being questioned and competition for these two posts may soon open up to include other qualified candidates from any part of the world.
In 2011 the world‘s largest developing countries,the BRICS nations,issued a statement declaring that the tradition of appointing a European as managing director undermined the legitimacy of the IMF and called for the appointment to be merit-based.
Objectives and Activities
The organization‘s objectives stated in the Articles of Agreement are:to promote international economic co-operation,international trade,employment,and exchange-rate stability,including by making financial resources available to members to meet balance-of-payments needs.
The IMF works to foster global growth and economic stability by providing policy,advice and financing to members,by working with developing members to help them achieve macroeconomic stability,and by reducing poverty.The rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many members have limited access to financial markets.Such market imperfections,together with balance-of-payments financing,provide the justification for official financing,without which many members could only correct large external payment imbalances through measures with adverse economic consequences.The IMF provides alternate sources of financing.
Upon initial IMF formation,its two primary functions were:to oversee the fixed exchange rate arrangements between members,thus helping the governments manage their exchange rates and allowing these governments to prioritize economic growth,and to provide short-term capital to aid balance of payments.This assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises.The IMF was also intended to help mend the pieces of the international economy after the Great Depression and World War II.
The IMF‘s role was fundamentally altered after the floating exchange rates after 1971.It shifted to examining the economic policies of members with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy.The IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery.The new challenge is to promote and implement policy that reduces the frequency of crises among the emerging market countries or regions,especially the middle-income countries or regions that are vulnerable to massive capital outflows.Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates,their function became one of“surveillance”of the overall macroeconomic performance of members.Their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates.
In addition,the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality,which was established in the 1950s.Low-income countries or regions can borrow on concessional terms,which mean there is a period of time with no interest rates.The IMF provides emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument(RFI)to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs.
Surveillance of the Global Economy
The IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its members.This activity is known as surveillance and facilitates international cooperation.Since the demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in the early 1970s,surveillance has evolved largely by way of changes in procedures rather than through the adoption of new obligations.The responsibilities changed from those of guardian to those of overseer of members’policies.
The Fund typically analyses the appropriateness of each member‘s economic and financial policies for achieving orderly economic growth,and assesses the consequences of these policies for other members and for the global economy.
In 1995 the IMF began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF members to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public.The International Monetary and Financial Committee(IMFC)endorsed the guidelines for the dissemination standards and they were split into two tiers:The General Data Dissemination System(GDDS)and the Special Data Dissemination Standard(SDDS).
The primary objective of the GDDS is to encourage members to build a framework to improve data quality and statistical capacity building in order to evaluate statistical needs,set priorities in improving the timeliness,transparency,reliability and accessibility offinancial and economic data.Some members initially used the GDDS,but later upgraded to SDDS.
Conditionality of Loans
IMF conditionality is a set of policies or conditions that the IMF requires in exchange for financial resources.The IMF does require collateral from countries or regions for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in the form of policy reform.If the conditions are not met,the funds are withheld.Conditionality is perhaps the most controversial aspect of IMF policies.The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 Executive Board decision and later incorporated into the Articles of Agreement.
These loan conditions ensure that the borrowing country or region will be able to repay the IMF and that the country or region will not attempt to solve their balance-of-payment problems in a way that would negatively impact the international economy.
Conditionality also reassures the IMF that the funds lent to them will be used for the purposes defined by the Articles of Agreement and provides safeguards that the country or region will be able to rectify its macroeconomic and structural imbalances.In the judgment of the IMF,the adoption by the member of certain corrective measures or policies will allow it to repay the IMF,thereby ensuring that the resources will be available to support other members.
As of 2004,borrowing countries or regions have had a very good track record for repaying credit extended under the IMF‘s regular lending facilities with full interest over the duration of the loan.This indicates that IMF lending does not impose a burden on creditor members,as lending members receive market-rate interest on most of their quota subscription,plus any of their own-currency subscriptions that are loaned out by the IMF,plus all of the reserve assets that they provide the IMF.
IMF and Globalization
Globalization encompasses three institutions:global financial markets,transnational or transregional companies,and national or regional governments linked to each other in economic and military alliances led by the United States,and rising“global governments”such as World Trade Organization(WTO),IMF,and World Bank.These interacting institutions create a new global power system where sovereignty is globalized,taking power and constitutional authority away from nations or regions and giving it to global markets and international bodies.This system institutionalizes global inequality between western countries and the Majority World in a form of global apartheid,in which the IMF is a key pillar.
The establishment of globalised economic institutions has been both a symptom of and a stimulus for globalization.The development of the World Bank,the IMF regional development banks such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD),and multilateral trade institutions such as the WTO signals a move away from the dominance of the state or region as the exclusive unit of analysis in international affairs.
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries or regions for capital programs.It comprises two institutions:the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD)and the International Development Association(IDA).The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group,and a member of the United Nations Development Group.
The World Bank was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference,along with the International Monetary Fund(IMF).Traditionally,based on a tacit understanding between the United States and Europe,the president of the World Bank has always been selected from candidates nominated by the United States.The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington,D.C.,and work closely with each other.
Although many countries or regions were represented at the Bretton Woods Conference,the United States and United Kingdom were the most powerful in attendance and dominated the negotiations.
The World Bank Group headquarters bldg.in Washington,D.C.
Objectives and Activities
The World Bank‘s official goal is the reduction of poverty.According to its Articles of Agreement,all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international trade and to the facilitation of capital investment.
1944-1968
Before 1968,the reconstruction and development loans provided by the World Bank were relatively small.The Bank‘s staff were aware of the need to instill confidence in the bank.Fiscal conservatism ruled,and loan applications had to meet strict criteria.
The first country to receive a World Bank loan was France.The loan was for US＄250 million,half the amount requested,and it came with strict conditions.France had to agree to produce a balanced budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments.World Bank staff closely monitored the use of the funds to ensure that the French government met the conditions.In addition,before the loan was approved,the United States State Department told the French government that its members associated with the Communist Part y would first have to be removed.The French government complied with this and removed the Communist coalition government.Within hours,the loan to France was approved.
When the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1947,many European countries began receiving aid from other sources.Faced with this competition,the World Bank shifted its focus to non-European countries.Until 1968,its loans were earmarked for the construction of incomeproducing infrastructure,such as seaports,highway systems,and power plants,that would generate enough income to enable a borrower country to repay the loan.
1968-1980
From 1968 to 1980,the bank concentrated on meeting the basic needs of people in the developing world.The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and other sectors.
In 1980,the World Bank Administrative Tribunal was established to decide on disputes between the World Bank Group and its staff where allegation of non-observance of contracts of employment or terms of appointment had not been honored.
1980-1989
During the 1980s,the bank emphasized lending to service Third-World debt,and structural adjustment policies designed to streamline the economies of developing countries or regions.UNICEF reported in the late 1980s that the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank had been responsible for“reduced health,nutritional and educational levels for tens of millions of children in Asia,Latin America,and Africa”.
1989-Present
Beginning in 1989,in response to harsh criticism from many groups,the bank began including environmental groups and NGOs in its loans to mitigate the past effects of its development policies that had prompted the criticism.It also formed an implementing agency,in accordance with the Montreal Protocols,to stop ozone-depletion damage to the Earth‘s atmosphere by phasing out the use of95%of ozone-depleting chemicals.Since then,in accordance with its so-called“Six Strategic Themes,”the bank has put various additional policies into effect to preserve the environment while promoting development.For example,in 1991,the bank announced that to protect against deforestation,especially in the Amazon,it would not finance any commercial logging or infrastructure projects that harm the environment.
In order to promote global public goods,the World Bank tries to control communicable disease such as malaria,delivering vaccines to several parts of the world and joining combat forces.In 2000,the bank announced a“war on AIDS”,and in 2011,the Bank joined the Stop Tuberculosis Part nership.
Various developments have brought the Millennium Development Goals targets,such as:
1.Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger: From 1990 through 2004,the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from almost a third to less than a fifth.Although results vary widely within regions and countries,the trend indicates that the world as a whole can meet the goal of halving the percentage of people living in poverty.Africa‘s poverty,however,is expected to rise,and most of the 36 countries where 90%of the world‘s undernourished children live are in Africa.Less than a quarter of countries or regions are on track for achieving the goal of halving under-nutrition.
2.Achieve Universal Primary Education: The percentage of children in school in developing countries or regions increased from 80%in 1991 to 88%in 2005.Still,about 72 million children of primary school age,57%of them girls,were not being educated as of 2005.
3.Promote Gender Equality: The tide is turning slowly for women in the labor market,yet far more women than men-worldwide more than 60%-are contributing but unpaid family workers.The World Bank Group Gender Action Plan was created to advance women‘s economic empowerment and promote shared growth.
4.Reduce Child Mortality: There is some improvement in survival rates globally;accelerated improvements are needed most urgently in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.An estimated 10 million-plus children under five died in 2005;most of their deaths were from preventable causes.
5.Improve Maternal Health: Almost all of the half million women who die during pregnancy or childbirth every year live in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.There are numerous causes of maternal death that require a variety of health care interventions to be made widely accessible.
6.Combat HIV/AIDS,Malaria,and Other Diseases: Annual numbers of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths have fallen,but the number of people living with HIV continues to grow.In the eight worst-hit southern African countries,prevalence is above 15 percent.Treatment has increased globally,but still meets only 30 percent of needs(with wide variations across countries).AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa(1.6 million deaths in 2007).There are 300 to 500 million cases of malaria each year,leading to more than 1 million deaths.Nearly all the cases and more than 95 percent of the deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.
7.Ensure Environmental Sustainability: Deforestation remains a critical problem,particularly in regions of biological diversity,which continues to decline.Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing faster than energy technology advancement.
8.Develop a Global Part nership for Development: Donor countries have renewed their commitment.Donors have to fulfill their pledges to match the current rate of core program development.Emphasis is being placed on the Bank Group‘s collaboration with multilateral and local partners to quicken progress toward the MDGs‘realization.
To make sure that World Bank-financed operations do not compromise these goals but instead add to their realization,environmental,social and legal Safeguards were defined.However,these Safeguards have not been implemented entirely yet.At the World Bank‘s annual meeting in Tokyo 2012 a review of these Safeguards has been initiated which was welcomed by several civil society organizations.
Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements(BIS)is an international organization of central banks which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks.The BIS carries out its work through subcommittees,the secretariats it hosts and through an annual general meeting of all member banks.It also provides banking services,but only to central banks and other international organizations.It is based in Basel,Switzerland,with representative offices in Hong Kong and Mexico City.
The BIS was established on May 17th,1930,by an intergovernmental agreement by Germany,Belgium,France,the United Kingdom,Italy,Japan,the United States and Switzerland.
The BIS was originally intended to facilitate reparations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.The need to establish a dedicated institution for this purpose was suggested in 1929 by the Young Committee,and was agreed to in August of that year at a conference at The Hague.A charter for the bank was drafted at the International Bankers Conference in November,and its charter was adopted at a second Hague Conference on January 20,1930.According to the charter,shares in the bank could be held by individuals and nongovernmental entities.The BIS was constituted as having corporate existence in Switzerland on the basis of an agreement with Switzerland acting as headquarters state for the bank.It also enjoyed immunity in all the contracting states.
As a result of allegations that the BIS had helped the Germans loot assets from occupied countries during World War II,the Bretton Woods Conference recommended the liquidation of the Bank for International Settlements at the earliest possible moment.This resulted in the BIS being the subject of a disagreement between the non-governmental U.S.and British delegations.The liquidation of the bank was supported by other European delegates,as well as the United States,but opposed by John Maynard Keynes,head of the British delegation.
Fearing that the BIS would be dissolved by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt,Keynes went to Morgenthau hoping to prevent the dissolution,or have it postponed,but the next day the dissolution of the BIS was approved.However,the liquidation of the bank was never actually undertaken.In April 1945,the new U.S.president Harry S.Truman and the British government suspended the dissolution,and the decision to liquidate the BIS was officially reversed in 1948.
The BIS was originally owned by both governments and private individuals,since the United States and France had decided to sell some of their shares to private investors.BIS shares traded on stock markets,which made the bank an unusual organization:an international organization(in the technical sense of public international law),yet allowed for private shareholders.Many central banks had similarly started as such private institutions;for example,the Bank of England was privately owned until 1946.In more recent years the BIS has bought back its once publicly traded shares.It is now wholly owned by BIS members(central banks)but still operates in the private market as a counterparty,asset manager and lender for central banks and international financial institutions.Profits from its transactions are used,among other things,to fund the bank‘s other international activities.
Organization of Central Banks
As an organization of central banks,the BIS seeks to make monetary policy more predictable and transparent among its 60-member central banks,except in the case of Eurozone countries which forfeited the right to conduct monetary policy in order to implement the euro.While monetary policy is determined by most sovereign nations,it is subject to central and private banking scrutiny and potentially to speculation that affects foreign exchange rates and especially the fate of export economies.Failures to keep monetary policy in line with reality and make monetary reforms in time,preferably as a simultaneous policy among all 60 member banks and also involving the International Monetary Fund,have historically led to losses in the billions as banks try to maintain a policy using open market methods that have proven to be based on unrealistic assumptions.
Central banks do not unilaterally“set”rates,rather they set goals and intervene using their massive financial resources and regulatory powers to achieve monetary targets they set.One reason to coordinate policy closely is to ensure that this does not become too expensive and that opportunities for private arbitrage exploiting shifts in policy or difference in policy,are rare and quickly removed.
Two aspects of monetary policy have proven to be particularly sensitive,and the BIS therefore has two specific goals:to regulate capital adequacy and make reserve requirements transparent.
Regulating Capital Adequacy
Capital adequacy policy applies to equity and capital assets.These can be overvalued in many circumstances because they do not always reflect current market conditions or adequately assess the risk of every trading position.Accordingly,the BIS requires the capital/asset ratio of central banks to be above a prescribed minimum international standard,for the protection of all central banks involved.
The BIS‘s main role is in setting capital adequacy requirements.From an international point of view,ensuring capital adequacy is the most important problem between central banks,as speculative lending based on inadequate underlying capital and widely varying liability rules causes economic crises as“bad money drives out good”.
Encouraging Reserve Transparency
Reserve policy is also important,especially to consumers and the domestic economy.To ensure liquidity and limit liability to the larger economy,banks cannot create money in specific industries or regions without limit.To make bank depositing and borrowing safer for customers and reduce risk of bank runs,banks are required to set aside or“reserve”.
Reserve policy is harder to standardize as it depends on local conditions and is often finetuned to make industry-specific or region-specific changes,especially within large developing nations.For instance,the People‘s Bank of China(PBOC)requires urban banks to hold 7%reserves while letting rural banks continue to hold only 6%,and simultaneously telling all banks that reserve requirements on certain overheated industries would rise sharply or penalties would be laid if investments in them did not stop completely.The PBOC is thus unusual in acting as a national bank,focused on the country not on the currency,but its desire to control asset inflation is increasingly shared among BIS members who fear“bubbles”,and among exporting countries that find it difficult to manage the diverse requirements of the domestic economy,especially rural agriculture,and an export economy,especially in manufactured goods.
Effectively,the PBOC sets different reserve levels for domestic and export styles of development.Historically,the United States also did this,by dividing federal monetary management into nine regions,in which the less-developed western United States had looser policies.
For various reasons it has become quite difficult to accurately assess reserves on more than simple loan instruments,and this plus the regional differences has tended to discourage standardizing any reserve rules at the global BIS scale.Historically,the BIS did set some standards which favoured lending money to private landowners and for-profit corporations over loans to individuals.These distinctions reflecting classical economics were superseded by policies relying on undifferentiated market values-more in line with neoclassical economics.
Role in Banking Supervision
The BIS provides the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision with its 17-member secretariat,and with it has played a central role in establishing the Basel Capital Accords of 1988 and 2004.There remain significant differences between United States,European Union,and United Nations officials regarding the degree of capital adequacy and reserve controls that global banking now requires.Put extremely simply,the United States,as of2006,favoured strong strict central controls in the spirit of the original 1988 accords,while the EU was more inclined to a distributed system managed collectively with a committee able to approve some exceptions.
infrastructure n.基础设施；公共建设；下部构造
voyage n.航行；航程；旅行记
connectedness n.连通性
dissemination n.宣传；散播；传染（病毒）
philosophy n.哲学；哲理；人生观
exploration n.探测；探究；踏勘
interchange n.互换；立体交叉道
syncretic adj.合一的；融合的；汇合的
refugee n.难民，避难者；流亡者，逃亡者
influx n.流入；汇集；河流的汇集处
prohibitively adv.禁止的；过高的；过分的
dominance n.优势；统治；支配
endure v.忍耐；容忍
protectionism n.保护主义，贸易保护主义；贸易保护制度
integration n.集成；综合
eminence n.显赫；卓越；高处
negative adj.消极的
conflict n.冲突，矛盾；斗争；争执
voluntary adj.自愿的；志愿的；自发的
organ n.机构
humanitarian adj.人道主义的
uphold v.支撑；鼓励；赞成；举起
polio n.小儿麻痹症（等于poliomyelitis）；脊髓灰质炎
leprosy n.麻疯病
famine n.饥荒；饥饿
abstention n.弃权；节制
impetus n.动力；促进；冲力
demographic adj.人口统计学的；人口学的
reinforce v.加强，加固；强化；补充
revitalize v.使……复活；使……复兴；使……恢复生气
clarify v.澄清；阐明
sovereignty n.主权；主权国家；君主；独立国
averse adj.反对的
crude adj.粗糙的；天然的，未加工的
unilateral adj.单边的
revenue n.税收收入；财政收入；收益
speculation n.投机；推测；思索
devaluation n.货币贬值
thermostat n.恒温器；自动调温器
orchestrate v.把……编成管弦乐曲；（美）精心安排；把……协调地结合起来
asylum n.庇护；收容所，救济院
quota n.配额；定额
cohesion n.凝聚；结合
intellectual n.知识分子
academic adj.学术的；理论的；学院的
neologism n.新词；新义；新词的使用
revamp v.修补；翻新；修改
surveillance n.监督；监视
capitalism n.资本主义
dissolution n.分解，（议会等的）解散；（契约等的）解除
oversight n.监督，照管；疏忽
periodic adj.周期的；定期的
jurisdictions n.司法权，审判权，管辖权
alternate v.交替；轮流
compulsory adj.义务的；必修的；被强制的
macroeconomic adj.宏观经济的，总体经济的
prioritize v.给……排出优先级；优先处理；优先考虑
vulnerable adj.易受攻击的，易受……的攻击；易受伤害的
dissemination n.宣传；散播；
subscription n.捐献；订阅；订金；签署
surveillance n.监督；监视
pillar n.柱子，柱形物；栋梁
criteria n.标准，条件（criterion的复数）
arbitrage n.套汇，套利；仲裁
ideology n.意识形态；思想意识；观念学
on par with 与……同等水平
advent of 出现
as well as 也；和……一样；不但……而且……
focus on 集中于
in cases of万一；如果发生；假设
the period of 时期
according to 根据，按照
along with 连同……一起；与……一道；随同……一起
come up with 提出；想出；赶上
consist of 包含；由……组成
demand for 对……的需求
take place 发生；举行
lay out 展示；安排；花钱；提议
access to 接近；有权使用；通向……的入口
open up 打开；开发；展示，揭露
the demise of ……的告终；……的消亡
split into 分成，分裂成
attempt to 尝试，企图
decide on 决定；选定
International Monetary Fund（IMF）：国际货币基金组织是根据1944年7月在布雷顿森林会议签订的《国际货币基金协定》，于1945年12月27日在华盛顿成立的。与世界银行同时成立，并列为世界两大金融机构之一，其职责是监察货币汇率和各国贸易情况，提供技术和资金协助，确保全球金融制度运作正常。其总部设在华盛顿。我们常听到的“特别提款权”就是该组织于1969年创设的。
Silk Road:丝绸之路，简称丝路，一般指陆上丝绸之路，广义上讲又分为陆上丝绸之路和海上丝绸之路。陆上丝绸之路起源于西汉汉武帝派张骞出使西域开辟的以首都长安（今西安）为起点，经甘肃、新疆，到中亚、西亚，并连接地中海各国的陆上通道。它的最初作用是运输中国古代出产的丝绸。1877年，德国地质地理学家李希霍芬在其著作《中国》一书中，把“从公元前114年至公元127年间，中国与中亚、中国与印度间以丝绸贸易为媒介的这条西域交通道路”命名为“丝绸之路”，这一名词很快被学术界和大众所接受，并正式运用。“海上丝绸之路”是古代中国与外国交通贸易和文化交往的海上通道，该路主要以南海为中心，所以又称南海丝绸之路。海上丝绸之路形成于秦汉时期，发展于三国至隋朝时期，繁荣于唐宋时期，转变于明清时期，是已知的最为古老的海上航线。
Bretton Woods Agreement:布雷顿森林协定是第二次世界大战后以美元为中心的国际货币体系协定。布雷顿森林体系是该协定对各国就货币的兑换、国际收支的调节、国际储备资产的构成等问题共同作出的安排所确定的规则、采取的措施及相应的组织机构形式的总和，旨在为二战之后的各国提供一个坚实的经济基础。1973年2月美元进一步贬值，世界各主要货币由于受投机商冲击被迫实行浮动汇率制，至此布雷顿森林体系完全崩溃。布雷顿森林体系崩溃以后，国际货币基金组织和世界银行作为重要的国际组织仍得以继续存在至今，并发挥重要的国际作用。
World Health Organization（WHO）：世界卫生组织，是联合国下属的一个专门机构，总部设置在瑞士日内瓦，只有主权国家才能参加，是国际上最大的政府间卫生组织。世界卫生组织的宗旨是使全世界人民获得尽可能高水平的健康。世界卫生组织的主要职能包括：促进流行病和地方病的防治；提供和改进公共卫生、疾病医疗和有关事项的教学与训练；推动确定生物制品的国际标准。
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement:红十字会与红新月会国际联合会即为红十字会，是一个遍布全球的志愿救援组织。目的为推动“国际红十字与红新月运动”，是全世界组织最庞大，也是最具影响力的类似组织，除了许多国家立法保障其特殊位阶外，战争时红十字也常与政府、军队紧密合作。
Gulf War:海湾战争，包括3个主要军事行动：沙漠盾牌行动、沙漠风暴行动和海上拦截行动。联盟军队以较小的代价取得决定性胜利，重创伊拉克军队。1991年2月27日，美国宣布解放科威特的战争结束并于当天午夜停火，伊拉克最终在4月接受了停火协议。海湾战争是美军自越南战争后主导参加的第一场大规模局部战争。在战争中，美军首次将大量高科技武器投入实战，展示了压倒性的制空、制电磁优势。通过海湾战争，美国进一步加强了与波斯湾地区国家的军事、政治合作，强化了美军在该地区的军事存在。
BRICS:金砖国家（BRICS），用巴西（Brazil）、俄罗斯（Russia）、印度（India）、中国（China）和南非（South Africa）的英文首字母组成。由于该词与英语单词的砖（Brick）类似，因此被称为“金砖国家”。2001年，美国高盛公司首席经济师吉姆·奥尼尔（Jim O‘Neill）首次提出“金砖四国”这一概念，特指世界新兴市场。
1.How does the International Monetary Fund identify four basic aspects of globalization?
2.What is UN?How many principal organs does The UN have?
3.Talk about the UN‘s mission.
4.What role does China play in G-20 members?
5.Please talk about the OPEC objectives and activities.
6.What is“Davos Men”?