PARIS -- The World Bank has long proclaimed its dream of "a world free from poverty." Likewise, the International Monetary Fund may arguably desire "a world free from financial crisis."
These are crucial and daunting objectives, but they are too narrow for the 21st century. To remain relevant, these Bretton Woods institutions must fully adapt to the needs of the world's rapidly emerging countries and they can begin that process at this spring's IMF-World Bank meetings in Washington.
As many now acknowledge, the IMF should look beyond managing financial crises and start addressing noncooperative economic behaviors -- notably in the monetary field. The international community would gain from the IMF's becoming a center of joint-monitoring and permanent dialogue among the world's rich, poor and emerging nations. But for that to happen, the latter two need a greater say.