eOpicle

There is a special dialect spoken at international finance meetings. In this dialect, nobody says the furniture is bolted to the floor, the guest list was written decades ago, and the people serving dinner are tired of being told they should feel honored to have entered through the kitchen. Instead, officials say things such as “representation,” “transparency,” “accountability,” and “quota realignment.” The vocabulary is genteel. The underlying argument is not. That is what I hear in the latest call from BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors to reform the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the broader system of development finance. Their joint statement says that emerging and developing economies now account for a growing share of global output and growth, so global economic governance should catch up. They also want more practical cross-border payment links, a larger role for local currencies, stronger development financing, and institutions that look less l...