Eighty years ago, the representatives of 44 nations that were still fighting against the German and Japanese armies met to organise the post-war international economic order. Two institutions were established that continue to shape global economic affairs: the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (more commonly known as the World Bank). A Monash expert is available to discuss Australia’s involvement in the meeting that established these institutions, and the subsequent loans the country received from the World Bank.
Dr Nicholas Ferns, ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies
Contact: +61 416 028 594 or [email protected]
Read more about Dr Ferns’ commentary on the World Bank at Monash Lens
The following can be attributed to Dr Ferns:
"Australia was one of the active participants at the Bretton Wood conference that established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank and, after intense debate within the Chifley Labor Government, joined the IMF and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (now known as the World Bank) in 1947. Australia quickly benefitted from its membership in these new organisations. Between 1950 and 1962, Australia received over $417 million (the equivalent of just over $4.7 billion in 2024) from the World Bank.
"We know of the 1950s and 1960s as a kind of golden age in Australian history. The long post-war boom enabled many Australians to gain access to the “Australian dream” of a quarter acre block and a car to drive through the sprawling suburbs. This boom relied upon an influx of US dollars, which was used to buy much needed equipment to build the infrastructure needed to support a rapidly growing population. Even the factories built to manufacture the iconic Holden car were partly financed by World Bank loans.
"Looking back from 2024, Australia seems like an odd recipient of World Bank loans. We are more used to seeing poorer countries in Africa and Asia depending on international developmental assistance. However, the World Bank was a very different organisation in 1950, and it depended on “sound” recipients like Australia to establish itself as a player in the field of international development. It was no coincidence that as Australia “graduated” from needing World Bank loans in the 1960s that the Bank expanded rapidly into what we know today as the Global South."
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