IMF and World Bank members must stop rise of economic non-order | Mohamed El-Erian

Forthcoming meetings offer critical opportunity to start serious discussion on rebuilding global consensus

Next month, when finance ministers and central bank governors from more than 180 countries gather in Washington DC for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, they will confront a global economic order under increasing strain. Having failed to deliver the inclusive economic prosperity of which it is capable, that order is subject to growing doubts - and mounting challenges. Barring a course correction, the risks that today's order will yield to a world economic non-order will only intensify.

The current international economic order, spearheaded by the United States and its allies after the second world war, is underpinned by multilateral institutions, including the IMF and the World Bank. These institutions were designed to crystallise member countries' obligations, and they embodied a set of best economic-policy practices that evolved into what became known as the "Washington consensus."

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