Due in part to a recent conversation, I have gained an interest in answering the question of why the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, and the World Bank are seen as evil institutions to people in my age group, but the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, a multinational oil cartel bent on profits at the expense of the most common people of member countries, seems to escape both dissent or thoughts of consternation.

Riots, protests, property destruction, sit-ins and tear gas - all things we associate with IMF or World Bank meetings after repeatedly seeing mass hysteria associated with their gatherings.

Why is it that OPEC meetings do not get the same warm welcome? OPEC lowers production output to increase profits, which in turn raises the price of gas, which in turn stifles economies all over the world.

In my opinion, when economies suffer, the middle class and the poor suffer the most because of their susceptibility to changes in money flow and production.

Even Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has attacked OPEC’s production reduction on the grounds that it violates Article XI of the World Trade Organization rules of business.

It is hard for me to see why people of my age group see the IMF, an organization that bails out countries in severe import or export imbalance, thereby continuing the strength of economies across the globe.

And how can the World Bank, a leading supporter of education and the fight against HIV, draw protest and people to the streets?

Edward V. Marshall
2002 graduate