Obituaries have been written for the World Bank following the arrival of China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the implied question being whether the US remains willing and able to lead the global economic governance system. Yet the other Washington-based Bretton Woods institution, the International Monetary Fund, reveals a different story. It appears to be on the verge of a third epoch in which it is set to become indispensable, ushering in the global economic reforms now considered necessary in the ‘new mediocre’.
中國主導的亞洲基礎設施投資銀行（Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank，簡稱：亞投行）的誕生為世界銀行(World Bank)寫好了訃告，并且隱晦地提出了一個問題：美國是否仍然有意且有能力領導全球經濟治理體系。而另一家總部位于華盛頓的布雷頓森林(Bretton Woods)機構——國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)——卻呈現出另一番景象。它似乎即將邁入第三紀元，并將在這個紀元中成為一家不可或缺的機構，催生“新平庸”(new mediocre)時代被認為必要的全球經濟改革。