ABSTRACT
On 30 September 1961 the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) came into operation and so was born “a unique forum where the governments of 30 market democracies [see Table I.1] work together to address the economic, social and governance challenges of globalization.”1 Despite rarely permeating the popular psyche the OECD and its predecessor, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), feature in many defining moments of postwar economic history including the administration of the Marshall Plan (1948-51), the renovation of the European trade and payments system (1948-58), the resolution of the 1973 and 1979 oil crises, weakening resistance to the completion of the Uruguay Round trade negotiations (1986-94), the reconstruction of Eastern Europe following the collapse of communism (1990-2000), and the genesis of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Moreover, the OEEC and OECD have provided a crucible in which some of the most important ideas, norms, rules, and principles underpinning contemporary global governance crystallized and, via interactions with non-members and a continuous cycle of surveillance and peer review, the vehicle through which they have been disseminated and upheld. Unsurprisingly the OECD is routinely heralded as a leading organ
of global governance, but sustained treatments of the organization’s role and influence are sparse.2 Most commentators resort to crude and sometimes misleading generalizations to describe the organization and its functions. For example, the OECD is habitually labeled a “rich man’s” or “rich country’s club.”3 Collectively its members do account for three-fifths of world Gross National Income (GNI)4 but the accuracy of this depiction is belied by several wealthy countries including Israel, Singapore and Saudi Arabia lying beyond OECD membership, and widespread variations in economic and human development
Table I.1 Members of the OECD-key indicators
amongst OECD countries (see Table I.1). In 1963, the per capita incomes of the poorest members were one-sixth of the OECD mean. As recently as 2007, the World Bank did not class a fifth of OECD members as “high-income economies,”5 while Mexico and Turkey languish at 52nd and 84th positions respectively in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP’s) Human Development Index.6
When discussing its functions many commentators blissfully pigeonhole the OECD as a “consultative forum,” “think tank,” or “a pool of statistical and economic expertise.”7 These epithets précis elements of the OECD’s work but do not capture the true essence of the institution or reveal the significance of these activities for global governance. It is to this venture that this book is devoted.
