For over 70 years, the aim of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been to ensure global economic stability. It has had a controversial history, with people passionately both in favour and against the institution. While Jose Saramago argues that ‘the world is governed by institutions that are not democratic – the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO’, Jose Manuel Barroso believes that ‘it is a very strong international institution’. The IMF is composed of 188 countries and has around $330 billion to lend at any one time. This essay argues that while it does make changes to countries’ economies which might not be appropriate, overall there are more advantages, such as the financial stability it provides and the support it give poor countries. This essay will firstly present the main disadvantages of the IMF, then the advantages, before making recommendations about potential future changes.