This work looks at how contemporary global economic policies are made: by which institutions, under what ideologies, and how they are enforced. The author reveals the central roles played by organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank in supervising the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people. He shows that neoliberal economic policy is enforced by a few thousand experts in the North and has failed to deliver tolerable living conditions for the poor. The conclusion makes a positive contribution by exploring policy alternatives that point the way forward.