"Commentary on the scope and limits of Myanmar?s recent reforms has already become trite. Those familiar with the endemic corruption and impropriety in the country?s governmental and business practices have been quick to celebrate the relaxation of economic strictures, and the unexpected welcome Naypyidaw has given to new mechanisms of accountability. Hope for an end to the human-rights abuses and economic mismanagement, which has characterized the country?s political economy for decades, is palpable. The reengagement of International Financial Institutions (IFIs - including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and ADB, the Asian Development Bank) in these reforms has lent weight to arguments that President Thein Sein?s quasi-civilian government has turned a corner. Optimists put stock in the government?s contention that with a robust framework for macro and micro economic and social reforms, Myanmar can become a modern, developed and democratic nation by 2030. However, both the ideological underpinnings of this reform process - led by IFIs and embraced wholesale by Naypyidaw - and the consequences for the majority of Myanmar?s population have been little discussed..."