Charlie Rose

trevorfairweather  02/23/2009 06:42 PM Report

thanks tsdc7! you are a most welcome exception to the demogaugery rule on these posting boards. Zombie populism ruffles my feathers!

tsdc7  02/17/2009 07:16 PM Report

In response to REMant:

Your comment does not suggest much familiarity with the IMF, history, humanity, or macroeconomics. Keep in mind that the poor suffer the most in economic crises. If we were to dawdle as you suggest (i.e., "the wealthy will need to lose a bit more before they are brought down to a level commensurate with their real value to mankind, and the necessary lessons are learned"), those living hand-to-mouth would starve. Moreover, economic welfare is tied to security and stability: depressions lead to divisions, anger, and violence. You might consider that the IMF and its sister organizations (the UN and the World Bank) were created at the Bretton Woods conference in an effort to address the primary antecedents of World War II. Thus, the IMF was born of previous lessons regarding macroeconomic crises and their tendency to cause war and suffering.

You also seem to think that the IMF is some sort of imperialistic mechanism for distributing wealth to wealthy nations at the expense of impoverished countries. The IMF is funded by its member countries, which receive Board representation ("voice") and borrowing allotments ("quotas") that are roughly aligned with each nation's input into the Fund. However, the poorer countries have disproportionately high representation and borrowing privileges. Conversely, the U.S. has disproportionately low representation and has not borrowed from the IMF. The IMF is therefore a safety net and a mechanism for all countries - especially developing countries - to take advantage of superior economic technical assistance and economic surveillance in order to fashion appropriate domestic responses.

Lastly, your wish that "Mr Strauss-Kahn should, himself, become a casualty of this episode," is as asinine as it is ill-informed. Mr. Strauss-Kahn became the Managing Director of the IMF in early 2008 (after a transition period that began in late 2007). Prior to that, he was a relatively free-market Minister of Economics, Finance, & Industry. From what I've seen of him, he's very credible.

ShalomFreedman  02/17/2009 09:27 AM Report

Strauss- Kahn is informative and responsible. He does not invent anything, but presents a picture of the global - crisis in a clear way. He is of course an Establishment person and so gives the Establishment view. But that is not necessarily wrong.

REMant  02/17/2009 12:15 AM Report

I think this guy and this kind of thinking, which is undoubtedly what all the bankers think, is a menace, to be avoided at all costs, and certain to make the entire problem worse. Listen to him carefully, then do exactly the opposite. The Great Depression was also a global crisis, and the dollar appreciated in the Depression as well, as it has in most every other crisis. This is, however, not good at all, because it is part of the process that has gradually transfered wealth to the metropolis', concentrating it, increasing financial abuse and impoverishing those parts of the world that really need it. The mkt would do very well alone, if the bankers would let it, but they won't. I am afraid that the wealthy will need to lose a bit more before they are brought down to a level commensurate with their real value to mankind, and the necessary lessons are learned. Still I would not confuse a general deflation with a loss of wealth. I'm afraid I think it would be salutary if Mr Strauss-Kahn should, himself, become a casualty of this episode, along with the rest of the central bankers, who, I believe are as deserving of it as the investment bankers.