Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Bego Astigarraga ATHENS, Jun 30, 2011 (IPS) – The mass protests in Greece swelled by the hour as parliament voted this Thursday to implement the social and economic adjustment plan approved Wednesday, including measures for privatisation, tax hikes, spending cuts and mass lay-offs in the state sector. [...]
Lagarde Takes Helm of IMF Amidst Multiple Crises
June 28, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Pam Johnson WASHINGTON, Jun 28, 2011 (IPS) – Two days ahead of a formal vote scheduled for Jun. 30, former French finance minister Christine Lagarde became the first woman to be appointed managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), headquartered in Washington, Tuesday. Replacing former IMF [...]
Days Ahead of Official Election, Lagarde ‘Crowned’ IMF Chief
June 24, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Pam Johnson WASHINGTON, Jun 24, 2011 (IPS) – In a small park situated between the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United States Department of the Treasury in Washington, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was crowned head of the world’s most powerful monetary institution [...]
China Takes Back Seat on IMF, For Now
May 29, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Antoaneta Becker LONDON, May 29, 2011 (IPS) – The sex scandal in the top couloirs of the IMF and the power struggle to find a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn has fascinated the Chinese. Rife speculations about political intrigues and shadowy deals behind the scenes have spilled into [...]
High Time to Democratise IMF
May 26, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Julio Godoy IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint PARIS (IDN) – Besides his notoriety as a womanizer and philanderer, former International Monetary Fund’s managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn enjoys a high international professional reputation as an able economist and politician. He won this prestige rather late in his career, during his [...]
IMF Still Colonial
May 25, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Analysis by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, May 25 (IPS) – The International Monetary Fund will probably continue to be headed by a European after the resignation of France’s Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but the debate over his replacement indicates this degree of Eurocentrism is unlikely to prevail the next [...]
PORTUGAL: Commemoration of Revolution Turns into Protest Against IMF
April 26, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Mario Queiroz LISBON, Apr 25 (IPS) – The traditional celebration of the anniversary of the 1974 Carnation Revolution in the Portuguese capital turned into a massive protest against the extreme austerity measures imposed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition for the [...]
IMF’s Rhetoric Still Far from Its Policies
April 18, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy Originally Published on The Guardian Unlimited, April 18, 2011 See the article on the original website Mark Weisbrot As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank gathered in Washington for their annual Spring Meetings, there was more talk about how much the IMF has changed. IMF Managing Director Dominique [...]
What is Hard to Understand About Firing Economists?
April 14, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy Originally published on The Guardian Unlimited, April 12, 2011 See article on original website Dean Baker Last month, the International Monetary Fund’s Independent Evaluation Office issued a remarkable report. The report quite clearly blamed the IMF for failing to recognize the factors leading up to the worst economic crisis since [...]
IMF Seeks Asia’s Help to Tackle Eurocrisis
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By J. C. Suresh IDN-InDepth NewsReport TORONTO (IDN) – When an international commission headed by Nobel laureate Willy Brandt drew attention to global economic interdependence in its report in 1980, the world was divided between rich North and the poor South. More than three decades later, the International [...]