The IMF itself should be on trial

To understand this story, you have to reel back to the birth of the IMF. In 1944, the countries that were poised to win the Second World War gathered in a hotel in rural New Hampshire to divvy up the spoils. With a few honorable exceptions, like the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, the negotiators were determined to do one thing. They wanted to build a global financial system that ensured the money and resources of the planet were forever hoovered towards them. independent

What Would a Greek Haircut Mean for Germany?

It may only be a small passage in the statutes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but it is the bottom line: An organization can lend money to a country only if it is certain the state will remain solvent for at least one year. Washington experts are increasingly doubtful that this minimum requirement can be guaranteed in the case of Greece. spiegel

UN on back foot

JAKARTA (AFP) – The United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNMIT) was on the back foot Friday after Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao angrily accused the world body of trampling on his country's sovereignty.
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He said that from 2000 to 2008 the "international community" had spent almost $8 billion in the tiny half-island state but "we do not see any physical development and even more poverty was created in our country".
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"My proposal is this: UNMIT and Timorese experts, offer your services to improve Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and give support to democracy in Yemen, Syria and Libya," Gusmao said. yahoo/AFP


$1bn fraud at Kabul Bank

The move, to "protect taxpayers' money", came as the full extent of the scandal at Kabul Bank – described as the biggest fraud in modern times... independent


NATO fuel tanker explodes in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants in northwest Pakistan blew up a tanker carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan on Saturday, and a secondary explosion killed 15 people as a group gathered to try to siphon off some of its fuel. Another bombing damaged 14 NATO tankers in a nearby border town, but no one was hurt. usatoday


Six-Figure Pensions at Age 50 at the IMF

The IMF's pension structure allows many of its economists to be able to draw pensions in excess of $100,000 a year in their early fifties. It is remarkable that no major news outlet has ever mentioned these exorbitant pensions at a time when politicians across the country have been screaming about pensions for public employees that average less than $30,000 a year and generally require workers to wait until their 60s before they start receiving benefits. cepr

Why the Next IMF Head Must Be European

The next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will have two tasks. He or she will have to both help stabilize the European common currency and help pave the way for a transition from the Western to the multi-polar world, both institutionally and financially. spiegel

Note: to impose 5% interest rate on the money borrowed from troubled countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal?

Strauss-Kahn case twist

Letter From District Attorney to Defense in Strauss-Kahn Case.


What's in a reputation?

Tristane Banon, 31, a French journalist and writer, said that she would take belated legal action against Mr Strauss-Kahn for what she described as a sexual attack on her in 2002.

At the time, she said, she was persuaded not to press charges by her mother, who had family and political links with him. DSK's own daughter was one of Ms Banon's best friends.

In 2007, the young woman told of her ordeal in an interview with a French TV chat show. The show made compellingly prurient TV but cowardly journalism and politics. Each reference to Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out. independent

Note: "The French media and French justice systems have an extravagant definition of the extents of "privacy" for public figures. Consensual extramarital affairs are one thing. Sexual harassment, bordering on assault is another."


IMF chief charged with 'sex attack'

The leader of the International Monetary Fund and a possible candidate for president of France was arrested in New York on Sunday in connection with the violent sexual assault of a hotel maid after being yanked from a plane moments before it was to depart, police said. independent