DeLong and fire trucks to the rescue

[Brad De Long]

>Whoa there Professor DeLong.  The IMF is a fire truck!  Maybe but they
>have gasoline in their hoses.
>
>They may show a particular way of getting out of financial difficulty --
>at least they may see it that way from their perspective -- but they act
>like a cop more than a fireman in prohibiting alternative methods of
>putting out the fire.
>

Yes. Had I been Suharto I would probably have defaulted back last
November... said that you are not going to get any more blood from this
stone, and that I am not going to do what the IMF thinks is necessary to
generate a year-2000 export surplus.

The IMF wants to say that it is the country's own decision whether to
accept the terms and conditions of an IMF program or not, but the problem
is that it is usually the country's *leaders* decision--and they care much
more about being welcomed in New York and Washington than in how far
nutrition falls in the post-stabilization recession...

Brad DeLong