> Meltzer Report.
>
> There are a bunch of people who think that problems with the world
> economy arise because it is not laissez-faire enough--that the World
> Bank and IMF are bad because they are institutions of collective
> self-government that interfere with the free operation of the market
> by creating moral hazard, pushing prices away from market equilibrium
> values, and so on.
>
> That bunch of people are stronger than you are. And you are aiding
> them. It's like watching people congratulate themselves on kicking
> the ball past their own goalie...
>
Yeah, there are also a bunch of people who think the earth is flat. I don't particularly care. Without the IMF, countries in financial trouble will be more likely to default rather than turn their population into debt-servicing machines. That alone is a good argument to shut the thing down.
I'd be happy to put as many goals past Lawrence "Africa is underpolluted" Summers as I can. How on earth you've managed to delude yourself he's "our" goalie is beyond me.
The choice is not between IMF/WB as a bondholder protection funds and IMF/WB the charitable, Keynesian organizations. It's between the former and no IMF. You'd think Stiglitz' fate would have convinced anybody of that.
-- Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034 Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565 Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique