everything's really ok

[Brad De Long]

>Brad DeLong wrote:
>
>>Actually, Meltzer doesn't want *more* conditions, he wants fewer 
>>loans. Ask Allan, and he'll tell you that it would be much better 
>>to have governments disciplined by a laissez-faire capital market 
>>than disciplined by an IMF imposing conditions.
>
>Which may be better than the present regime. In the 19th century, 
>the U.S. defaulted all the time on private loans - and came back to 
>the market not all that much later. Private markets have short 
>memories; state institutions, longer ones. State institutions impose 
>a coherence and discipline that private markets lack. No WB/IMF, no 
>conditionality. And it's not like the very poor countries, those 
>with no market access, are getting such a great deal from public 
>institutions either. Shut 'em down!
>
>Doug

I think you'd have a point if the classical gold standard were 
attainable. But I think we'd be much more likely to wind up with the 
interwar international monetary system--the thing that facilitated 
the Great Depression...

Brad DeLong