[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', '@') Quinny

She's voicing something new which is interesting. The underlying forces that are driving capiotalism to the cliff edge will objectively give rise to adaptation and cultural change. Is she the start of this process, as a public figure. Is this different from the bogus redistribution of the social democrats? Time will tell.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', '
')I hear her making blasphemous statements.

Will she be duly burned at the stake?

Brave lady.

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', '@') Quinny

She's voicing something new which is interesting. The underlying forces that are driving capiotalism to the cliff edge will objectively give rise to adaptation and cultural change. Is she the start of this process, as a public figure. Is this different from the bogus redistribution of the social democrats? Time will tell.

[radon1]

There is IMF and there is IMF.

IMF's key role is that of the lender of the last resort. Strictly speaking, no one forces the recipient countries to come to ask IMF's help, they do it themselves when they have no other choice, or when they think that the other options are worse. Understandably, when lending, IMF puts in a number of covenants, including austerity, because otherwise the lent money will be quickly consumed and wasted. It is difficult to criticize this role of theirs, essentially.

Things turn sour when that role is abused, which happens when politics or vested interests are involved. IMF may get self-invited via proxies in the recipient's country government, to do all sorts of dodgy "consulting" along the lines of shady privatizations, or to intervene in the local politics, which is none of their original mandate.

In any event, when a career bureaucrat like Lagarde says something, all the likelihood that this is for some reason this is somehow beneficial for Lagarde herself. And the question is - why is this beneficial to her now.

[dolanbaker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat Lagarde says: We must be careful in how we apply austerity
Translation: If you want to be bailed out by the IMF you must enact austerity. But only enough to ensure that the loans are repaid and not so severe as to cause the population to rise up!

[Quinny]

I agree that it is in her interest to make such a speech, which begs a couple of questions. Either she is there to stay, and is speaking in support of the IMF's interests, or she's on her way out and she's simply leaving a few unexploded bombs for her successor. TBH I think the first. I also agree that prolonging BAU is one of her main aims.

Which begs the question why are all the things she speaks of in the IMF's favour and who is she speaking to.

Having considered this I would venture this off the top of my head opinion.

Her audience is not the 'people' it's the Governments of the lender nations who in some ways can be considered the 'shareholders' of the bank. Her customers are the debtor nations who have to suffer the T's & C's of the loan contracts.

As CEO she is basically explaining that the customers (or more precisely the citizens of client nations) won't put up with austerity when the cake is no longer growing so re-distribution is essential. She will also be looking at the new emerging economies as future 'shareholders' and keeping them on-board.

As Radon said - Why? IMHO it's clear that limit's to growth are being reached. The American Dream is the main thing that makes people in developed nations get up every day, go to work and consume keeping BAU going. This is only possible in an expanding economy. In nations where the IMF has imposed austerity measures youth unemployment stays at record levels and extremism rears it's head. It is our responsibility to fight against the rise of fascism and if you are on the left you need to push community solutions to the crises we face. It seems to me that when the head of the IMF starts talking like this, the crisis of Capitalism as explained by Marx is not too far away.

I think the recent spate is just the start of unrest across the globe. Just think if the people of SA were to follow Egypt in overthrowing an oppressive regime!

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'T')he IMF under Lagarde has been engaged in the same thing its always done---it props up banks and bails out failing countries by loaning them money and then implementing austerity policies on a country's people.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he austerity sucks.. but.. how else could the IMF operate? They have to get at the problem that caused the debt crisis, no?

[Quinny]

Don't believe all the MSM feed you. The debt 'crisis' is systemic and not because of the lazy tax dodgers as is the myth they put forward. What is happening at the moment is the systematic theft of the wealth that the working & middle class have managed to work for over the years. It could be described as the crime of the millenium, but I prefer it's more traditional moniker 'class war'. The only problem with this class war is it is only the rich that are fighting.

All the social welfare programs in the UK are miniscule when compared to the bailout of the banking industry. As far as I can see it's the same the world over. The debt issue though important is part of the big propaganda push to keep people down, debt levels fell significantly under the last Labour govt in the UK - until the banker caused crisis meant they were forced to keep the show on the road (I would have taken a different route, but it wouldn't have been very popular). Debt was much higher after WWII but because we could still grow to pay it off it was never an issue, people simply got on with re-building the country.

http://thinkbynumbers.org/government-spending/corporate-welfare/corporate-welfare-statistics-vs-social-welfare-statistics/

Maybe you should take a look at some of the figures, before swallowing the right's story about lazy tax dodgers being the problem. Maybe they're right in one way - it's the tax dodging CEO's and company owners who the problem.!

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'T')he IMF under Lagarde has been engaged in the same thing its always done---it props up banks and bails out failing countries by loaning them money and then implementing austerity policies on a country's people.

[americandream]

The propaganda is complete to the degree that these people cannot see the wood from the trees.

[Quinny]

Edward Bernays did a bloody good job and it just carrys on and on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self

What makes me laugh (&cry) is how so many support the system even when the facts show they are being ripped off!