March 03, 2005
From the desk of Jane Galt:Bleg II
When was the last time the IMF let a high-profile country go its own merry way to hell without lending them a ton of money to pay the fare? Has it ever happened?
Posted by Jane Galt at March 3, 2005 04:07 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksJapan would be my guess. I'm pretty sure that Japan had been firmly categorized as first-world and outside the IMF's purview by the time their prolonged gentle meltdown started. Then again, it's not like the entire portfolio of the IMF would have been enough to make a dent in their crisis, anyway.
It's not the countries the IMF is really helping, but the banks who lend them money.
If you owe the bank $1000 and can't pay it's your problem.
If you owe the bank $1,000,000,000 and can't pay it's the bank's problem.
Posted by: Jacqueline on March 3, 2005 07:02 PMIs there a circular definition in your question? i.e. Is "high profile" in practic defined as a nation which the IMF feels needs to be propped up?
I don't recall that the IMF has been particularly interested in either Cuba or North Korea. Are they "high profile"?
[Jane, I was just told that my email address contained the "questionable content" 1 @san.rr
. That's actually part of my email address, which I've had to change to make this post.]
[Jane, actually, there was no space between the "1" and the "@"; even when it was inline it made the post be rejected.]
Jacqueline, it goes like this:
If you owe $1000 to a bank and can't pay, you have a problem.
If you owe $1,000,000 to a bank and can't pay, the bank has a problem.
If you owe $1,000,000,000 to a bank and can't pay, the government has a problem.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste on March 3, 2005 09:03 PMIn the Asian Financial Crisis, the IMF initially did nothing to help Thailand. The financial meltdown in Thailand proved to be contagious and by the time the world took action we had the AFC...
Posted by: Sean Giovanello on March 4, 2005 09:47 AMGiles, could you explain? I don't recall Germany (or really any of those others, though I don't know much about most of them) being IMF supplicants who asked for a bailout, were turned down because they didn't meet the IMF's criteria, and being left to the dogs.
Posted by: Contributor A on March 4, 2005 10:30 AMGiles,
Ok, I'm confused: I thought "nairu" stood for "non accerating inflation rate of unemployment". (which just shows you what a geek I am) - are you telling me there is (or was) an actual country named that? (or is it a typo?)
Posted by: jimbo on March 4, 2005 07:52 PMYep - its Nauru - smallest independent republic in the world.
A - didnt knw that supplication was a requirement.
Posted by: Giles on March 5, 2005 09:29 AMComments are Closed.