Monday, May 16, 2011

The 'case DSK' complicates the European economic crisis

The Police Department of New York comes into play in the interminable European crisis. Fiscal fires in Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the tug of war between northern Europe and peripherals, the lack of leadership in Brussels and, finally, the mess Morrocotudo who are involved in the euro and the European Union came yesterday a new dimension, between the shock and uncertainty, for the arrest of one of the key characters in the output of this interminable crisis: the French socialist and, even then-managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss- Kahn.

Strauss-Kahn was to meet Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Poul Thomson, head of the Troika mission to be sent to Athens the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission "to examine the situation in Greece but not yet activated a loan of 60,000 million euros and, above all, to agree on additional steps to the realization that the bailout does not work.

Strauss-Kahn was a key figure for Greece was involved from the outset in the bailout agreement between Brussels and the IMF, and has been one of the champions of the Greek government's efforts to comply with the draconian austerity plan, for to solve its severe fiscal problems. A fund spokesman said yesterday that the institution "remains fully operational and is functioning." German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, also stressed that detention "should not hinder negotiations on Greece." But without the managing director, the Fund's role in Europe is blurred and the acute crisis complicates Greek: "[The arrest] will cause delays in the short-term almost certainly," said a senior Greek official.

The Fund provides a quarter of the aid to Greece, but has a major weight in the negotiations for his background in crisis management. Greece is on the verge of collapse. Pay more than 25% interest on its debt for two years. The market assumes a variant of the suspension of payments. And it has been announced an adjustment plan after another: the last, a comprehensive privatization program was also unable to stop the bleeding.

The meeting with Merkel was essential to prepare the summit of European finance ministers today, which Strauss-Kahn also was called and where it will be replaced by deputy managing director Nemat Shafik. Europe is being forced to act again to the problems of Greece: the bailout has not improved things and both Brussels and the IMF had planned to discuss the possibility of extending aid to Athens, lowering interest rates to pay for these credits, extend the repayment period and even pave the way for a possible restructuring.

In addition, together with Greece's another problem on the horizon. Portugal also needs the green light to his rescue, after the obstacles that caused the rejection of the United Kingdom and Finland's reluctance to help. But the arrest of Strauss-Kahn (DSK or, as is known in France) not only complicates the work of European fiscal extinguishment.

The arrest opens a managing director in the IMF's institutional crisis with unpredictable consequences. It was assumed that the number one fund would compete for the French Socialist Party leadership, so that for months the Fund is experiencing a strange period of transition. The arrest changes everything.

John Lipsky, until now number two, announced yesterday that takes the reins of the institution. The funny thing is that Lipsky, who has kept a low profile with Strauss-Kahn in front, and warned on Thursday that it launched next August. The IMF is in the midst of a turnaround complicated: the greater weight of emerging on the executive board, the strange departure of the last managing director Rodrigo Rato, the Spanish-and the scandal associated with Strauss-Kahn will only increase the volume of voices calling for a sea-change in international financial institutions.

U.S. and Europe divided after World War II most important posts at the World Bank (whose chairman is always for an American) and IMF (led by a European). China, India, Brazil and emerging countries in general are pushing for this tradition is gone. But aside from the political earthquake that could cause the case DSK, Strauss-Kahn has revived in the last four years the Fund, before their arrival languished in its role as the world's economic firefighter.

A recent internal audit acknowledged that the IMF, Rato at the head, did not see coming-not even close "to the crisis. Even before the arrival of former vice president of the Aznar government, the IMF was charged with implementing the wrong policies in Latin American and Asian crises of octa and ninety years.

Against accusations of applying an ultra-liberal-bias spearhead the so-called Washington Consensus, which came to be counterproductive in some of the countries they came Fund, Strauss-Kahn was the champion of fiscal stimulus in burst the crisis in mid-2007. Then helped resurrect Keynes buried again today, "lending weight to the emerging to bring the G-20 as a forum for global governance and even began to incorporate social policies in his speeches.

Never seen before in the Fund. The NYPD just put all that into a tunnel judicial, with collateral damage on Europe in general and Greece in particular. The crisis is a mutant virus, the troubles of Strauss-Kahn inoculated with a new dimension.

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