MM,
RE: The IMF and its deleterious effects on the countries it is trying to help: >>Any thoughts anyone????
I hear so often on the talking heads shows that the IMF is being counterproductive, that it makes me wonder whey they (the IMF) alone don't recognize it. Are they just programmed for a single solution? "Take money from poor people in rich countries and give it to rich people in poor countries." or may be that's the definition of foreign aid.
Any, you asked for thoughts. As an admittedly simple minded person, I think of the whole mess as misuse of credit. Credit is a wonderful thing when used by citizens in moderation. It enables them to buy homes, cars etc. long before they could have saved enough to purchase them outright. It also lets savers put their excess money out at a fair rate of interest. But if politicians (in Asia, for purposes of discussion, excluding Japan, which is a lender) use or misuse credit to pump up their economies with a lot of wasteful building and, not coincidentally, keep themselves in power, then it eventually comes to an abrupt halt when their currencies become valueless.
Just simple thoughts. I'll be happy to be corrected and thus educated by those more knowledgeable than I.
Jack |
