Speaking fluent English and being European shouldn't be the only two qualities required of a managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Yet some of the IMF's major shareholders -- many European members, probably the United States, and possibly China -- seem to agree that Christine Lagarde should head the institution now that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned. Yet after four years spent as French finance minister, it's hard to see what qualifies her for this job, save for fawning by the international media.
Let's skip over the important point that there's no reason the job should go to a European in the first place. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's idea that it takes an IMF chief from the euro zone to deal with its debt mess can easily be shot down: a non-European wouldn't be suspected of being an interested party in the heated debates over how to resolve the crisis. Strauss-Kahn did a stellar job cajoling the Europeans into action, using the carrot of IMF cash. But this had more to do with his own qualities than his passport.
Strauss-Kahn resigned last week to fight charges that he sexually assaulted a housekeeper in a New York hotel on May 14. Released on bail Friday, he spent the weekend at a New York high-rise apartment building while awaiting a more permanent location for house arrest.
Osborne said he thought it would be "a very good thing to see the first female managing director of the IMF in its 60-year history." Osborne’s announcement followed endorsements by Germany, Italy and other European countries.
But other countries are taking a dark view of the aggressive European push. Australia and South Africa issued an unusual joint statement on Sunday, criticizing a longstanding arrangement between Europe and the U.S. in which a European typically heads the IMF and an American leads the World Bank. The Continent has held the top IMF post for more than 40 years.
"In order to maintain trust, credibility and legitimacy," the statement said, "there must be an open and transparent selection process which results in the most competent person being appointed as managing director, regardless of their nationality."
Brazil, Mexico, China and other fast-growing markets are gaining influence in the world as debt crises and economic downturns plague Western economies. Unlike Europe, however, they not speaking with a unified voice or throwing their weight behind a main candidate.
More troubling is that Lagarde lacks some of the qualities required for the job. As French finance minister, there's no single reform, debate, decision or policy her name can be attached to. She has done mostly Nicolas Sarkozy's bidding. Throughout the debt crisis, she articulated France's position but didn't help much to define it. Finally, she hasn't even done what finance ministers should do in deficit-prone countries: be the voice of fiscal discipline. Her voice on this has barely been heard.
Lagarde, who has no academic training in economics or finance, doesn't even seem to have a strong set of beliefs. She has mostly been an executor and the international face of Sarkozy's policies, which certainly hasn't prepared her for a job she would only get after high-level diplomatic horse-trading. The IMF needs a leader. She doesn't fit the bill.
No comments:
Post a Comment