Posts tagged IMF
Is Hillary Clinton About To Take Over The World Bank?
Feb 15th
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been in discussions with the White House about leaving her job next year to become head of the World Bank, sources familiar with the discussions said on Thursday.
The former first lady and onetime political rival to President Barack Obama quickly became one of the most influential members of his cabinet after she began her tenure at State in early 2009.
She has said publicly she did not plan to stay on at the State Department for more than four years. Associates say Clinton has expressed interest in having the World Bank job should the Bank’s current president, Robert Zoellick, leave at the end of his term, in the middle of 2012.
“Hillary Clinton wants the job,” said one source who knows the secretary well.
A second source also said Clinton wants the position.
A third source said Obama has already expressed support for the change in her role. It is unclear whether Obama has formally agreed to nominate her for the post, which would require approval by the 187 member countries of the World Bank.
The White House declined to comment.
A spokesman for Clinton, Philippe Reines, denied she wanted the job or had conversations with the White House about it.
Revelations of these discussions could hurt Clinton’s efforts as America’s top diplomat if she is seen as a lame duck in the job at a time of great foreign policy challenges for the Obama administration.
However, the timing of the discussions is not unusual given that the United States is considering whether to support another European as head of the World Bank’s sister organization, the IMF.
The head of the IMF has always been a European and the World Bank presidency has always been held by an American.
That unwritten gentleman’s agreement between Europe and the United States, is now being aggressively challenged by fast-growing emerging market economies that have been shut out of the process.
The United States has not publicly supported the European candidate for the IMF, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, although Washington’s support is expected.
Neither institution has ever been headed by a woman.
If Clinton were to leave State, John Kerry, a close Obama ally who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is among those who could be considered as a possible replacement for her.
Clinton’s star power and work ethic were seen by Obama as crucial qualities for her role as the nation’s top diplomat, even though she did not arrive in the job with an extensive foreign policy background.
She has embraced the globe-trotting aspects of the job, logging many hours on plane trips to nurture alliances with countries like Japan and Great Britain and to visit hot spots like Afghanistan and countries in the Middle East.
She has long been vocal on global development issues, especially the need for economic empowerment of women and girls in developing countries. She has made that part of her focus at State. Her husband, Bill Clinton, has also been involved in these issues through his philanthropic work at the Clinton Global Initiative.
The World Bank provides billions of dollars in development funds to the poorest countries and is also at the center of issues such as climate change, rebuilding countries emerging from conflict and recently the transitions to democracy in Tunisia and Egypt. source – HuffPost
World Entering ‘Dangerous New Phase’, Says New World Order Leader
Sep 9th
When the NWO tells you something, listen
Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the global economy is entering a “dangerous new phase” on Friday, ahead of the G7 summit in Marseilles, France.
She warned that both advanced and emerging economies faced key economic challenges, and that governments must “act now” to stop further contagion.
“Policymakers should stand ready, as needed, to take more action to support the recovery, including through unconventional measures,” Lagarde said.
“The world is collectively suffering from a crisis of confidence, in the face of a deteriorating economic outlook and rising concerns about the health of sovereigns and banks.”
Her speech at Chatham House in London came after a turbulent week for the markets, with the focus on sovereign debt issues in the euro zone and job creation in the US.
She welcomed President Obama’s new $450 billion jobs package, announced Thursday, but added “it remains critical for the United States to clarify its medium term plan.”
The British government, including Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who also spoke, was warned that “risk levels are rising” in the UK and the government needs to have a “heightened readiness to respond.”
However, Lagarde conceded that the government’s response “remains appropriate.”
When Lagarde called for the recapitalization of European banks at the Jackson Hole summit in the United States in August, a flight away from European banks resulted in the markets.
Osborne agreed that the situation is “more complex” than in 2008 but described his government’s plan as a “rock of stability”.
“The underlying cause is the same – excessive levels of debt,” he said. source – CNBC
Don’t be Fooled Again. This is Not Change You Can Believe In.
Apr 28th
The International Monetary Fund or the IMF said “The U.S. is set to have the largest budget deficit of major developed economies this year and should narrow it now rather than face tough adjustments in the next two years.”
The U.S. shortfall will reach 10.8 percent of its gross domestic product this year, ahead of Japan and the U.K., the Washington-based IMF said in a report released on April 8,2011. It estimates that President Barack Obama will need to cut the deficit by 5 percentage points of GDP in the next two fiscal years, the largest adjustment in “at least half a century,” to meet his pledge of cutting the deficit in half by the end of his four-year term, a promise no one believes he is capable of.
“Market concerns about sustainability remain subdued in the U.S., but a further delay of action could be fiscally costly, with deficit increases exacerbated by rising yields,” the IMF wrote in its Fiscal Monitor report, published several times a year to analyze public finance development.
The IMF recommended “a down payment” in the form of deficit reduction this year that would make the government goal “compatible with a less abrupt withdrawal of stimulus later.” Given the budget battle over a paltry $38.5 billion where the Democrats threatened to shut down the government. It seems this Congress is not serious about doing the hard things to tackle this budget deficit.
Obama was expected to announce long-term proposals for cutting the federal deficit on April 13th, following a budget deal he reached with congressional leaders last week that averted a government shutdown. In May, the government may be forced to increase the $14.3 trillion federal debt ceiling to ensure the U.S. will meet its financial obligations. There’s an oxymoron in there somewhere.
The IMF also called for U.S. commitment to a medium-term debt target “as an anchor for fiscal policy.” but it seems our Congress has adopted a wait and see attitude as they continued to fuss and fight amongst themselves during the budget battle of earlier this month, where little if anything was really accomplished. China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries with a portfolio of $1.15 trillion in January, according to U.S. government data. Japan is the second-largest with $885.9 billion. We have yet to realize what the Tsunami/earthquake effects on Japan will mean for us or the world for that matter when it comes to Japans GDP. It is very probable the U.S stock market will be greatly effected negatively when the GDP report is out in July of 2011.
‘Prudent’ Debt
A few days after Europe’s Greek-born debt crisis forced Portugal to seek financial aid from the European Union and the IMF, the fund said it is “essential” for all advanced economies to start bringing their debt to “prudent levels” in the medium term. However I didn’t see President Obama seek to reign in spending. Instead he talks of spending, as investment. I doubt any other countries are thinking in these terms when it comes to the U.S over spending.
It forecast that the average gross domestic debt ratio in advanced economies (aka the U.S) will breach the threshold of 100 percent of GDP for the first time since the years after World War II. Debt will peak at 107 percent of GDP in 2016, 34 percentage points above levels before the global financial crisis, the report said.
The IMF estimates that financing needs in the richest nations will continue to rise this year after surging in 2010, and will remain high in 2012.
Japan has the highest financing requirements for its deficit and its maturing debt this year, with the total amounting for 56 percent of its GDP. The U.S. is second, with needs at 29 percent of GDP, followed by Greece, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and France, which all have needs above 20 percent of their GDP, according to the IMF report. As my mother used to say “You are the company you keep”
Euro Members
In the European region, market conditions remain tense in several smaller countries, in part due to ongoing concerns about possible financial issues. As the region narrows its deficit, investors are “discriminating in favor of countries with credible policy frameworks,” according to the IMF.
In the U.S., the stronger economic outlook “has been reflected in higher real yields, leading towards more normal interest rate levels,” the report said. At the same time, the Federal Reserve’s latest bond purchase program is likely to have lowered them it said. In other words; When the U.S has higher real yields leading to normal interest rates the economic outlook is strong, but the Federal Reserve Bank bond purchase program lowers the U.S economies outlook. Still, the pace of fiscal tightening is short of what is needed and the U.S should refrain from increasing spending in the near term and rebuild fiscal space, said the IMF. Just one more reason why the S & P ‘s outlook for our economy is a lowered credit rating within the next two years. I fear if Obama is re-elected president these things will only get worse. I for one have no faith in his ability to effect change I can believe in. Obama will cut half the deficit in 1st Term
written by Rosie on the Right
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Shock! IMF Sets Date For End Of Age of America
Apr 25th
The International Monetary Fund has just dropped a bombshell, and nobody noticed.
It’s one thing when sites like NTEB say that the end of America is not only coming, but happening right at this very moment. But when it’s a headline on Drudge Report week after week, and in the top of what’s trending on major financial reports, perhaps we need to take notice.
“For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China. And it’s a lot closer than you may think. According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.
Put that in your calendar.
It provides a painful context for the budget wrangling taking place in Washington, D.C., right now. It raises enormous questions about what the international security system is going to look like in just a handful of years. And it casts a deepening cloud over both the U.S. dollar and the giant Treasury market, which have been propped up for decades by their privileged status as the liabilities of the world’s hegemonic power.
According to the IMF forecast, whoever is elected U.S. president next year — Obama? Mitt Romney? Donald Trump? — will be the last to preside over the world’s largest economy. Most people aren’t prepared for this. They aren’t even aware it’s that close. Listen to experts of various stripes and they will tell you this moment is decades away. The most bearish will put the figure in the mid-2020s. But they’re miscounting. They’re only comparing the gross domestic products of the two countries using current exchange rates. That’s a largely meaningless comparison in real terms. Exchange rates change quickly. And China’s exchange rates are phony. China artificially undervalues its currency, the renminbi, through massive intervention in the markets.” source – MarketWatch
IMF Director Calls For NEW WORLD CURRENCY
Feb 10th
One World Government
We know that the bible teaches that there will come a day when all the world is under a single monetary system, and it calls that system the mark of the beast. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13: 16, 17. So it comes as now surprise to NTEB that more and more world leaders are issuing calls for a new currency system. As we see it, they are right on schedule.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn saw a greater role for the IMF's Special Drawing Rights, which is currently composed of the dollar, sterling, euro and yen Photo: Reuters
International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn calls for new world currency
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has called for a new world currency that would challenge the dominance of the dollar and protect against future financial instability. “Global imbalances are back, with issues that worried us before the crisis – large and volatile capital flows, exchange rate pressures, rapidly growing excess reserves – on the front burner once again,” Strauss-Kahn said. “Left unresolved, these problems could even sow the seeds of the next crisis.”
Strauss-Kahn said: “Increasing the role of the SDR would clearly require a major leap in international policy coordination. For this reason, I expect the global reserve asset system to evolve only gradually, and along with changes in the global economy.” Strauss-Kahn’s views come a week before finance ministers from the Group of 20 developed and developing nations meet in Paris to discuss proposals by French president Nicolas Sarkozy for changes to global economic governance.
