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Somehow the IMF should be mentioned, too -- after all, the ECB is hiding behind international 'consensus' when pursuing this policy as part of the troika.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Fri Feb 18th, 2011 at 08:37:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The IMF is irrelevant to this discussion. Bringing in the IMF in the first place is yet another charge to be laid at the feet of the ECB, but this letter isn't about laying charges at the feet of the ECB. It's about power, not justice, at this point. And the IMF can't do anything to Greece that the ECB and Commission can't do worse.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Fri Feb 18th, 2011 at 09:53:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
!? in Greece, currently they are doing it with the IMF as nominally equal partner in a troika.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Fri Feb 18th, 2011 at 02:22:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The IMF was, reportedly, the sane partner in the negotiations. Plus, there is no reason whatsoever (other than ECB insanity) for the IMF to lend to a country in its own currency - the IMF is there to provide access to hard international currency.

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Feb 18th, 2011 at 02:34:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
That's what I think an LTE should indicate, after all, the public row involved Mr. Thomsen of the IMF, not Trichet or his minions.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 04:37:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Actually Mr. Servaas Deroose of the EC was equally blunt. It's just that Thomsen was the most vocal. It might be because they put him out front so that the IMF catches most of the grief in these press conferences.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 05:02:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
From the link:

"The purported statements of the European Commission representative in Sunday newspapers are at the very least off target, and certainly inaccurate," Papaconstantinou said in a press statement midday Sunday.

The three international lenders--the IMF, EU and ECB commonly know as the "troika" in Greece--held a very controversial press conference Friday. It was their third review of the debt-laden Mediterranean state's progress on austerity, fiscal consolidation and economic restructuring reforms. And while they approved the fourth EUR15 billion aid tranche, they also ratcheted up expectations on reforms.

...Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou midday Saturday called the head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, to complain about the tone of Friday's joint press conference of the international lenders of last resort. Papandreou also criticized the statements as "unacceptable." Other government ministers have talked about a breach of the country's sovereignty and underlined the cabinet only takes orders from the Greek people.

That's now even worse: both the IMF and the Commission catching the fire before the ECB.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 06:28:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, he complained to the EC not the ECB. My omission. From the linked article:

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou midday Saturday called the head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, to complain about the tone of Friday's joint press conference of the international lenders of last resort



The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 06:28:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]
(Editorial note: I probably deleted and re-posted my comment with the extended quote before you got to post the above reply with the same quote.)

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 06:48:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes. Well the ECB representative was more constrained last Saturday in his statements, mainly because he was talking about the banking sector.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 06:30:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Strike "ECB" in the draft, replace with "troika."

In practise, it's going to be the ECB, but DoDo is right about the rhetorical points.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 06:32:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The IMF is there because the ECB wants the political air cover. The IMF has no stick that can hurt Greece remotely as bad as the stick the ECB has.

If you're willing to present ultimata to the ECB, you're past the point where that sort of political theatre matters very much.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Fri Feb 18th, 2011 at 02:42:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You are attacking the ECB on the occasion of a public row between the government of Greece and IMF representatives. So what you say in the first paragraph would better be there so that readers of the LTE not reading ET will get the apparent shift of target.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at 04:29:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The Brussels Consensus and the ECB have done this all by themselves. The IMF and the Washington Consensus are the story of 15 years ago...

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Feb 18th, 2011 at 10:23:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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