http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0421-11.htm
Published on Friday, April 21, 2006 by Agence France Presse
U.S. Tells IMF to Butt Out of Health Care Issue
by Jitendra Joshi
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government issued a barbed riposte yesterday after
the IMF suggested Washington institute health insurance for all
Americans and balance its budget faster than planned.
Tim Adams, the Treasury undersecretary for international affairs,
demanded that the International Monetary Fund get back to its "raison
d'étre" of monitoring global currency rates rather than commenting on
health care.
He also said an IMF call for the United States to balance its budget by
2010, rather than just aiming to halve it by 2009, would put the global
economy in "peril."
"We have been the product of IMF scrutiny for a long time. They don't
mince any words or waste any time talking about the U.S.," Mr. Adams
told a news conference after the IMF released its semi-annual World
Economic Outlook.
"In fact it appears . . . that they were once again delving into issues
that are questionable topics for the IMF to be looking at," he said.
"But if it's good enough for the U.S., it's good enough for everyone
else, and we look forward to seeing what the IMF is producing for other
countries," he said, reaffirming calls for the IMF to criticize China
more forcefully.
Speaking at the launch of the Outlook report, IMF chief economist
Raghuram Rajan said earlier that the United States was not always the
poster child for the policies long advocated by the Fund.
"In a globally competitive economy, it is very important you insure the
individual, you have a safety net for the individual, because they're at
serious risk of losing their job and so on," Mr. Rajan said.
"Which means you have to have some form of universal health care. It is
very, very hard, in this competitive economy, for 40-million-plus
Americans to be uninsured, of which eight million are children," he said.
"So you need universal health care, you need strong educational systems,
so the challenge of improving education in the United States, especially
in poorer areas, is extremely important."
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901
