IMF Loans Total $41.8 Billion in November, ‘Busiest’ Month Ever
Comments: from http://www.rgemonitor.com IMF's monthly disbursements record of $26.6b in 2002, according to records that date back to 1984 was beated in Nov-2008 when a total of $41.8b in loans were agreed by the fund. The largest bailout in IMF history was the September 2002 approval of $30.4b for Brazil. South Korea got $21b in December 1997, in the midst of the Asian financial crisis of that year in which Indonesia received $11.2b and Thailand got $4b The institution is basically providing funds through two different ways. A less conditional borrowing facility (SLF) (1) in which countries can borrow up to 5 times their quota, with a three month duration and, borrowing for countries in need of longer term programs, which will likely be subject to more specific conditions. However, the IMF may be less likely to dictate policies than in the past. On the IMF's Role: Asia-Europe summit Oct 24/25 suggests IMF play a major role in providing funds to emerging markets and in reforming the international financial system Rogoff: it would be a terrible mistake simply to super-size the IMF in its current guise by greatly scaling up its lending facilities, as many propose. Rather, the IMF's role, even in the current crisis, should be sharpened as an interlocutor between lenders and developing country borrowers, rather than simply as a replacement for all other loan sources Martin Wolf: It is not only possible but necessary to change the global architecture to reflect changing economic weights. The world must also give the IMF more financial resources in support of its new short-term lending facility Jeffrey Frankel: Bill Rhodes has proposed that the Fund facilitate expansion of currency swap arrangements, to allow emerging markets to have the same access that has been made available to developing countries; and that it should try to resurrect a lending facility known as Contingent Credit Lines. The Fund would have to turn to newly- wealthy countries like China to help finance such new facilities and programs. Michael Bordo and Harold James have suggested that the Fund could manage reserve assets of the new surplus countries; but it is not clear why the latter should want it to. Economist: IMF remains the institution most suited to dealing with such crises. It has $255 billion in uncommitted usable resources and the ability to elicit funds from countries that may be reluctant to act on their own—as with the Japanese and Nordic contributions to the Iceland package. The IMF-led route is better for troubled countries than making ad hoc approaches to others Other countries might turn to regional level financing such as those promoted by the IDB for Latin American countries or an Asian crisis fund. Overall, Asian countries are less likely to face balance of payments crises than those in EMEA, but Indonesia may get standby loans from the World Bank and ADB in 2009 BNY: IMF Head, Dominique Strauss Kahn notes that no country is immune to the crisis and that the IMF is willing to provide financial assistance not only to emerging markets, but also Western countries. Japanese Finance Minister Nakagawa suggested Japan might provide funds to support such efforts (1) Short Lending Facility. Peace and best wishes. Xi http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087sid=aSCYZI5nYCskrefer=home --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups World-thread group. To post to this group, send email to world-thread@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
Re: Life
Congratulations (Mercury) Do not feel guilty. It is your money, you do not borrow it, why to feel guilty if you spend your money as you want? My perspective is life is to enjoy it according to our posibilities, what we really can afford, not beyond it. I should spend more, but I still save a lot. I have plans for the near future and I have to save money to make them real. That is ok although I should save less. Peace and best wishes. Xi On Nov 26, 3:50 am, Mercury.Sailor [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I LOVE shopping, I haven't really done any shopping all year, But damn have I been making up for it and enjoying every second of it Yesterday I spoke to the wife of a famous scientist over the telephone, They live in New Mexico, The husband Sterling C*lgate works at The Los Alamos National Laboratory, Very intelligent couple. Well, during our conversation the wife started talking to me about old age and how when we get older and our bodies don't do what we would like to do, That's when you really learn to appreciate the smaller things in life such as walking, hiking, appreciating the beautiful sunsets. I just let her talk and I listened, Than I thought about it for a long time, Damn I learned to appreciate all of these things when I was in my early 20's. I'm glad I learn these important lessons at such an early age in life, When I go hiking or skiing, walking or just out for a ride on the back of my husbands motorcycle, That's when I appreciate how great life is and its here today and could be gone tomorrow. I know the economy isn't all that great and I shouldn't be out having such a great time spending my money like a drunken U.S President, But hey, Its my guilty pleasure and its Christmas time! So, I am simply having a wonderful Christmas shopping time! --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups World-thread group. To post to this group, send email to world-thread@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
WHY ECONOMIC CRISIS ACTION PLANS ARE INADEQUATE
WHY ECONOMIC CRISIS ACTION PLANS ARE INADEQUATE Economic crisis action plans in most nations do not go far enough, nor do they show indications of moving ahead fast enough. There is a reluctance, based on belief in the free enterprise, free market, capitalist system being an adequately self correcting process. This is driven by the false belief in human nature, which is based on the dialectic of good and evil. Largely that dialectic argument is the argument whether people are essentially good or evil by their inherent nature. With the end of the Cold War, the Capitalist, American led, argument won out and came out on top, as a consequence of that conflict being won, not as a result of convincing rational consideration of scientific facts. Since then the tendency has been to believe America in this regard, as in many other matters. We now see how high a price American Cold War victory brings, in purely ideological terms. Unopposed, the often baseless beliefs, of a nation acknowledged as economic “superpower”, become the world’s economic religion. Science can settle the question of good or evil nature. It is neither. The dispute was a Cold War illusion, meant to increase the hatred and conflict between two warring sides. Of course education becomes education for war, not peace. The false ideas are taught, regardless of science, to maintain conflict at its maximum level. That is the monstrous legacy we are seeing today. We see what are unscientific, irrational, often baseless beliefs, held by one side in a military and propaganda oriented conflict, continuing to bring ruin and destruction. In war the ability to question propagandized beliefs is severely impaired if not totally destroyed. In victory of one side against another that ability does not return easily if at all. Not until another opponent wins, or until events prove it incontrovertibly wrong despite the deeply inculcated blind reluctance to accept that fact. War propaganda, ideological foundations for war, are most similar to religion. Reason has little role in it. The truth is always the first casualty. In the current economic crisis the truth, in that regard, is still on the coroner’s table, awaiting autopsy results, but those are being suppressed by those responsible for the cause of death. (We need not go into how religion and economics have become intertwined and how religious systems typically deal with issues of belief and proof. That is a worthwhile subject to explore, but far too complex. Let us simply say that religiosity in economics has been and remains a mainstay of both capitalist and communist systems as they manifest during the Cold War and as Capitalism continues today. A true science of economics, and the purely rational regulation of economic systems is one of the victims. We might add that the American position in the dialectic with communism, distorted and forced the communist and socialist positions into extremes of opposition to capitalist economics due to the extremism of the American led side. In war that is to be expected. You dehumanize and discredit your enemy, exaggerating the differences, to enable conflict, including killing “them”. True economic dialogue and rational decisions are not served by warfare.) American led globalization failed to recognize that investment abroad, in hopes of quick big profit, does not provide for and build a good society at home. We are referring to unregulated, free market, free enterprise, globalization where the profit motive proves to be the only governing motive. At least the belief in quicker, larger, profits. Forgetting that the capital to gain those profits, taking on the risk, is no longer invested in the society from where it was generated. It is now invested elsewhere. The portion of the economic pie that was to have benefitted society at home simply isn’t there anymore. Neither is the business tax base that existed previously. This is a very important point. You then have a massive erosion of traditional tax revenues from various municipal and state coffers and ultimately from the national purse. This growing failure of government revenue generation leads to bankruptcy of governments. They can no longer pick up the shortfall in terms of that portion of the economic pie that needed to go back into benefitting local society. The spiral of deterioration simply becomes worse as budgets are increasingly cut to save taxpayer dollars for both political gain and to avoid losing remaining enterprises. In a completely free enterprise, free market, system, enterprises that find that their costs, including taxation, are rising, are free to leave and go elsewhere. Either that or simply to close down, refusing to pay. This black mail tends to force governments to have to avoid raising revenues by means that might cause a worsening of the already worsening situation. As the situation progresses the tax base, as to where revenues can be obtained, grows smaller and smaller until the
Re: Life
I dont feel guilty about shopping, I am actually enjoying my time shopping! :o) I do look for bargains, But its Christmas time and if I see something I like for someone else, I will buy it. Needless to say I have hit just about every one of my favorite stores. I dont use credit cards, I dont even own a credit card. I use my debit card, cha-ching! No, saving is good. But spending is so much more fun! :o) I am being a bad influence, Im sorry On Nov 26, 9:13 am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Congratulations (Mercury) Do not feel guilty. It is your money, you do not borrow it, why to feel guilty if you spend your money as you want? My perspective is life is to enjoy it according to our posibilities, what we really can afford, not beyond it. I should spend more, but I still save a lot. I have plans for the near future and I have to save money to make them real. That is ok although I should save less. Peace and best wishes. Xi On Nov 26, 3:50 am, Mercury.Sailor [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I LOVE shopping, I haven't really done any shopping all year, But damn have I been making up for it and enjoying every second of it Yesterday I spoke to the wife of a famous scientist over the telephone, They live in New Mexico, The husband Sterling C*lgate works at The Los Alamos National Laboratory, Very intelligent couple. Well, during our conversation the wife started talking to me about old age and how when we get older and our bodies don't do what we would like to do, That's when you really learn to appreciate the smaller things in life such as walking, hiking, appreciating the beautiful sunsets. I just let her talk and I listened, Than I thought about it for a long time, Damn I learned to appreciate all of these things when I was in my early 20's. I'm glad I learn these important lessons at such an early age in life, When I go hiking or skiing, walking or just out for a ride on the back of my husbands motorcycle, That's when I appreciate how great life is and its here today and could be gone tomorrow. I know the economy isn't all that great and I shouldn't be out having such a great time spending my money like a drunken U.S President, But hey, Its my guilty pleasure and its Christmas time! So, I am simply having a wonderful Christmas shopping time!- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups World-thread group. To post to this group, send email to world-thread@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
