Comments for Are We Better Off Getting Advice from the IMF than a Drunk in the Street? at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 9 out of 9 comments http://www.cepr.net Mon, 20 May 2013 01:00:48 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1232 "IMF recommendations about reducing budget deficits, cutting back on labor market protections for workers, and rolling back pension and health care benefits." Conservatives have long wanted to cut or eliminate government programs that benefit working people and the poor, but have not had the political power to achieve this. The calls for austerity provide a rationalization for making such cuts and they are being made. There is a hidden agenda of class warfare by the haves and have mores against working people and the have nots behind this agenda. THERE IS A CLASS WAR GOING ON, AND THE RICH ARE WINNING! - Roland Buck Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:17:39 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1218 You sound like Nassim Taleb. And I like it. - Jimmy Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:45:41 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1213 I'm guessing that the IMF underestimated the impact that the exchange rate would have growth, which would account for both the pre-default and post-default errors. Granted, you could argue that the IMF has a more general motivation to underestimate the macroeconomic damage done by fixed exchange rates, since much of its [i]raison d'etre[/i] concerns the maintenance of fixed exchange rates that often arguably would be better off floating. - Andy Harless Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:00:04 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1212 Diesel and frankenduf. Nothing personal but WTF! - Joe K Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:54:56 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1206 You're right frankenduf, my post was completely out of context. I was still chewing on the bone Dean threw out about Greenspan. I'm slow, but I do chew thoroughly. I still stand by my statements about the Greek's mistrust of the arena or market to arrive at truth, justice or goodness. And I agree that Nietzsche can and has been misquoted in many ways and used for all manner of nefarious purposes. In my humble opinion, his most useful insights contrast faith/reason, christian/Greek, a dichotomy he embodied, being himself a philologist and the scion of a number of generations of clergymen. "Democracy" and "capitalism" make perfect bedfellows because each lends itself to domination by a clique or faction who then covertly manage public policy to suit their own needs--the very antithesis of their alleged virtues (which I believe is what you just said). - diesel Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:16:35 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1204 amen- the IMF track record is indeed horrible for the countries exposed to it's political leverage and diesel- no need to go baroque for a philosophical takedown of the empirically crappy IMF- not sure i agree with ur post anyway- i would say that socrates did see truth arising out of a dialectic of opposing factions- the problem today is that the corporatist worldview has come to dominate the corporate owned media, so there really is no functional opposing view (unless u watch chomsky at 230 AM on democracy now on some high # VHF channel)- and careful with quoting nietzsche in a political ethics context- the guy wasn't exactly a poster child for democracy... - frankenduf Mon, 28 Jun 2010 03:20:51 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1195 In my last post discussing Greenspan's responsibility in overseeing the unfolding bank crisis, I illustrated my point with a portion of a dialogue from Plato's Republic. To sum up, a faction (the banking establishment), contending for power, will enact legislation (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act etc.) favorable to its cause as it concieves that to be. This legislation may be harmful to the encompasing system in which the faction exists but since the faction can only project its nature, it has no way of avoiding this error. As may be seen, the Greeks were skeptical of any larger "truth" or "good" emerging out of diverse factions contending for power. Truth was the product of deliberation--the distinctive process only the human soul possessed. Contrast this with our current view, in which we call this struggle an arena, playing field or marketplace and expect the outcome to be not only efficient, but rational and good. There is, as others have pointed out, more than a passing resemblance between the Judeo/Christion God and the power of the Invisible Hand of the Market. Some contend that capitalism is Christianity clothed in the garb of a merchant. Indeed, one can easily, by flipping the telescope over and looking through the wrong end as a Calvinist does, view the achievement of worldly success as an indication of Divine favor. Nietzsche saw the world of mind as a battle between the Judeo/Christian and Greek ideals. For the Greek, deliberation, not faith, was the characteristic human virtue. To deliberate, to act deliberately, to plan, foresight, to envision an end goal and then work out the intervening steps. How different from our faith in the rowdy push and shove of the market where the end result reveals the working of an invisible hand. To the Greeks factionalism ended in folly as each party revised the rules to their own advantage. How could a coherent system of values endure this continuous assault carried out through seemingly legitimate law and legislation? - diesel Sun, 27 Jun 2010 09:54:59 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1194 Can't be much worse than the advice doled out so far. - Quiddity Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:46:14 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/Blogs/Beat-the-Press/are-we-better-off-getting-advice-from-the-imf-than-a-drunk-in-the-street#comment-1193 [quote]After all, any reasonable person would ask when the IMF stopped being wrong about the economy.[/quote] IMF, When did you stop beating your wife? IMF: We never did. That's a loaded question. IMF, When did you stop looking for your keys under the streetlight like a drunk? IMF: We never did. That's a loaded question too. IMF, When did you stop being proactive and heading off asset bubbles, and being reactive and cleaning up the aftermath? IMF: We were never reactive. That's another loaded question. We've always been proactive with austerity programs that prevent bubbles and defaults in the first place. You have to understand that we're all dead in the short run. - izzatzo Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:40:46 +0100