Christine Lagarde promises to bring a new social dimension to the IMF’s work
One thing Dominique Strauss-Kahn has done for the IMF is put it on the front pages. Until the French economist and politician became managing director nearly four years ago, turning it into a powerhouse of geo-finance before ending up on rape charges in N...
Credit threats are decades-overdue consequences of US fiscal myopia and insularity
Uncle Sam’s credit isn’t what it was. When Standard & Poor’s put a question mark over the medium-term future of the dollar by placing it on negative watch, it meant the greenback could lose its historic triple A status if the US econ...
The speed with which authorities discovered and froze kleptocrats’ assets tells us all we need to know about the true workings of geo-politics
Few would deny that freezing the assets of fallen or besieged dictators during the turmoil in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya was a good and important decision. The problem is that it happened so quickly that it is obvious the various governments knew all the ti...
Other nations talk, Switzerland acts
In some of the luxury-watch boutiques of Paris, you can hardly move for Asian – particularly Chinese and Indian – buyers. They’re cheerfully paying thousands of euros for handmade, horological masterpieces from Switzerland. In some store...
Corruption at the 2010 Commonwealth Games is being investigated
At roughly the same time as the head of the Delhi Commonwealth Games organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, was patting himself on the back for conducting the event “really well,” prime minister Manmohan Singh was appointing a high-level commit...
Go back 90 years to the “roaring twenties” when brokers treated the investing public like fools. Throw in a few billion dollars of oil money and a mountain of debt. Sprinkle with the rich and powerful. Add a dash of greed. Serve with incompetent banking directors on an overheated plate.
Wall Street before the Crash of 1929? No, Nigeria. Or, at least, Nigeria before Lamido Sanusi became governor of its central bank last year.Outwardly, Nigeria is seen as a country with a well-capitalised banking system riding an oil boom. The second-large...
Each crisis requires its own solution, says the ECB president
Four days before the 110bn euro bail-out of Greece, president of the ECB Jean-Claude Trichet was airing his thoughts in Illinois about how best to deal with financial crises. He’s certainly seen a few in his time as a central banker par excellence. ...
Bankers, beware
Apart from being told the forensic accounting team has just uncovered a major fraud in the securities-trading floor, probably the last thing the boss of a French bank wants is an invitation to a meeting with finance minister Christine Lagarde. At the last...
Coercive forces grip India
"Urgently wanted: Scores of incorruptible financial experts with experience in infrastructure projects. Proof of bravery will be an advantage."That’s one advertisement we’ll never see in The Times of India. But it’s the kind of person th...
“Cleanliness is next to godliness,” insists Caleb Fundanga, Zambia’s reforming central banker
The head of the Bank of Zambia is a religious man. And he needs to be in a country that was until a few years ago infamous for corruption, the weakness of its central bank, the woeful inadequacies of its banking system, and generally low international reg...
234.1% of GDP, pariah of debt markets, but with hopes for a healthy twelve months ahead
197.5%, hard-hit by the tsunami, and reeling from the internal corruption allegations
142.8%, possibly heading for default, and considered one of many eurozone bad boys
133.8%, deceptively, has a strong banking sector, but little more in an ailing economy
126%, hopelessly indebted banks and very little light at the end of a long and gloomy tunnel
119% of GDP, in need of reform, paying over 7% for its debt thanks to technocratic leadership
106%, to many an idyllic investment destination, a great borrower, repayer, and long term option
101%, no government for most of 2011 didn’t help a weak economy in dire need of stimulus
90%, high but it’s recovering from a long and protracted revolution and aiming high
82%, stronger countries like Germany are contaminated by the weakest. It could go on…