The IMF just released a positive World Economic Outlook report for 2018. Still, in order to make sure that the outlook remains good, the IMF makes recommendation that would lead to recession, says CEPR's Mark Weisbrot.… GS: There seems to be a general perception that the IMF has changed its ways and adheres less to neoliberal economic orthodoxy than it used to. MW: … I think the perception that they've changed is really based on mostly what comes out of the research department. There have...
Read More »Tim Wallace — UK economy ‘must get more efficient’, says IMF
Britain must make sweeping reforms to pensions, the planning system, infrastructure, education and training, and research and development if it wants to boost economic growth in the years to come, the International Monetary Fund has warned. Productivity and GDP growth have been relatively weak since the financial crisis, compared to historical levels and relative to other rich economies. They will stay that way unless serious action is taken.... The TelegraphUK economy ‘must get more...
Read More »Bill Mitchell — The IMF and the Germans wreaking havoc in Northern Africa
Some years ago, I started collecting information about the so-called Maghreb countries, which typically refers to the region spanned by Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, although sometimes Libya and Mauritania are also included in the aggregation. You will find it referred to as the Barbary Coast in English literature. I was interested (as a long-term project when I get old :-)) to write a book about how nations broke away from the yoke of colonialism only to fall into the hands of the IMF and...
Read More »Michael Hudson — Greek debt update
Taken from a short interview with Greece’s Banking News. Q. According to the IMF, Greece’s debt isn’t manageable in the long-run without being either extended or forgiven. Where do you stand towards this claim? How important is the Greek debt relief? Michael Hudson — On Finance, Real Estate, and the Powers of NeoliberalismGreek debt updateMichael Hudson | President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research...
Read More »Bill Mitchell — IMF finds the Eurozone has failed at the most elemental level
The IMF put out a new working Paper last week (January 23, 2018)) – Economic Convergence in the Euro Area: Coming Together or Drifting Apart? – which while they don’t admit it demonstrates that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has failed to achieve its most basic aims – economic convergence. The stated aim of European integration has always been to achieve a convergence in the living standards of those within the European Union. That goes back to the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which...
Read More »Bill Mitchell — Greece – the next bailout is just around the corner
When the latest Greek bailout deal between the Greek government and the European Commission/IMF) was concluded on June 16, 2017, I concluded that it was designed to fail. Please read my blog – Latest Greek bailout – a recipe designed to fail. Despite all the statements from the European Commission and the IMF to the contrary, the terms of the deal with the Greek government confirms that these institutions had abandoned any pretense to being interested in serious economic policy. For the...
Read More »Ramanan — Christine Lagarde On Germany’s Balance Of Payments
Insightful post on international finance. Short.The Case for Concerted ActionChristine Lagarde On Germany’s Balance Of Payments V. Ramanan
Read More »Dmitriy Sudakov — One third of Russian currency assets are in the US – what if Washington freezes them?
Short and significant.Russia Feed.One third of Russian currency assets are in the US – what if Washington freezes them?Dmitriy Sudakov
Read More »On mainstream Keynesianism
Looking up to Galbraith The ASSA Meeting was this last weekend in Philadelphia. It was the bomb... cyclone (Nate Cline's joke; I'm sure many others too came up with that one). I don't have much to report actually. I did participate in one section, and will post a link to a preliminary version of my paper soon. I was at the Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) dinner, that honored Jamie Galbraith. This blog was named Naked Keynesianism, as you may know, because years ago Fox News...
Read More »Bill Mitchell — The IMF still has the same spots
Just before Xmas (December 22, 2017), the IMF proved once again that leopards don’t change their spots. Thy released a Working Paper (No. 17/286) – Australia’s Fiscal Framework: Revisiting Options for a Fiscal Anchor – that demonstrated they hadn’t learned a thing from the last decade of crisis and fiscal interventions (stimulative and opposite). The paper demonstrates no understanding of context, history, or the role that fiscal policy should play in advancing general well-being. It is a...
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