The case for Gordon Brown at the IMF
Natan Doron makes the case for Gordon Brown to lead the IMF.
IMF
Matt Hancock is drawing the wrong lessons from America
Former adviser to chancellor George Osborne, Tory MP Matthew Hancock, has made a massive error in his analysis of the American economy, writes Duncan Weldon.
IMF shows Britain lags the world on growth
Behind today’s headlines on the IMF downgrading Britain’s expected growth levels, lie reams of data and analysis about the state of the world economy.
Miliband: “Tories were encouraging us to deregulate further”
Ed Miliband and Ed Balls have accused the Conservative party of trying to drive the last government further away from regulating the activity of the City of London.
Lib Dem ‘euro-bond’ idea makes sense but won’t please Tories
The ‘euro-bond’ and has much to recommend it. It reduces the risk of defaulting because a country can’t service its debt and increases the chances of it getting its house in order.
IMF arrive to put right Ireland’s special version of crony capitalism
The IMF has arrived in Dublin. Despite Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern dismissing on Sunday any talk of Ireland getting a bailout from the IMF or the Stability Fund as ‘fiction’, the reality could no longer be denied on Tuesday evening as Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, was forced to admit that the governement was about to commence “short focused consultation” with the IMF and EU Officials.
Osborne’s banking levy falls short of IMF benchmark
George Osborne’s planned financial services levy is a lamentable failure according to international benchmarks. The IMF has called for any banking tax in Britain to be set at £6 billion. Last week, Left Foot Forward highlighted the socially regressive nature of the £2.5bn tax which will mean banks contributing 50 per cent less than families (child benefit and tax credit cuts) to the government’s fiscal consolidation programme.
Little evidence fiscal austerity triggers growth
Economics writer Paul Mason has pointed to a powerful implied critique of the Spending Review in an IMF document published this month. Speaking as guest lecturer at a seminar for the New Political Economy Network on Monday night, Mason called for a “forensic” analysis of what he described as “the large theoretical variability” of the outcome of George Osborne’s fiscal tightening proposals.
IMF rebuffs critics and poses questions for financial transaction tax fans
The recent IMF report on financial transaction taxes does not seek to endorse or dismiss the idea, but rather provide a categorical analysis and evaluation.
Taxing banks – the IMF proposals are the best we’ve seen
Limit taxpayer-exposure to future financial crises, raise revenue to replenish government finances, address supernormal, often grotesque, profits and bonuses.