paulhunterjones

In order to understand the debate surrounding the prosecution of Dominique Strauss Kahn, you need know something about the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As the Second World War came to an end 29 nations assembled to create the IMF. These nations set up an intergovernmental organization that would oversee the global financial markets via the macroeconomic policies of its member countries. Today the IMF consists of about 187 member nations. In the years after its formation, the IMF’s mandate has expanded to include providing low costs loans on favorable terms to developing countries. Member nations contribute to an account which the IMF draws upon to fund its loans. Washington D.C. serves as the IMF’s home office, though its officers and staff travel the world on official business. IMF

Some world leaders criticize the IMF for exercising too much influence on global affairs. However; everyone agrees that the person who assumes leadership of the IMF becomes a person of enormous influence and power. On September 28, 2007 Mr. Strauss, a Socialist Party PM and former Finance Minister of France, was elected as managing director of the IMF. An already powerful man became even more powerful.

On May 15, 2011 Mr. Strauss suffered a complete fail from grace and power. Port Authority detectives arrested him while he sat on in airplane bound for France. The police eventually charged Mr. Strauss with sexual assault and attempted rape. Just hours earlier a chambermaid at the plush Sofitel hotel had accused him of attacking her in his suite.

The news of Mr. Strauss’ arrest reverberated around the world. The tweets and Facebook posts about the arrest came first. The major newspapers and services followed with their e-mail and text alerts. In an amazingly short time afterwards, television and cable networks were carrying live feed about the arrest. Because events were unfolding so rapidly I wondered if the police had conducted a thorough pre-arrest investigation. The reports did not mention that Mr. Strauss had been arrested after a lengthy investigation. The police knew that the accused was the head of the IMF and considered the front-runner to become France’s next president. A person in Mr. Strauss’ position would vigorously defend himself if charged with a crime. Under these circumstances the police would be have been foolish if they had not conducted an exhaustive pre-arrest investigation.

After Mr. Strauss’ arrest it became known that the forensic evidence gathered at the scene did show that sexual attack had occurred. Additionally, the medical examination of the victim, which supposedly took place right after the alleged attack, failed to support her claim that she had been sexually attacked. Hospital Records It is common knowledge that sexual liaisons occur in all classes of hotels and that consensual sex between chambermaids and patrons is not unheard of. Knowing this and despite the lack of compelling evidence, the NYPD arrested Mr. Strauss. The Arrest

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

I am not surprised that recent Eurozone (EZ) policy changes and actions did not produce the expected results of improving the confidence in the European markets. The debt crisis continues to spread from country to country. The EZ should abandon the practice of political symbolism, which does little to reduce the continent’s financial problems. The costly bailout of Greece set in motion policies and requirements that the even the healthier EZ countries do not want to meet.

Just this week the leaders of France and Germany met in Paris to reaffirm their support of the Euro. French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s press statements after their meeting pleased no one and disappointed everyone. The leaders called on members of the EZ to incorporate into their respective constitutions measures (the Golden Rule) that would require balanced budgets, debt reduction initiatives and general financial discipline. They both opposed issuing collective bonds that would spread responsibility for governmental debt across member states. The leaders also ruled out any immediate increase in the bailout fund. The message that came out of Paris was clear; Germany and France are reaching their limits, both politically and economically, in trying to rescue the floundering economies of other member states. Spain, Portugal and Italy who are on the verge of default understood the French and Germany leaders’ message that they should not expect the same kind of bailout, if any, that Greece received. Germany and France are not going to invest the future of their citizens into additionally risky bailouts. I believe that EZ two healthiest nations have grave doubts that the bailout of Greece was either financially prudent or politically necessary.

Regardless; the joint announcement out of Paris did little to calm the European financial markets. In the days after the meeting the European markets gyrated wildly and moved lower by this weekend. Confidence in European banks is plummeting to all time lows. Banker worry that they will have to charge their better clients more to borrow money. In turn banks will have to pay more for loans they receive. The credit crisis is getting worst by the day. It is not difficult to understand why banks in France or Germany do not want to fund bailout program of Spain, Portugal and Italy; the prospect of being asked to make bad loans requires them to charge their better customers more to borrow.

In an well written article entitled “The Decline and Fall of Europe,” which appears in the August 22, 2001 issue of Time magazine, Rana Foroohar warns of the fall of the old guard. He believes that the golden age of Europe and the West is beginning to fade into history. The ever more dismal economic news coming out of the European continent confirms his assessment. He argues that the EZ is essentially a selfish union. He writes that “…Europeans wants to benefit economically from the proximity to one another and want at all costs to avoid expensive and destructive wars either trade or shooting with their neighbors.” The EZ does not depend on free market principles and global competition to drive and fuel it members’ economies. The EZ’s belief that politics and legislative initiatives could create a dynamic, powerful and unified European economy was naïve to begin with. Foroohar correctly states that the EZ members’ divergent political views, various cultures, and differing social agendas conspiracy to defeat economic unity. If it is to survive as an institution the EZ must re-make itself to adapt to changing times and realities.

If a scientist conducts an experiment to prove a theory and it does not work, he tries a different experiment. The scientist does not keep repeating the same experiment knowing that the result will always be the same. I think the time has come for the EZ to try something different.