The Bush administration started off by singing very much in
tune with the chorus coming from IMF precincts in Washington. The
refrain since Horst Köhler took over as IMF managing director 17
months ago has largely been that crisis management is out and
measures that prevent crisis are in.
As US Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill told the Council of the
Americas in May: "I've been saying to them [Köhler and World Bank
President James Wolfensohn] that I think you're important to the
future but you're not going to be in it unless we can figure out a
way to spend more of your energy and resources on things that we've
decided to take the initiative about instead of things that we've
been forced to react to."
That may be a laudable aim, but can IMF officials make it work?
The Clinton administration put big IMF-led bailouts at the
forefront...
