IMF top job: Fischer questions Lagarde’s credentials

WHEN GREECE’S WOES threaten the world’s second-largest reserve currency, the IMF needs an experienced managing director more than ever. Yet a man in undeniable possession of those skills – Stanley Fischer – was disqualified on the grounds of age. Instead, and for the 11th consecutive time, Europe got one of its own. Yet Christine Lagarde comes with baggage. She was close to one of the main interested parties in the eurozone debt crisis and she has been criticized for lacking the right management competencies to deal with the biggest short-term challenge facing the IMF today.