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A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF

A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF
Changes Suggest Shift in How Global Economy Is Run
By Anthony Faiola, Washington Post Staff Writer

Partial quote:
"The IMF is changing, and with it, there will be a sea change in the way the world economy is run," said C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "Their role will dramatically shift. You're talking about monitoring fiscal stimulus, moving toward tighter regulations for financial institutions. You're talking about global economic management in a way we have never seen."

The Big Lie - Rob Kirby

Market Observation - Rob Kirby 04.20.2009 Partial quote:
The U.S. Treasury released the Treasury International Capital (TIC) report for February 2009. It shows another outflow of capital. “Monthly net TIC flows were negative $97.0 billion. Of this, net foreign private flows were negative $106.3 billion, and net foreign official flows were positive $9.3 billion.” This is a huge reversal. That is almost a quarter of a trillion dollars in just two months. Foreigners are not bailing out the Treasury any longer. They are pulling out. They are net sellers. This means that domestic buyers must be found — not just for the gigantic wave of debt already on the books but also for the foreigners who are saying sayonara. The FED has not budgeted for this. It has pretended that the much-heralded glut of international savings would continue. It’s over. It’s not just over; it’s imploding. We are now seeing a glut of selling.

Goodbye recovery, or, Goodbye dollar.

Visual guide to where you tax dollars go

Visual guide to where you tax dollars go

Click here.

George Soros calls for a World Currency to replace the Dollar

Danger: SEC does not enforce the law

I’ve commented before on how the Securities & Exchange Commission under Christopher Cox has looked the other way like a crooked cop while certain well-connected market makers robbed us of our 401k investments through counterfeit stock electronically injected by naked short selling. So it was with great interest I tuned in to watch the new SEC leader, Linda Thomsen, hold a public forum on proposals for new short selling rules. It was sad to see that the meeting turned into just talk, talk, talk, and no action for many months at best. When will the SEC start to do their job an arrest the parties that are failing to deliver?!

Far from just being inept, it appears the new SEC leadership is implicated in the failures to enforce justice under the old SEC. For example, watch Linda in action:

Full story read: Deep Capture, April 13, 2009.

We need more stimulus, not more bailout | Salon

We need more stimulus, not more bailout | Salon
To jump-start the economy, we need to spur consumer demand. We can't do that without additional stimulus.
By Robert Reich

Geithner believes the only way to rescue the economy is to get the big banks to lend money again. But he’s dead wrong. Most consumers cannot and do not want to borrow lots more money. They’re still carrying too much debt as it is. Even if they refinance their homes -- courtesy of the Fed flooding the market with so much money that mortgage rates are dropping -- consumers are still not going to borrow more. And until there’s enough demand in the system, businesses aren’t going to borrow much more to invest in new plant or machinery, either.

That’s the big issue -- the continued lack of enough demand in the economy. The current stimulus package is proving way too small relative to the shortfall between what consumers and businesses are buying and what the economy could produce at full capacity.

Worse yet, the states are pulling in the opposite direction. States cannot run deficits, which means that as their revenues drop in this downturn they’re cutting vital services and raising taxes to the tune of $350 billion over this year and next. This fiscal drag is wiping out about half of the current federal stimulus.

If Geithner gets Congress to give him more bailout money, Congress won’t be in any mood to do what it really needs to do -- which is to enlarge the stimulus package. Voters are already worried about too much government spending. At most, the administration is going to get only one more bite at the congressional apple. Make that more stimulus rather than more bailout.

Dilbert

From Dilbert.com on April 12, 2009

George Soros on CDS Need Regulation

George Soros Says Credit Default Swaps Need Much Stricter Regulation - WSJ.com
By GEORGE SOROS
In all the uproar over AIG, the most important lesson has been ignored. AIG failed because it sold large amounts of credit default swaps (CDS) without properly offsetting or covering their positions. What we must take away from this is that CDS are toxic instruments whose use ought to be strictly regulated: Only those who own the underlying bonds ought to be allowed to buy them. ...