Comment & Debate
Simon Johnson. “European Monetary Fund, Arriving Soon.” The Baseline Scenario. March 8th, 2010: “[The EMF] would represent a major reshaping of global financial architecture, undermining the traditional basis of power for the United States – which would prefer to keep the International Monetary Fund (IMF) paramount. This is a good thing for the world, but also for the IMF and – believe it or not – for the US. […] I laid out the case for regional Monetary Funds in BusinessWeek last year. The main point is that it makes sense to have a two tier system – at the regional level (or for countries grouped in some other way, like “emerging markets”) and at the global level, meaning the IMF. […] The regional entities would be like your family doctor; the IMF runs the big hospital. If you go in with chest pains, your friendly physician will try to get you to change your diet, exercise more – and may also provide some relatively harmless pills. If you have a heart attack, however, you need to go to the emergency room – where their bedside manner may be less than ideal, but they can actually save your life.”