The IMF's Irrelevance

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The IMF could make borrowers suspend payments to Chinese creditors that don't support the debt writedowns. That would encourage other creditors like America into writing down their own debts. Something has to give though, whether it's that Beijing gets more cooperative or that the IMF gets tougher on Beijing. It's a really difficult choice, but unless the IMF chooses one of those, it will leave poor countries in serious trouble.

The International Monetary Fund is sitting on oodles of cash, but failing to disburse it. We examine why China’s lending practices are putting the IMF on a path to irrelevance. Climate change is already squeezing farmers in Latin America; some outright crazy agricultural policies are making matters worse. And reasons not to ban a well-known workplace species: the “talented jerk”.

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