Who Smelt It Dealt It

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The title of this is related to farts. Ok, I admit, it is a rather childish title but the neoliberal capitalist doctrine of me me me is a childish one too.

It was interesting to see today that head of the IMF Christine Lagarde is warning of a 'lost decade' and 'clouds on the horizon' if action is not taken.

This is coming from the same IMF whose programmes have destroyed many countries around the world.

Their aggressive pushing for neoliberal economic policies has led to the ruination of many countries and opened markets up so much that they are subject to a kind of volatility not seen since the last time markets were so open, which was round about 1929 and something or other important happened around that time.

Since the 1970s their kind of free-market fundamentalism has served to enormously increase the gap between rich and poor, impoverish many of the world's poorest countries even further and speed up the development, which in many if not all cases is a byword for destruction, of the environment.

I have always had a hard time seeing the IMF as a force for good in the world. Effectively, it operates on a one-dollar = one vote system, and it does what neoliberals do, which is look after the investors and shareholders and hang everybody else.

Their solution to economic problems will no doubt be more free-market fundamentalism, more resources to be sold off and more of the same policies that have led us all into this mess in the first place.

If we are looking for solutions then those offered by the IMF should be ignored. Where they can't be ignored they should be stopped.