I beg to differ with Sam on the carbon tax ad. Accepting that any ad will simplify this complex story, this one gets at the essence of the issues. First, the tax should be imposed as close as possible to the source of the problem. This gives maximum bang-per-buck. It\'s not unreasonable to say

Provided that the European Council can agree on a credible candidate, a European seems certain to replace former IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Talk of the job going to an emerging country national is just wishful thinking. For the Europeans, the stakes are simply too high: there is

Portugal has now joined Greece and Ireland in seeking assistance from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. At €78 billion (around US$116 billion), the package compares with €110 billion for Greece and €67.5 billion for Ireland, and is a

With stubbornly high unemployment and limp growth in the US, there is not much disagreement that a very accommodative monetary policy is sensible and necessary. But the combination of near-zero interest rates and large \'quantitative easing\' (in Fed-speak, \'QE2\') is ruffling feathers in emerging

A year ago the IMF recognised that it had been wrong in its doctrinal advocacy of free international capital flows and acknowledged the legitimacy of capital controls, although in very restricted circumstances. After mulling this for a year, the Fund has now produced two documents which set out

In a praise-worthy effort to learn something from the Global Financial Crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just held a conference, 'Macro and Growth Policies in the Wake of the Crisis', which brought together top policy-makers and academics. The IMF's Economic Counselor presented

The sharp rise in world commodity prices has put some central banks overseas in a bind. These higher prices will inevitably feed into headline inflation. For central banks with an inflation target, or even for those which for decades have emphasised that their over-riding target is price stability,

I've already remarked on the Teflon-coated reputations of the credit rating agencies, agencies which played such a key supporting role in producing the Global Financial Crisis but which have bounced back, more self-assured than ever. Moody's has now put Australian banks on notice that it

Sam is right in finding Richard Koo's arguments on government deficits compelling. As usual, however, there are two sides to every argument. For Japan, it's only just over a month ago that The Interpreter linked us to a warning that, with government debt issue equal to tax

Having belatedly realised that its advocacy of open slather for foreign capital flows was misguided, the International Monetary Fund is now trying to establish that it was an innocent bystander in this decades-long debate. In a November 2010 strategy document, the Fund opines that: 'In

Foreign commentators have unanimously admired the progress of democracy in Indonesia in the post-Soeharto era. Judged from the efficiency and fairness of the voting process, the achievement is indeed a triumph. The harder judgment (but more relevant for a true appraisal of how democracy is

The public debate on the proposed take-over of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) seems to be dying down. But there are some important issues not yet covered. Here are just a few: Capitalisation of ASX-listed companies is over twice as large as SGX’s

Sri Mulyani, Indonesia’s reformist Finance Minister, will take up a very senior position at the World Bank in June. The Bank’s President, Robert Zoellick, said that she 'brings a unique set of skills and experience to the World Bank Group'. She does indeed, but Indonesia's loss may be far

The powerful voice of Fred Bergsten, head of the influential Peterson Institute in Washington, has joined the chorus demanding revaluation of the RMB: by 25-40 per cent.  Appearing before Congress, Bergsten hit all the hot-issue buttons. He accused China of 'blatant protectionism' and of being a

Fergus notes the luke-warm feelings Australians have for Indonesia (reciprocated by Indonesians). One of the explanations of this attitude is the carping, condescending and critical tone of Australian journalistic commentary on Indonesia. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's problems with

The Global Financial Crisis has triggered a remarkable self-examination by the International Monetary Fund of its received wisdom. A couple of weeks ago the Fund softened its in-principle advocacy of pure floating exchange rates, acknowledging that most emerging countries are more comfortable with