The IMF speaks out on *cough* Icesave. And a few other things

So the International Monetary Fund has started sending me mail. Press releases, that sort of thing. Entirely unsolicited. In fact, the first time they did, the email landed in my spam folder with the warning : THIS PERSON MAY NOT BE WHO THEY CLAIM TO BE - since, let’s face it, why would the IMF be sending me mail ? Which of course is a pure testament to Google’s infinite wisdom and a sign that we should just stop trying to run our own affairs and let Google do it.

Not that I mind. I’m happy to have a direct line to the IMF, especially since their press officer seems really nice and actually addresses me with my real name, rather than with something like PRESS RELEASE or A MESSAGE FROM THE ANARCHISTS SOCIETY OF TIMBUKTU. And besides, according to Joseph Stiglitz the IMF has given Iceland a fairly sweet deal in comparison to Argentina, for example, so you know, we can be friendly. The only thing that worries me is that it may just do in my street cred. I figure when the IMF has started sending you mail you’re no longer a “cult blogsite” but have deteriorated to something horribly dull and mainstream. Next stop, The Big Blog Geriatric Hospice in the Sky.

Anyway.

This latest release from the IMF comes in response to a letter sent by a group of “concerned citizens” to its Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. I don’t know what the original letter was about, but the answer is pretty standalone and informative, and Mr Strauss-Kahn gets props for at least responding - something many public officials would to well to emulate. Excerpt :

First, on the Icesave dispute. Resolution of this dispute has never been a condition of the IMF-supported program. The IMF is not supposed to involve itself in bilateral disputes between its member countries and did not do so in this instance. However, the Icesave dispute did indirectly affect the timing of the program’s first review since it held up needed financing from Nordic countries (for whom resolution of this dispute was a condition). I am sure you will agree that the government’s program must be internally consistent-it makes no sense to agree on a macroeconomic framework if the money is not available to finance those policies.

The full letter is available here.

Also, the IMF has just released a new video on Iceland, which also has some good information on our current predicament and status, to wit :

There’s something for eveyone : even those of you who don’t give a rat’s ass about the Icelandic economy can look at the pictures.

http://icelandweatherreport.com/