Sunday, February 15, 2015

Yves Smith — Michael Hudson: Has the IMF Annexed Ukraine?

Yves here. Ukraine is going into an IMF program in even worse condition that Greece with its various loans from the Troika in 2010, and we can see how well borrowing more when you were already overindebted worked out for Greece. In addition, this interview with Michael Hudson makes clear that the loan to Ukraine is wildly out of line with IMF rules, making it painfully obvious that this “rescue” is all about propping up the government so it can continue to wage war rather than economic development.
Michael Hudson lays out the neoliberal playbook being run by the IMF, which is headed by a European (Christine Lagarde) but whose board is dominated by the US with the largest voting interest.

Naked Capitalism
Michael Hudson: Has the IMF Annexed Ukraine?
Yves Smith

2 comments:

Ralph Musgrave said...

Hudson’s complaints are ridiculous. The IMF loans taxpayers’ money. What do relevant taxpayers expect the IMF to do with their money: give it away?

If the IMF is going to lend to a country in trouble and get its money back rather than give it away, the loan conditions are bound to be uncomfortable for the borrower. If you’re in financial trouble and want a loan from a loan shark or a pawn broker do you expect the lender to shower you with $100 bills with no conditions attached?

Peter Pan said...

Why the pretense of this being a loan?