The International Monetary Fund threw its support behind its leader, Christine Lagarde, on Monday despite her conviction in a French court on charges of misusing public funds.
Of course they did. Circling the wagons...
With international elites and their institutions facing populist criticism amid political and social change in the United States and Europe, the 24 directors of the fund decided that this was not the time to leave the I.M.F. rudderless.
Better to be steered by a criminal than to be left 'rudderless'...
Earlier on Monday, the Cour de Justice de la République, a French court that considers cases against government officials, found Ms. Lagarde guilty of criminal charges linked to the misuse of public funds when she was France’s finance minister nearly a decade ago. But the court did not impose a fine or a sentence.
In a statement, the directors of the I.M.F. said they had considered the court’s decisions and had “full confidence in the managing director’s ability to continue to effectively carry out her duties.”
Yet the verdict — with its potential to tarnish Ms. Lagarde as a leader — came at a critical juncture for the I.M.F. Founded and largely managed by Europeans and Americans, the fund oversees a global economy in which faster-growing countries like China are seeking a greater role.
They can have a greater role if they can fund it...
Ms. Lagarde is the fourth of the last six leaders to come from France, and the difficult time the I.M.F. has had in anticipating, as well as reacting to, the European debt crisis has caused some to wonder whether the time has come to appoint a non-European leader.
I hear Hillary isn't busy. The IMF knows graft almost as well as the Clinton Foundation...
I.M.F. doctrine, which advocates free trade and austerity for countries in financial difficulties, has been criticized as elitist and not sufficiently in tune with the populist movements sweeping the globe.
Supposedly elitist? With the people running it being who they are?
For now, the fund must confront more immediate challenges. With Britain leaving the European Union, Italy’s future in the eurozone perhaps in doubt and the possibility of global trade wars being set off by President-elect Donald J. Trump, some have said the steady, experienced hand of Ms. Lagarde was needed more than ever.
“She has been a very effective leader,” said Edwin M. Truman, a specialist in international finance formerly at the Federal Reserve and the United States Treasury. “Yes, there are big questions about the fund’s future. But for her to have to step down now — well, that would be complicated.”
Always is when someone big is convicted of a crime...
Jacob J. Lew, the Treasury secretary, expressed the Obama administration’s support for Ms. Lagarde, saying that “she is a strong leader of the I.M.F., and we have every confidence in her ability to guide the fund at a critical time for the global economy.”
For the Trump administration, “I don’t think this kind of ethical question is likely to be the highest priority,” Mr. Truman said. While the I.M.F. and other global institutions did not figure in the presidential debate, Mr. Trump repeatedly criticized a “global power structure” that fixed the economy against workers.
“At bottom, it’s all about French politics,” Mr. Truman said.
Members of the I.M.F. board were well aware that Ms. Lagarde was facing trial in her native France over allegations that occurred when she was the finance minister in the administration of Nicolas Sarkozy. The consensus among the directors was that Ms. Lagarde’s transgressions occurred when she was not at the fund — in contrast to those of her predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn — and since taking charge in 2011, she had proved to be a leader capable of presenting a softer side of the fund while fighting hard to bolster its legitimacy in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
More so than her predecessors, Ms. Lagarde has pushed the fund to be more aggressive in taking up the cause of women and focusing attention on growing issues of inequality around the world.
That makes it okay, you see...
Over the last year and a half, she has also led a forceful public critique of Europe’s refusal to offer Greece debt relief in return for the difficult economic changes the country has been making.
Nevertheless, while Ms. Lagarde may have retained the backing of her board for the moment, over the longer term, her French legal problems may have hurt her most valuable asset — her carefully constructed public persona.
“She was a breath of fresh air, someone representing true change from the past,” said Peter Doyle, a former economist at the fund and now an outspoken critic. “Now she is just another tainted European leader.”
Like many other tainted European leaders...
Those are tough words. But economists note that the fund’s core mission of requiring financially ailing countries to reform their economies and fight corruption demands credibility and reputation of the highest order. And that starts at the top, with its leader — especially one who is as widely known as Ms. Lagarde.
“It would be complacent if not delusional to say there will be no impact on the institution,” said Nicolas Véron, a specialist on international economics at the Bruegel Institute in Brussels. “The only question is how big is the impact — and how does it compare with the need for stability.”
Ms. Lagarde’s legal issues in France have dogged her work at the fund since she was appointed in 2011. She took over as managing director after Mr. Strauss-Kahn resigned following accusations that he sexually assaulted a maid in a New York City hotel.
The case against Ms. Lagarde centered on Bernard Tapie, a former entertainer and owner of Adidas who had previously been jailed on corruption charges. Mr. Tapie accused the lender Crédit Lyonnais, in which the French state had a stake at the time, of cheating him when it oversaw the sale of his share in the sportswear empire in 1993. Years of costly legal battles ensued.
The court did not fault Ms. Lagarde for approving the arbitration, but it ruled that she had been negligent for not appealing the decision. The court, noting that a judge had previously invalidated the payout of 400 million euros to Mr. Tapie in a 2015 ruling and that she had “national and international” stature, decided not to punish Ms. Lagarde and spared her a criminal record.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Ms. Lagarde’s lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, said he had a “mixed” reaction to the verdict.
“On the one hand, she is found responsible, but given the circumstances, given the responsibilities that Ms. Lagarde had at the time — in 2008, we were in a major economic crisis — the court decided that it would not sentence Ms. Lagarde to anything,” he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2016 00:00 ||
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A conviction doesn't mean shit if there's no jail time or a huge fine. She skated, pure and simple.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/20/2016 5:20 Comments ||
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From 1993 to 2008 there was a long legal battle between Tapie and the Crédit Lyonnais bank (partly state-owned bank). Crédit Lyonnais had
From 1993 to 2008 there was a long legal battle between Tapie and the Crédit Lyonnais bank (partly state-owned bank). Crédit Lyonnais had allegedly defrauded Tapie in 1993 and 1994 when it sold Adidas on his behalf to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, apparently by arranging a larger sale with Dreyfus without Tapie's knowledge.
In 2008 a special judicial panel ruled that Tapie should receive compensation of €404 million from the French Ministry of Finance, headed by Christine Lagarde. She decided not to challenge the ruling. On December 3, 2015 court ruled that Tapie should return this compensation with interest, following investigation into alleged abuse of power by Ms. Lagarde.[3] On December 19, 2016 Lagarde was convicted of negligence; however, the conviction was not deemed a criminal record.
Justin Trudeau has won acclaim from liberals around the world for his boyish good looks and his "woke bae" approach to being prime minister of Canada, a country that borders America.
Trudeau has sought to portray himself as a charming eccentric by, among other things, photobombing wedding pictures and taking his shirt off in caves, but what lurks below the surface? Something more sinister, perhaps? Seems to be a typical leftist pattern
The prime minister is no stranger to controversy. Trudeau caused an uproar earlier this year when he elbowed a female colleague in the chest on the floor of Parliament.
Trudeau also has something of a "shrinkage" problem on his hands. The Canadian economy is contracting. The feminist hunk PM also caused outrage by posting what was described as a "love letter" to Fidel Castro following the Cuban dictator's death. In his now notorious letter, Trudeau described the dead tyrant as a "remarkable leader" and "legendary revolutionary." Leftists love their leftist tyrants
Now according to a recent poll, public support for Trudeau's Liberal Party has plummeted nine points over the last month, as the prime minister has become embroiled in a series of "Clinton-style" political scandals.
Earlier this week, the prestigious National Post in Canada reported that donations to the wealthy Trudeau family's charitable foundation have surged since Trudeau became prime minister in 2015. The Trudeau Foundation received $731,000 in donations in 2016, compared to just $172,000 in 2014. The majority of recent donations came from foreign sources and companies lobbying the Canadian government for policy changes. Sound familiar? He was taking notes it seems
Trudeau officially stepped down from the foundation after becoming prime minister, but that didn't stop him from taking part in lavish fundraisers with corporate lobbyists on the foundation's behalf. The revelations have raised ethical concerns, as they may constitute a violation of the Liberal Party's bylaws. And most ethical behavior... but when has that stopped the left?
The prime ministers has dismissed allegations of wrongdoing, and recently gave a Clintonesque response to the mounting concern over his foundation-related activities. "No matter where I am or who I am talking to I always talk about the same thing: The fact that our priorities are to create economic growth for the middle class," Trudeau said on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday. Translation, "I want the middle class to think they are better off so I can rob them blind, get rich and buy votes from the poor."
#3
For the current batch of public school and university graduates, g(r)om.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/20/2016 10:30 Comments ||
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#4
Hard to be a hunk when you have a shrinkage problem.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/20/2016 12:03 Comments ||
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#5
A talented Chelsea Clinton.
Unfortunately, this has been going on for a while. Back when I was in college, some buddies and I were kicking back a weekend playing some Axis & Allies when some gals we knew stopped in. "Who are you?" one asked. "Russia" I answered.
#6
It occurs to me that as financial pressures increase on the MSM increase, Leftist journo will have decreasing latitude to parasite their political views onto the news.
#7
swksvolFF, when I was working in Cambridge, Massachusetts I was showing some fall foliage pictures of the mountains in Tennessee. One young woman asked where the pictures were taken and I told her Tennessee. She said, "I thought New England was the only place the leaves changed color in the Fall". I have found people like that all over the US.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/20/2016 15:58 Comments ||
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[WASHINGTONPOST] Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... clinched the presidency Monday as members of the electoral college cast ballots declaring him the victor, a perfunctory conclusion to the most stunning presidential contest in modern history.
Trump became the winner Monday afternoon after electors from Texas cast ballots and put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Results will be officially announced Jan. 6 in a special joint session of Congress.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Pearl Snomong2830 ||
12/20/2016 1:30 Comments ||
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Ironically, more electors "voted their conscience" and did not vote for Hillary than Trump. According to Real Clear Politics, four electors from Washington State voted for someone other than Hildabeast. Trumpster only had one.
#4
Now all we have to deal with is anarchist and destructive behaviors from the dems, their paid operatives, and a bunch of immature, whining spoiled adult children throwing tantrums.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2016 14:05 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The International Monetary Fund threw its support behind its leader, Christine Lagarde, on Monday despite her conviction in a French court on charges of misusing public funds.
Justin Trudeau has won acclaim from liberals around the world for his boyish good looks and his "woke bae" approach to being prime minister of Canada, a country that borders America.
[WASHINGTONPOST] 
