IMF Admits Its Policies Seldom Work

This article about the IMF is several years old, published in March of 2003 by the Telegraph of the UK. It remains nevertheless relevant today as global financial managers such as officials of the IMF and central bankers like our own Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke continue to struggle with a global economic collapse unlike any we've witnessed since the 1930s.

In his book Conquer the Crash, originally published in 2002 and since updated, financial and market analyst Robert Prechter makes a compelling argument against the efficacy of interventions by agencies such as the IMF and central banks. Prechter dismisses this as what he terms the potent directors fallacy, a false belief that central bankers and governments possess the power to steer economic conditions.

I've been reading Prechter's publications since 1987 and I'm convinced he's right about this. The once praised Fed of the Greenspan era is today coming under fire. Compounding matters, the Fed has been highly reluctant to open its books. Why? What is there to hide if they are serving the public?

The fates of the IMF, the Fed, and central banks in general hang in the balance. The next few years will prove enlightening.