The arrest of the IMF Director General has spurred hostilities among the global power elites [1].
This time, it goes beyond a mere fencing bout regarding economic doctrines, or States vying for a better representation within the institution. There is an existential crisis afoot which has been rapidly spreading throughout the system, splitting it into two irremediably opposed camps.
On one side, there are those who are bent on rescuing the United States from bankruptcy; on the other, those who prefer to bail out the banks. In one camp, we find those who feel that the number one world power ought to summon all energies so as to solve its problems; in the other, those who believe that capital has no country that the future belongs to the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China).
In this context, Christine Lagarde’s candidature for the IMF top position represents a desperate attempt to keep the dollar’s reserve currency status regardless of the consequences for world peace, while that of Stanley Fischer points to London’s willingness to forsake its special relationship with Washington, to put its chips on the BRICs and to chaperone the dollar’s downward spiraling.
Mr. Fischer embodies an original vision which shifts traditional boundary lines. The reserve currency issue would be put in abeyance against a compartmentalization of the financial system to prevent the probable collapse of the United States from infecting the rest of the world.
The time for pleasantries is over; the “civil war of the elites” has begun.
During the somber period that lies ahead, most of the players on the world financial stage will suffer losses, starting with those who were slow in finding their bearings, followed by those who bet on the wrong horse. Many political figures with ties to Wall Street and the City, to Goldman Sachs and HSBC, will have to choose sides and sacrifice part of their interests.
1) “Obama, financial war and the elimination of DSK”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 28 May 2011.
Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network