Sachs' position on the IMF, reported in the Financial Times, is perhaps
not so curious given the amount of money invested in Asia that might be
lost (on top of the massive sums already lost) if the IMF imposes
austerity plans and slows growth. The interests of the bankers involved in
making loans, and the interests of the manufacturers involved in direct
investment, as well as investors in the markets, are not the same. What
seems curious is that Sachs has been so identified with the IMF in the
past. Asia, though, "The Tigers," were supposed to be different. Sachs
apparently maintains that they still are.
Richard Hutchinson