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The IMF Doesn’t Deserve a Capital Boost

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For more than four decades, the U.S. has been the largest contributor to not only the IMF but also to all of the other multilateral-aid institutions, such as the World Bank. Indeed, Washington even provides the largest check to the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Has the IMF contributed to economic growth and development? The answer is no. Not that the IMF itself has any doubts about its effectiveness. In the fall of 1989, Michael Camdessus, the Fund's managing director, told the World Bank-IMF meeting that increasing his organization's capital from $120 billion to $240 billion would be "the cheapest way for taxpayers in the richer countries to come to the aid of the poor." ("Tough-minded, budget-conscious" Treasury Department negotiators agreed ...

Repealing, Not Reforming, Social Security, Part 2

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What, then, do we do about Social Security? There are three general alternatives. The first is to tinker, while keeping Social Security essentially as it is. The second is to privatize the system by paying off current retirees and mandating private retirement contributions. The third is to simply repeal Social Security. First, tinkering with the Titanic. Most establishment defenders of Social Security advocate some combination of higher taxes and lower benefits. One could raise the retirement age (currently set to go to 67 in the year 2027), adjust the Consumer Price Index (which some economists argue overstates the cost of living by .5% to 1.5% a year), abolish early retirement (now available at age 62), or reduce benefits (cap the cost of living adjustment, for instance). Alternatively (or simultaneously), one could hike taxes, either raising the FICA levy or increasing income taxes on Social Security benefits (currently half ...

U.S. Foreign Policy Caused the Taliban Problem

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U.S. officials are now concerned not only with a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan but also a Taliban takeover in Pakistan. These problems, however, were caused by the U.S. Empire itself. While most Americans now view President Bush’s Iraq War as a “bad war,” the common perception is that Bush’s invasion of Afghanistan was a “good war” (despite the fact that he went to war without the constitutionally required congressional declaration of war). The notion is that the U.S. government was justified in invading Afghanistan and ousting the Taliban regime from power because the Taliban and al-Qaeda conspired to commit the 9/11 attacks. There’s just one big problem with that belief: it’s unfounded. The reason that Bush ousted the Taliban from office was that the Taliban regime refused to comply with ...