Christine Lagarde has been one of the best changes at the IMF in a long time. She's smart and no-nonsense and has not bought into the more typical world view within the political class that the bankers need to still call the shots. Lagarde is now warning countries that there needs to be a lot more cooperation if we're going to get through this crisis. Storming out of meetings might be one example of being counter-productive, which will only make the situation worse. The Guardian:
Speaking at the State Department in Washington, Lagarde said: "There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super-advanced economies, that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding but escalating. "It is not a crisis that will be resolved by one group of countries taking action. It is going to be hopefully resolved by all countries, all regions, all categories of countries actually taking some action." Lagarde said that the scale of the eurozone crisis, and its implications for other countries, meant that Europe's governments could not tackle it alone. "It is going to require efforts, it is going to require adjustment; and clearly it is going to have to start from the core of the crisis at the moment, which is obviously the European countries, and in particular the countries of the eurozone," Lagarde said.
