Why the ‘Global South’ isn’t running the IMF, a truly disgusting piece by the Financial Times.

If there’s one song the purported voices of the self-styled “Global South” all like to sing, it’s that overbearing rich countries unjustly dominate international finance in general and the IMF in particular. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil this year denounced the fund for “asphyxiating” economies with its tough lending conditions, somewhat ignoring the IMF rescue that saved his country from sovereign bankruptcy in 2002 during his first presidency. More concretely, the Brics summit in August called for more representation at the fund for low and middle-income countries.

But this is a trickier issue than it looks. The debate over who should run the IMF — which holds its annual meetings in Marrakech next week — exposes deep flaws in the idea that developing countries have a common interest and identity.

Certainly, rich countries are over-represented on the fund’s board. The EU and other advanced European economies have around a third of the “quotas” that determine voting power but less than a quarter of global gross domestic product. The convention that the fund’s managing director is always European is also ridiculously outdated and sometimes farcical. One, the Spaniard Rodrigo de Rato, ended up jailed for embezzlement; another, the Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn, blew up his career in a succession of sex scandals. It’s also fair to argue that the IMF, especially during the 1980s and 1990s under pressure from the US Treasury, imposed excessive coercive deregulation on crisis-hit borrowers and was widely perceived as a debt collector for rich countries and investors.

A review of IMF quotas is currently under way, and it seems fair and geopolitically astute for advanced economies to cede some voting power. But in reality that would open up divisions between emerging markets — and in particular present China with a serious dilemma about its role in the global financial safety net that protects developing countries from crisis. A reshuffling of power in the IMF according to current economic heft would reveal a familiar lopsidedness — the disproportionate role of China in the rise of emerging economies. An admittedly mechanical exercise in updating quotas according to the latest data on GDP, economic openness, variability and currency reserves would increase China’s voting share from 6.4 per cent to 14.1 per cent, while the US’s quota would fall from 17.4 per cent to 14.8 per cent and advanced Europe’s from around 32 per cent to 29 per cent.

The current US administration, unsurprisingly, wants to increase the IMF’s overall lending firepower without changing the current voting weights. India, the second-ranked EM, would rise to just 3.5 per cent of total quota. Some middle-income countries, including Brazil and Mexico, would actually see their share fall.

Take a deep breath, because here it comes...

But with power should come responsibility. In recent years China, a major bilateral lender to developing countries, has prolonged the suffering of debt defaulters such as Sri Lanka and Suriname by refusing to participate in creditor committees backed by the IMF, holding back rescue lending programmes and attracting criticism from the US.

The fund correctly shifted tack around 20 years ago and became much more willing to press sovereign debt restructuring on reluctant private and public creditors. But China disingenuously portrays its loans as assistance from one developing country to another and resists writedowns. This is absurd and unjust. Beijing cannot credibly be a custodian of a multilateral institution while simultaneously undermining it with a vast opaque parallel system of bilateral lending.

Overall, China is an opportunistic multilateralist that participates enthusiastically in institutions it can influence (the Brics and parts of the UN system) and disengages from those it cannot (the G20). There is no guarantee it wants to play a constructive role in the IMF.

Now, it’s true that US criticism of Chinese unilateralism in economic governance looks like rank hypocrisy. America itself acts unilaterally all over the place, imposing financial sanctions on its foes and undermining the WTO by openly defying international trade law. But the IMF performs an invaluable role and is one place where the US generally operates at least in the vicinity of multilateral principles. It would be wise to keep it that way.

Holy fucking shit. Oh my god.

On top of China’s conflicted interests, political rivalries between EMs also hold up a shift of power at the IMF. One reason Europe keeps a lock on the fund’s leadership, for example, is that developing countries have never united around a rival candidate.

As a strategic adversary of China, India is notably suspicious of Chinese influence. Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University in the US, says: “India in particular has been wary of quota reforms because its share relative to that of China would shrink.” A lack of consensus for change means the current review will probably end in the US getting its way and the voting shares remaining unchanged.

That’s not the best outcome, but it’s the only one that can command consensus. The rich countries have undoubtedly made mistakes, sometimes big ones, in running the IMF. But it’s not just their defence of that historic privilege that holds back reform. The rivalries and conflicting interests among emerging markets play an important part, too.

A Senior U.S. Defense Official has stated that they believe an Israeli Ground Invasion of the Gaza Strip will likely begin sometime in the next 48-72 Hours.

Also

Israel has formerly requested ammunition from the US, expecting a need for it on the northern border.

Not sure how much ammunition the US has left lmao.

Palestinian paraglider resistance fighter flying below a missile salvo.

The only thing that will suck if Palestine is liberated will be Netanyahu setting up a government in exile on Long Island

Palestinian resistance reports 600 dead settlers now.

There are claims by Twitter accounts (unsure if true) that the Gazans are only 10km from the West Bank; this would effectively split Israel in two halves.

Drones being fired into Israel from Gaza.

Ok so I'm drunk in a bar like however many hours from home with my partner and I have been touching grass and there's fox news on and wait WHAT the fuck is going on? Hamas doing it?

If I say what i want to say about these American politicians my house will get firebombed

Roof knock in Gaza caught live on Al Jazeera: https://streamable.com/49a0e7

EDIT: And the following destruction of the same building: https://streamable.com/w85ymg

Benjamin Netanyahu is my good friend

What are the implications of Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Syria declaring war? Would that result in the US sending in troops to defend Israel? And also what happens if Israel gets pressed? The fact that they have nuclear weapons makes that situation seem unprecedented and extremely dangerous.

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231007-turkey-launches-fresh-strikes-on-syria-in-retaliation-for-ankara-suicide-bombing

America shot down a Turkish drone in Syria with an F16. The Turkish drone was targeting kurdish positions, apparently in retaliation for a PKK attack in Ankara recently. 2 NATO members have turned on each other? Why did America destroy a Turkish drone above Syria? One of their old kurd buds call in and ask desperately, and pentagon felt bad?

This is unprecedented though. I don't think America has ever attacked Turkey in Syria on purpose before. Everything under the heavens is in utter chaos, the situation is excellent.

Rybar's map suggests that the Palestinians have successfully expanded their zone of control throughout the course of today.

CW: Covered bodies in top right of image.

Edit: Added spoiler warning to the image to Content Warning it.

🔻Eastern direction: ▪️In Ofakim, Palestinian recon groups are destroyed from time to time. There is no Palestinian control over the city. ▪️ Palestinian sources claim that the main forces have reached Highway 232. Previously, recon groups activity was reported in the settlements of Beeri and Reim located near this highway (after the IDF announced a clean-up operation, which, apparently, did not give a sustainable result). ▪️ Neither side has stable control over the section from Kifushima to Ofakim.

🔻South direction: The Palestinians launched an assault on Ami'oz, expanding their zone of control in the south. Fighting continues in Tkuma and Be'eri, where militants managed to take several Israelis hostage.

🔻West Bank: At 18.00, the Palestinians began storming the checkpoint and security posts. The geography of battles will greatly expand in the coming hours.

🔻Lebanese direction: ▪️Hezbollah has so far been marked by loud slogans and sporadic shelling. The Israelis returned fire and deliberately pulled their tanks to the border for show. ▪️ Evacuations are being carried out in border villages in the north.

Extremely good interview from CNN out of all places where a Palestinian tells it like it is.

Fighting is occurring in northern Israel/Lebanon, exact location unknown. This is either Hezbollah, or groups within Hezbollah decided to act on their own.

Artillery forces of the IDF are now attacking with artillery fire the area in Lebanon from which shooting was carried out a few minutes ago into Israeli territory.

The IDF is prepared for all scenarios, and will continue to protect the security of the residents of the State of Israel

https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1710874008319561786

This news source suggests Har Dov: https://twitter.com/N12News/status/1710872629039476769

Succdems gonna suck. Danish PM and leader of the succdem party Mette Frederiksen have her address at the opening of parliament today. There she made a bizarre attempt at having her cake and eating it by claiming that the government had more money to spend than ever before but that austerity measures against health- and elder care, education and climate measures are necessary because inflation limits "how much activity we can unleash next year". Apparently her right-wing government's policy of head over heels military buildup does not affect inflation.

She then went on to talk about the public schools that are in bad shape due to austerity, understaffing and being tasked with "including" special needs students without receiving the necessary resources to do so. To nobody's surprise she didn't think the real problem was lack of funding. Rather, it was "too many abstract goals", a nationwide digital communication platform leading to a lack of respect for teachers and too much academic focus that is to blame. The solution is to do more "practical" subjects in schools and introduce "apprenticeships" for the more "practical" students who gets to have their school week cut down to three days allowing them to work for an employer to learn "practical" skills the remaining two.

White Atlantic Fascist Organization

the nakba is putinist propaganda. not because it didn't happen, but because signal boosting it serves putin. i don't make the rules.

jesus christ what did I just wake up to

USAF landed at Ben Gurion Airport

EDIT, this just got reported, low potential for US casualties:

Al-Qassam Brigades bombed the Ben Gurion Airport with a missile barrage in response to the continuing crimes and targeting of civilian homes.

Twitter crank attributes the success of the operation to I shit you not, Huawei phones lmao

Israel is already begging for more missiles, but wapo says don't worry this doesn't mean that it is running out.

Wapo: https://archive.ph/HZm4Q

Israel’s request for Iron Dome interceptors — ground-to-air missiles that target incoming rockets — is a precautionary step in anticipation of future bombardments and not an indication that it is running low on a missile defense tool that has been key to shielding Israeli citizens from incoming fire, U.S. officials said.

Financial Times:

Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel faced a “long and difficult war”, as its planes struck targets in the Gaza Strip overnight in the wake of an unprecedented multi-pronged attack by Hamas militants that stunned the country.

More than 200 Israelis were killed on Saturday and more than 1,200 were injured after hundreds of Hamas militants on paragliders, motorbikes and boats stormed into the country from Gaza in a surprise attack that inflicted Israel’s worst death toll in decades.

Israeli officials said that Hamas had attacked dozens of communities in southern Israel, and managed to take a “significant” number of Israelis hostage and take them back to Gaza.

This comment by u/Alaskaball got me thinking that the US/NATO are fucking lucky that MAD existed, because if not the Red Army would've tore the west a new asshole

And there are weeks when centuries happen