Medicine Redux

clipped from pajamasmedia.com In 1998, Geithner was the Under-Secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers, who is now President Barack Obama’s head of the National Economic Council, was the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and I, who now work for the UN, Adelaide University and a consultancy firm, was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia. That year we all met in Washington. I was worried. Indonesia’s economy was tanking and the country sought help from the International Monetary Fund. The trouble was, the IMF’s medicine was so drastic I feared it would cause total collapse of Indonesia’s economy and cause political and social chaos on our doorstep. Downer says the same men are now in Washington. He continues: Today, Geithner’s the economic boss man in Washington and Summer’s once more calling many of the shots. But this time I’m a spectator. If I wasn’t, I’d fly to Washington again and this time tell them they’re endangering not just Indonesia but the U.S. itself.