Here's a story in the Washington Post about a groundswell of support in NY-DC for a particular non-European candidate to head the IMF that is pretty funny if you Get The Joke. (But who does, these days?)
See, since the post-WWII era, America and Europe have had a deal: the head of the World Bank is always an American and the head of the International Monetary Fund is always a European. For example, the current head of the World Bank is Robert Zoellick, and the previous one was Paul Wolfowitz. The only possible exception to this rule was the World bank leader before Wolfowitz, Sir James Wolfensohn. He became an American citizen in 1980 to be eligible for the job, but went back to Australian citizenship in 2010.
Not surprisingly, American interests have been hinting that what with the European IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn getting caught raping Third Worlders not just metaphorically, but literally, it's time to break this outdated European monopoly on the IMF. This doesn't have anything to do with America trying to take power away from Europe. It's all about diversity and social justice!
In fact, Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal have come up with the perfect diversity candidate. He's African by birth (in what's now Zambia, although it was called something very different then), Asian by current employment, and he apparently holds citizenships in both the New World (well, to be precise, the U.S.) and the Old World (you'll never, ever guess where).
In fact, Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal have come up with the perfect diversity candidate. He's African by birth (in what's now Zambia, although it was called something very different then), Asian by current employment, and he apparently holds citizenships in both the New World (well, to be precise, the U.S.) and the Old World (you'll never, ever guess where).
You can read all about the New York financial press's diversity fusion candidate here.
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41 comments:
You heard it here first!
"As long as we're day dreaming about getting Israel's PM to run for president here, can we figure out a way to get Israel's Rhodesian-born central bank governor Stanley Fischer to become our next Fed chairman? Like Netanyahu, he spent time at MIT (but as a professor)."
Darn! I thought this guy had the winning resume:
"Educated at international schools in Nairobi, he moved to the U.S. after high school, where he earned physics degrees from Stanford and Brown as well as an executive M.B.A. from Emory University. After working in marketing at telecommunications-equipment maker Nortel Networks in Atlanta, he moved to China. Since 2002, he has taught English and worked as a business consultant in Shenzhen, a 14 million–strong metropolis in southern China, just across the border from Hong Kong."
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo--one of the president's half brothers.
He "influenced Ben S. Bernanke"?
Next!
im sorry but i dont quite get what you are trying to say
Since mankind originated in Africa, aren't we all Africans?
OT.
Has anyone read David Brooks' entire piece on Buckley in his college paper?
http://books.google.com/books?id=ozG0g1ynEWUC&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=%22david+brooks%22+%22buckley+buckley%22+%22national+buckley%22+%22buckley+review%22&source=bl&ots=wnHW3LH01k&sig=0tCDu0V_H3EFABpCd7um4LOK2X0&hl=en&ei=SXHgTeC4FMHf0QGcyPC7Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22david%20brooks%22%20%22buckley%20buckley%22%20%22national%20buckley%22%20%22buckley%20review%22&f=false
"the European IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn getting caught raping Third Worlders not just metaphorically, but literally,"
LOL, in a better world, you'd be feted around the global.
Ahh - American Jews, European Jews, and African Jews. Diversity at its best!
FWIW, according to Wikipedia another one of the candidates mentioned for the job, Kemal Dervis of Turkey, is also Jewish.
i'm sorry but i dont quite get what you are trying to say
LOL
...i hope that was a joke
It's getting pretty hard to avoid the reality of this...
im sorry but i dont quite get what you are trying to say
Steve likes to play mind game with his readers. I am not really sure what he is trying to say either, but having worked in the banking sector for the past 22 years, I can tell you that I am not surprised about WSJ’s excitement about Fischer. None-Jews simply don't make it to the top echelon of the banking sector anymore.
Jews are to the banking world, what blacks are to the NBA. The top draft list for the IMF will contain mostly all Jewish names. They might throw a few none-Jews in there for the sake of diversity, but having a none-Jew head a banking organization would be considered insanity in the mind of many people in this business.
"Since mankind originated in Africa, aren't we all Africans?"
Stellar logic. Since vertebrates originated in the ocean, aren't we all fish? Since multicellular organisms originated as unicellular organisms, aren't we all amoebas?
"Since mankind originated in Africa, aren't we all Africans?"
Since it's "mankind," aren't we all men?
"LOL, in a better world, you'd be feted around the global."
He's big in Finland.
Jews are awesome. I love how much they piss off the commenters here.
"It's getting pretty hard to avoid the reality of this..."
There is no need to avoid. History keeps on rolling.
In defense of Fischer, he seems like the most qualified man in the world to run the organization. This is from the Wikipedia page Steve linked to:
"Under his management, in 2010, The Bank of Israel was ranked first among central banks for its efficient functioning, according to IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook.[3]"
IMD, based in Switzerland, is one of the most prestigious business schools in the world.
"Fischer has earned plaudits across the board for his handling of the Israeli economy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. In September 2009, the Bank of Israel was the first bank in the developed world to raise its interest rates.[4]"
Complete opposite of Ben Bernanke by being the first to raise rates. That's partly due to Israel's economy emerging from the financial crisis a lot healthier than ours -- there were no NINJA mortgages in Israel -- but the stability of Fischer's monetary policy is one of the reasons why Israel's economy is healthier.
"In 2009 and 2010, Fischer received an "A" rating on the Central Banker Report Card published by Global Finance magazine.[5][6]"
"In October 2010, Fischer was declared Central Bank Governor of the Year by Euromoney magazine."
'Nuff said. Fischer may not have the political or diplomatic smoothness of a Christine Lagarde or a DSK (who seems a little less smooth today), but if you want a first rate technocrat to lead the IMF, tell me who seems more qualified?
Well at least he doesn't look like he'd rape anyone!
Remember this Time cover:
http://www.globaldashboard.org/wp-content/uploads/time_1999.jpg
"Under his management, in 2010, The Bank of Israel was ranked first among central banks for its efficient functioning, according to IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook.[3]"
"In 2009 and 2010, Fischer received an "A" rating on the Central Banker Report Card published by Global Finance magazine.[5][6]"
"In October 2010, Fischer was declared Central Bank Governor of the Year by Euromoney magazine."
Accolades from other insiders are meaningless.
Prizes for objective accomplishment signal genuine ability and achievement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_prize
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orteig_Prize
Good lord, not another Finn.
Fred said...
You heard it here first!
Sorry!
Zoellick's a Lutheran. He looks a lot like the fine character actor William H. Macy (the car dealer in "Fargo").
Seems like an appropriate candidate. He's apparently had a life-long interest in money.
Jews are to the banking world, what blacks are to the NBA. The top draft list for the IMF will contain mostly all Jewish names.
No they are more like an NBA 'team' that tells other teams to not play as a team and that its bad to be a team.
"Under his management, in 2010, The Bank of Israel was ranked first among central banks for its efficient functioning, according to IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook.[3]"
How many people live in Israel again?
Running a central bank in a small country of ca. 8 million is much easier than managing one in a country of 310 million, or even 60 million.
From what I can tell, 2 of the 11 managing directors of the IMF have been Jewish - Camille Gutt, the first, and Strauss-Kahn. The current acting head, John Lipsky, is also Jewish.
Meanwhile, at least 4 of the 11 heads of the World Bank have been Jewish: Eugene Meyer (1946), George Woods (1963-68), James Wolfensohn (1995-2005) and Paul Wolfowitz (2005-07).
The heads of these organizations aren't necessarily bankers, or even financiers of any sort. Eugene Meyer was a newspaper publisher, while Wolfowitz has spent his entire career in politics.
"Zoellick's a Lutheran. He looks a lot like the fine character actor William H. Macy (the car dealer in "Fargo")."
Zoellick looks like the chief neo-Nazi in a bad Hollywood movie - wiry, angular, and yet a little effeminate. Die that hair black and trim the mustache and he could do a passable impression of Hitler.
Disparate impact for thee but not for me.
Zoellick?
Who's Zoellick? What are we talking about? The first mention of Zoellick is "Zoellick's a Lutheran," which implies that he was previously mentioned, but searching the page, I can't find him...
"Under his management, in 2010, The Bank of Israel was ranked first among central banks for its efficient functioning, according to IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook.[3]"
Don't poop where you sleep.
From Wikipedia:
Today, Zimbabwe, once considered the breadbasket of Africa, is a net importer of foodstuffs, with the European Union and United States providing emergency food relief as humanitarian aid on a regular basis.[50] Part of the issue is due to a marked decrease in agricultural production as fertile farmland once cultivated by trained white farmers has been forcibly relocated to black former combatants, who are untrained in agricultural land management, as compensation for military service. In such cases, production usually falls to less than half of its estimated capacity and fertile land lies fallow due to neglect. Not only is production reduced, but the jobs associated with operating a viable enterprise are lost. The Zimbabwe government blame the crippling sanctions imposed by the Western governments to force a regime change, for the failures in the economy. Recently the agriculture sector has started to do well since the availability of inputs and machine has improved supported mainly by China.
Yep.
"i'm sorry but i dont quite get what you are trying to say"
"LOL ...i hope that was a joke"
Either that or he/she is the joke.
"Zoellick's a Lutheran."
I would look into his ancestry.
Should't IMF stand for "I'm a Maid Fuc*er"?
Doubtless the anti-anti-Semites are incensed that anyone dare question the appointment of yet another Jew to yet another prominent role in the world financial system - though at this point it looks like the non-Jewish Lagarde has the inside shot.
FWIW, I wouldn't have much of a problem with another Jewish appointment to the post, except for the fact that I, as a white man of British descent, have been hearing for my entire life that we white men (and WASPs especially) have disproportionate power and need to step aside and make room in the halls of power for more women and minorities.
But when yet another Jew gets nominated to the Supreme Court, or the Federal Reserve board, or the president's cabinet, or any other position of note, we are not supposed to question the fact that Jews are vastly overrepresented in such places out of all proportion to their numbers.
During the debate over the Kagan nomination I heard Jews defend her on the basis of the fact that she was a "minority," nevermind that in no real sense did she add diversity to that institution - another Jew, another New Yorker, another Harvard Law grad, and, perhaps, another unmarried, childless, lesbian. But black men living in public housing in Detroit are supposed to be absolutely thrilled that yet another "minority" has been appointed to the Court, because she's just like them.
Jews - even those who purport to be Republicans, like David Brooks and Bill Kristol - are all on board with the pro-quota, pro-affirmative action, pro-"diversity" agenda - so long as it doesn't affect themselves.
As a very wise man once said: f#$% that shit. Sauce for the goose...
I think the correct term is "Afro-Asiatic."
I guess all that matters is that he's Jewish.
"For example, the current head of the World Bank is Robert Zoellick, and the previous one was Paul Wolfowitz."
Original post. Happy to help, champ. Ctrl + F is your friend.
Reminds me of an old joke:
Gringo: Do you have Jews in Mexico?
Mexican: O chure. We have orange juice, apple juice, grape juice...
Or the bit in Coming to America, where Arsenio says (discussing where in America they should look for Eddie Murphy's bride-to-be), "but the land is so big, the choices so vast; where shall we go? Los Angeles, or New York?"
Or that joke in The Blues Brothers:
BB: What kind of music you play here?
Hayseed: Oh, we got both kinds - country and western.
Jews are awesome. I love how much they piss off the commenters here.
Indeed. Chutzpah ("eff it, might as well hang a lamp on it at this point") is so fresh, so new.
Well, technically according Census Bureau criteria he is African-born and Asian in nationality, the IMF may have cracked how to game the diversity racket.
Robert Zoellick is German-American, as is Paul Volcker and Tim Geithner. When people see a guy with a German name in a finance-related position, they assume he's Jewish, but this assumption is often wrong. The head of the New York Stock Exchange is also German-American. In a country (the United States) where Germans have long been the biggest ethnic group, people often forget that they exist.
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