Comments Sorted by oldest first | Sort by newest first Report dk_basu2001 | May 31 4:36am | Permalink "For at least two

decades, the US has been unable to provide monetary stability, financial regulation and fiscal rectitude". This statement needs slight modification- "For the last four decades (after the Breton Woods agreement was dishonoured), the US has been able to create monetary instability, financial deregulation and fiscal profligacy, not only in their own country, but was ably successful in exporting these to other countries, mainly European and in creating "a financial system that has become increasingly unstable, unfair and beyond the law". Report FOTEINI GEORGIOU | May 31 6:03am | Permalink But first we need to agree that we do want a new more stable, better regulated, better supervised (by the IMF?) global financial and monetary system, don't we? Report ingridsrinath | May 31 7:10am | Permalink As likely as a turkey redefining the christmas menu, methinks. Report a greek | May 31 9:40am | Permalink This article reminds me of a story my grandmother used to narrate to me in my very early years. The very short version goes like this: The mice decided that the best solution to solve the Cat Problem was to have a bell hang around the Cat's neck. Once this was done, if the cat approached with malicious intent, the bell would give clear and ample warning to the cuddly mice. A very elegant solution indeed. Alas, the only catch was, that no mice dared approach the cat with its sharp claws to hang the bell. The moral of the story, as granny ended, is that the world is full of good ideas, some of them really brilliant ones. Implementing them is another story. The American cat may have grown a bit flabby after decades of extra high daily intake of calories, but its claws are sharp and getting sharper by the day. History teaches that Empires do not abdicate their dominance, even when their relative decline causes real pain to the rest of the world. It will take a colossal fight to persuade America to resign from the immense benefits of the dollar being the currency of the World Trade. And up to now, and for the near future, nobody has claws big enough and sharp enough to take on the aging Cat. Report marusemi | May 31 11:01am | Permalink Surely Jeff Sachs isn't campaigning for the post? Is he? By suggesting that the challenge is a technical one of design rather than a political one of achieving consensus around an appropriate model, he immediately disqualifies himself! Report Ernesto Abella | May 31 3:29pm | Permalink "We need a managing director with monetary expertise, and the vision and capacity to guide a crucial process of global change." And what would be the contours of this "global change", what would it look like? And does Mr. Sachs have a short list of possible managing directors?