Trading 8s » Jonah Lehrer

What to Read on Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Anthony W. Orlando — Sat, 21 May 2011 17:52:54 +0000

Psychologists refer to this as the paradox of power. The very traits that helped leaders accumulate control in the first place all but disappear once they rise to power. Instead of being polite, honest and outgoing, they become impulsive, reckless and rude. According to psychologists, one of the main problems with authority is that it makes us less sympathetic to the concerns and emotions of others. For instance, several studies have found that people in positions of authority are more likely to rely on stereotypes and generalizations when judging other people.

In the IMF Succession Battle, a Stench of Colonialism — Moises Naim

…only a European can become the new managing director of the IMF, an institution owned by 187 member nations. This arrangement…effectively discriminates against 93 percent of humanity…

Influential European columnists such as Martin Wolf and Wolfgang Munchau have argued in the Financial Times that given the IMF’s critical role in the rescue of the continent’s troubled economies, only someone with vast political contacts in the region can operate effectively there.

Funny how such consideration never seemed to come up when Asia and Latin America had their own financial crises in the 1990s.

The IMF: Violating Women since 1945 — Christine Ahn & Kavita Ramdas

IMF-mandated government cutbacks in social welfare spending have often been achieved by cutting public sector jobs, which disproportionately impact women. Also, as social programs like caregiving are slashed, women are expected to take on additional domestic responsibilities that further limit their access to education or other jobs.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), IMF loans have paved the way for the privatization of the country’s mines by transnational corporations and local elites, which has forcibly displaced thousands of Congolese people in a context where women and girls experience obscenely high levels of sexual slavery and rape in the eastern provinces.

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