Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tiger Woods mistresses count goes up: Tiger Woods mother in law discharged from hospital
Tiger Woods mistresses count goes up: Tiger Woods mother in law discharged from hospitalDecember 8: Tiger Woods mistresses count goes up: Tiger Woods mother in law discharged from hospital. Swedish newspapers are agog with news that Tiger Woods wife who has left Tiger Woods house bought a two million dollar castle in Sweden with a plan to shift to her native country from the US.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Rachel Uchitel, Kalika Moquin pictures, Tiger Woods affairs voicemail and Tiger Woods text messages
Rachel Uchitel, Kalika Moquin pictures, Tiger Woods affairs voicemail and Tiger Woods text messagesRachel Uchitel, Kalika Moquin pictures, Tiger Woods affairs voicemail and Tiger Woods text messages
Tiger Woods Affairs Voicemail
Tiger Woods Affairs VoicemailIt was exactly as if a chef has put extra salt in the curry and is now trying this and that in a hurry to correct the quantity. Tiger Woods Affairs Voicemail allegedly reveals him begging Jaimee grubbs to remove her name from her voicemail greetings. Tiger Woods asks Jaimee to do him a huge favor to remove her name; as his wife Elin Nordegren
Meredith Baxter Birney
Meredith Baxter BirneyMeredith Baxter’s interview on “Today” show was shocking and totally opposite to her image as TV Mom. Her full name has been Meredith Baxter Birney but she no longer uses Birney with her name after being separated with the actor David Birney. The interview started with Matt asking her about what
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Kylie Bisutti crowned Victoria’s Secret’s newest angel (photos)
Kylie Bisutti crowned Victoria’s Secret’s newest angel (photos)The 5’10? beauty walked down the runway together with supermodels Miranda Kerr, Marisa Miller and Selita Ebanks, earning her a spot on the VS roster after a nationwide vote won her the contest.
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods car crash story and Tiger Woods girlfriend Joanna
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods car crash story and Tiger Woods girlfriend JoannaDecember 2: Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods car crash story and Tiger Woods girlfriend Joanna. With Tiger Woods eluding media and the law enforcement
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods car crash story and Tiger Woods girlfriend Joanna
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods car crash story and Tiger Woods girlfriend JoannaDecember 2: Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods car crash story and Tiger Woods girlfriend Joanna. With Tiger Woods eluding media and the law enforcemen
Why the Tiger Woods car crash is a big deal (photos, videos, slideshow)
Why the Tiger Woods car crash is a big deal (photos, videos, slideshow)You may be asking yourself why the Tiger Woods car crash is a big deal. After all, countless people are involved in minor car accidents and fender benders every day, these stories rarely make the news, let alone garner the worldwide attention given Tiger Woods’ November 27,
Joanna Jagoda PHOTOS – Tiger Woods Ex Girlfriend!
Joanna Jagoda PHOTOS – Tiger Woods Ex Girlfriend!PHOTOS! Here are pictures of Tiger Woods’ ex girlfriend Joanna. Joanna Jagoda pictures are sparking Tiger Woods fan curiosity Tuesday as the net asks how did Elin Nordegren win over Tiger Woods, and whatever happened to Tiger and Joanna?
Tiger Woods accident update: Did Elin Nordegren beat him and tiger woods news conference canceled
Tiger Woods accident update: Did Elin Nordegren beat him and tiger woods news conference canceledTiger Woods accident update: Did Elin Nordegren beat him and tiger woods news conference canceled
Tiger Woods car crash breaks down his wall of privacy
Tiger Woods car crash breaks down his wall of privacy Tiger Woods car crash has upended one of the most carefully scripted lives in sports.
On the golf course, Mr. Woods is equipped to handle whatever the minds of course designers can devise. Of late, they have taken to designing courses specifically for him, attempting vainly by the demands of pitch and fade to discomfit a man who stalks the links like a predator atop the food chain.
On the golf course, Mr. Woods is equipped to handle whatever the minds of course designers can devise. Of late, they have taken to designing courses specifically for him, attempting vainly by the demands of pitch and fade to discomfit a man who stalks the links like a predator atop the food chain.
Florida DE Carlos Dunlap charged with DUI four days before SEC title game
Florida DE Carlos Dunlap charged with DUI four days before SEC title gameGAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s hopes of repeating as Southeastern Conference and national champions were dealt a major blow Tuesday morning.
Gators junior defensive end Carlos Dunlap, the defensive MVP of last year’s national championship game, was arrested by Gainesville Police officers Tuesday and booked in Alachua County jail on a DUI charge.
He was released at 9:10 a.m. on his own recognizance after his first court appearance. A court date has not been set.
Gators junior defensive end Carlos Dunlap, the defensive MVP of last year’s national championship game, was arrested by Gainesville Police officers Tuesday and booked in Alachua County jail on a DUI charge.
He was released at 9:10 a.m. on his own recognizance after his first court appearance. A court date has not been set.
Oprah.com helps fans find 12 days contest $57,280 prize give-o-way codes
Oprah.com helps fans find 12 days contest $57,280 prize give-o-way codesOprah.com/12days is surging in popularity because Oprah just introduced her O, The Oprah Magazine 12-day holiday giveaway here on Oprah.com.
Grady Sizemore photo controversy!
Grady Sizemore photo controversy!New York: Grady Sizemore Picture Controversy: Grady Sizemore is in news, but not for game. He’s in mid of picture controversy. Reports say that Sizemore took the some of his photos when he undressed himself and somehow, the pictures were hacked and spread all over Internet.
Vokoun Injury
Vokoun InjuryWatching the Vokoun injury video, I kept on thinking, it was not game it was just sheer insanity. The game was between Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers. The position was one goal each. Thrashers hit a straight into the goal, Vokoun obstructed the disc and it rebounded.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation1989 Christmas comedy movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” would convey a message of hope this Christmas also. Clark Griswold – Chevy Chase is jobless for seven years yet he plans to celebrate the Christmas in a nontraditional and memorable way and in his efforts creates the comedic theme of the movie
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods mistress and Tiger Woods car crash affair rumors
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods mistress and Tiger Woods car crash affair rumorsDecember 1: Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods mistress and Tiger Woods car crash affair rumors. Tiger Woods accident rumors have made tiger woods mistress pictures hottest thing on internet. Despite media speculations people are full of praise for Tiger Woods and are demanding that the media leave the couple alone. Tiger Woods has received attention following his accident not for his injuries caused by the accident but by speculations of fight
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods mistress and Tiger Woods car crash affair rumors
Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods mistress and Tiger Woods car crash affair rumorsDecember 1: Tiger Woods accident update: Tiger Woods mistress and Tiger Woods car crash affair rumors. Tiger Woods accident rumors have made tiger woods mistress pictures hottest thing on internet. Despite media speculations people are full of praise for Tiger Woods and are demanding that the media leave the couple alone. Tiger Woods has received attention following his accident not for his injuries caused by the accident but by speculations of fight with his wife.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation1989 Christmas comedy movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” would convey a message of hope this Christmas also. Clark Griswold – Chevy Chase is jobless for seven years yet he plans to celebrate the Christmas in a nontraditional and memorable way and in his efforts creates the comedic theme of the movie. As the movie
Vokoun Injury
Vokoun InjuryWatching the Vokoun injury video, I kept on thinking, it was not game it was just sheer insanity. The game was between Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers. The position was one goal each. Thrashers hit a straight into the goal, Vokoun obstructed the disc and it rebounded. In his effort Vokoun fell on the ground to the left side of the goal post.
Cyber Monday online deals, UGG boots Cyber Monday and Zhu Zhu pets Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday online deals, UGG boots Cyber Monday and Zhu Zhu pets Cyber MondayNovember 30: Cyber Monday online deals, UGG boots Cyber Monday and Zhu Zhu pets Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday deals are already attracting record number of shoppers to shopping malls and retailing giants.
Cyber monday bargains
Cyber monday bargainsFor many people the craziness of Black Friday is just all too daunting, and people find sitting at home in their own lounge rooms in comfort is the better way to shop.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Ehlers danlos syndrome
Ehlers danlos syndromeA walk to the fridge is much easier than it was a year ago. Her performances at dance recitals could be described as a testimony.
Two years ago, Mathis began having nonstop headaches that couldn’t be explained.A year later, her legs started to feel numb and she walked with short, slow steps.
Two years ago, Mathis began having nonstop headaches that couldn’t be explained.A year later, her legs started to feel numb and she walked with short, slow steps.
Shoppers skip Black Friday chaos in favor of Cyber Monday online deals
Shoppers skip Black Friday chaos in favor of Cyber Monday online dealsWEEHAWKEN — Spooked by unruly crowds and the trampling death of a Wal-Mart worker last year, Claudia Pope-Bayne decided to ditch the Black Friday mayhem this year and take her bargain hunting to the web.
BLOTTER: Police reports published Dec. 1
BLOTTER: Police reports published Dec. 1In July, Jeffery Scott Swaim, 40, was found in a bus seat and not breathing, according to the article, which also stated that New Hanover Regional Medical Center doctors found a pain patch
Swiss Colony Coupons, Discount Codes & Promotions, Seventh Avenue and Midnight Velvet
Swiss Colony Coupons, Discount Codes & Promotions, Seventh Avenue and Midnight VelvetAlong with rebates, free coupons are one of the best ways to save money while shopping online and CouponMountain.com has been a savings leader since 2001. Check back here often for new The Swiss Colony deals, clearance sales, freebies and promotional offers every day
Friday, November 27, 2009
Kohls Black Friday Ad
Kohls Black Friday AdKohl Black Friday ads; like many other stores reads like receive $10 in Kohl’s Cash for spending $50 at Kohl Stores. This offer is for online and offline customers on all sale whether regular or clearance-priced.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wedding Daze
Wedding DazeWedding Daze is 2006 light hearted romantic comedy featuring Jason Biggs. Watching Wedding Daze, the film can be summed in one word – spontaneity. Anderson (Jason Biggs) is the main character of the film. Anderson’s proposes his true sweet heart publicly but the poor Vanessa could not take the shock and dies at the spot. The death of his girl friend sends Anderson deep into the depression. Anderson’s best friend Ted is trying his best to pull Anderson out of the bereavement and to persuade him to start living again. Ted
Ethanol Fireplace
Ethanol FireplaceWe all witnessed the panic when crude oil touched $140 a barrel. With world’s fossil fuel reserves being consumed at a fast pace, any stability in fuel prices is just temporary at best. Greenhouses gases are threatening human existence on earth, making it necessary to explore alternate energy sources before it’s too late. Bio fuel is one of the promising options. Ethanol or Ethyl Alcohol is a type of bio fuel. In its pure form Ethanol is simply the beverage alcohol. However to use it as fuel it is “denatured”. Ethanol Fireplace uses this denatured ethanol for heat production. When ethanol is burned, the process
Friday, November 13, 2009
Mary Weiland
Mary Weiland“Fall to Pieces: A Memoir of Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Mental Illness,” is shocking and emotional autobiography of Mary Forsberg Weiland written in collaboration with Larkin Warren and published by Harper Collins.
James Hogue
James HogueWell reading about James Hogue all I could think of was a film called “Catch me if you can”. James Hogue gave new meaning to forgery and deceit. He is known for one thing and that is forgery. His career as con man started in 1986 when he was admitted in a
Sasha Vujacic Girlfriend
Sasha Vujacic GirlfriendGuess who has fallen prey to Sasha Vujacic’s looks, Well none else than Maria Saharapova. Both the players are more than 6 feet in height
Sulfur Pentafluoride
Sulfur PentafluorideThe problem with green houses is that they let the sun’s harmful rays enter into the atmosphere of the earth. But disrupt the natural mechanism whereby the rays are returned back out of the environment after being reflected from the earth’s surface. Carbon Dioxide is harmful as it won’t let the harmful rays to deflect back.
Jane Goodall
Jane GoodallAny Primatology course starts with the name of Jane Goodall and ends with her name. I heard the name of Jane Goodall when I was in my O Levels. Growing up I chose the file d of natural sciences for me and became more familiar with her work in Primatology and her contribution to the science in general.
Ammonia and Bleach
Ammonia and BleachCleanliness is healthiness but if someone goes crazy about hygiene, it would surely be harmful to health because excess of everything is bad after all. A new research by a national environmental group depicts that some chemicals found in everyday household
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Colin Quinn
Colin QuinnColin Quinn is an Irish-American writer, actor and a famous comedian. He is well-known for hosting the long-running show Saturday Night Live and performing as co-host of crazily popular late-1980’s game show “Remote Control” and also performs as host of his own show “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn” for two years from 2002-2004.
Chimp Lady
Chimp LadyChimp Lady, Charla was very optimistic in her first appearance when she aired for the first time after the killing attack by the Chimpanzee. She was confident, relaxed and determined to face the cruel reality. She expressed her feeling about her daughter and she express amusement as well during the interview.
Sammy Sosa Before and After
Sammy Sosa Before and AfterCelebrities are measured as public property and media coverage of these celebrities is the right of public and fans. Rumors are the part of the life of celebrities and at the time we are talking about the Sammy Sosa and his skin tone. Sammy Sosa, the retired right fielder of Major League Baseball has captured the media attention for his, a little bit change, skin complexion
Nu Keese Richardson
Nu Keese RichardsonNu Keese Richardson, the University of Tennessee football player with Mike Edwards and Janzen Jackson were arrested few hours ago due to an attempt of armed robbery. This is true man, I am not kidding, and the authorities of Tennessee University have also confirmed the news.
Charla Nash Pictures
Charla Nash Picturesharla Nash pictures can just give you an idea that how harmful a pet Chimpanzee can be. The poor lady was just muddled by Chimpanzee and her face literally looks like a broken egg.
Orient Airways
Orient AirwaysThe news is just in that all the disturbance of last year in Thailand and the demonstrations staged by People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) especially the ones that were staged at the Thailand International Airport were the workings of 12 “demon Statues”!
Multinationals flock to IIM-Bangalore for internees
Multinationals flock to IIM-Bangalore for interneesslowdown is behind, multinationals flocked to Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) to offer placements to the entire batch of 348 first year students of the two-year post-graduate programme in management.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Rising Powers Challenge U.S. on Role in I.M.F.
HONG KONG — The oracle of Hong Kong has spoken. And his message: it’s time to consider buying stocks and real estate.
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Daniel J. Groshong/Bloomberg News
Li Ka-Shing reported on Thursday that his companies had severe profit declines in 2008, but he said that “if you buy in a slow market, in the medium term you get good returns.”
The proclamation on Thursday by Li Ka-Shing, the self-made billionaire who controls some of Hong Kong’s largest companies and carries enormous sway among investors throughout Asia, was made at a rare public appearance.
Exuding confidence, Mr. Li joked with reporters and looked anything but depressed about the sharp fall in profit his companies reported Thursday.
Whether Mr. Li is proved right about stocks and property — and he certainly has a lot to gain personally if he is right — his comments come at a time when stock markets have rallied on hopes that the economic slump may be bottoming out.
“If you have money in your pocket,” Mr. Li said, consider buying into stocks. As for the property market in Hong Kong, he said, “history tells us that if you buy in a slow market, in the medium term you get good returns.”
Mr. Li advised against borrowing to invest what remains a shaky and volatile environment.
Even though couched with caution, Mr. Li’s comments were enough to echo around the investment world and helped send the Hang Seng index up 3.6 percent Thursday.
Mr. Li is the man the local media call “Superman” and liken to the investor Warren E. Buffett, who controls Berkshire Hathaway. Considered one of Asia’s most powerful men, he is also one of the continent’s most generous philanthropists.
In the last year, as the economic crisis has dragged on and deepened, Mr. Li has jumped in from time to time to try to restore confidence.
Last September, shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused the world financial system to convulse, savers in Hong Kong lined up outside the Bank of East Asia, one of the territory’s best-known and biggest banks, responding to rumors that the bank was in trouble. Mr. Li let it be known that he had been buying shares in the bank, an expression of confidence that quickly helped put an end to an old-fashioned bank run.
And this month, HSBC was trying to raise $18 billion in a rights offering, prompting the bank’s shares to fall sharply. A majority of local residents here own shares in the bank, which is now based in Britain but has its roots in Hong Kong. When it appeared that the rights offering might falter, Mr. Li — along with several other Hong Kong tycoons — pledged to put about $300 million of his own funds into the issue.
Still, it has been a difficult year for Mr. Li, and the Superman title sat a little awkwardly on him on Thursday, after Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, the flagships of the property-to-ports-to-electricity conglomerate he controls, both reported declines in net profit of more than 40 percent for 2008.
Small wonder, given that the rapid slowdown in the global economy had tipped Hong Kong, along with the United States, Japan and others, into a recession and put a damper on the breakneck growth of neighboring China.
Rental and property prices in the territory, a mainstay of the conglomerate’s earnings, are expected to tumble further this year, hitting developers hard.
But the Cheung Kong group is not just any Hong Kong company, and Mr. Li is not just any Hong Kong company chairman. Thursday’s event was not just any annual news conference, but the pinnacle of the Hong Kong earnings season, complete with a boisterous media scrum that regularly lends the bespectacled and affable Mr. Li the aura of a pop star.
The complex network of companies Mr. Li controls — three of them members of Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index — epitomize the hustle and bustle of entrepreneurial Hong Kong and its roller-coaster economy.
And Mr. Li himself has the kind of rags-to-riches history that inspires every Hong Kong resident. The Cheung Kong group and its various interlinked companies grew out of the humblest beginnings imaginable: a plastic-flower manufacturing business the young Mr. Li set up in the 1950s.
Five decades later, Mr. Li is now one of Hong Kong’s leading developers of residential, commercial and industrial properties — about one in seven private residences here were developed by the group.
Hutchison Whampoa, of which Mr. Li also is chairman, operates businesses as diverse as ports, hotels, supermarkets and drugstore chains, and is a major telecommunications operator in Hong Kong and abroad.
Cheung Kong Infrastructure, headed by Mr. Li’s son Victor, and HK Electric, one of the territory’s dominant power companies, also belong to the Cheung Kong/Hutchison stable of businesses.
Together, these businesses are a cross section of Hong Kong’s economy and reflect more than any other company the territory’s boom-to-bust character: riding the wave of Asia’s breakneck growth in recent years, and now suffering in line with the slowing global economy.
Mr. Li’s personal fortune has fallen as well, having slipped to 16th in the Forbes annual ranking of the world’s richest people, down from 11th in 2008, with a fortune now worth $16.2 billion — down from $26.5 billion a year ago.
Jaymee Ng contributed reporting.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Daniel J. Groshong/Bloomberg News
Li Ka-Shing reported on Thursday that his companies had severe profit declines in 2008, but he said that “if you buy in a slow market, in the medium term you get good returns.”
The proclamation on Thursday by Li Ka-Shing, the self-made billionaire who controls some of Hong Kong’s largest companies and carries enormous sway among investors throughout Asia, was made at a rare public appearance.
Exuding confidence, Mr. Li joked with reporters and looked anything but depressed about the sharp fall in profit his companies reported Thursday.
Whether Mr. Li is proved right about stocks and property — and he certainly has a lot to gain personally if he is right — his comments come at a time when stock markets have rallied on hopes that the economic slump may be bottoming out.
“If you have money in your pocket,” Mr. Li said, consider buying into stocks. As for the property market in Hong Kong, he said, “history tells us that if you buy in a slow market, in the medium term you get good returns.”
Mr. Li advised against borrowing to invest what remains a shaky and volatile environment.
Even though couched with caution, Mr. Li’s comments were enough to echo around the investment world and helped send the Hang Seng index up 3.6 percent Thursday.
Mr. Li is the man the local media call “Superman” and liken to the investor Warren E. Buffett, who controls Berkshire Hathaway. Considered one of Asia’s most powerful men, he is also one of the continent’s most generous philanthropists.
In the last year, as the economic crisis has dragged on and deepened, Mr. Li has jumped in from time to time to try to restore confidence.
Last September, shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused the world financial system to convulse, savers in Hong Kong lined up outside the Bank of East Asia, one of the territory’s best-known and biggest banks, responding to rumors that the bank was in trouble. Mr. Li let it be known that he had been buying shares in the bank, an expression of confidence that quickly helped put an end to an old-fashioned bank run.
And this month, HSBC was trying to raise $18 billion in a rights offering, prompting the bank’s shares to fall sharply. A majority of local residents here own shares in the bank, which is now based in Britain but has its roots in Hong Kong. When it appeared that the rights offering might falter, Mr. Li — along with several other Hong Kong tycoons — pledged to put about $300 million of his own funds into the issue.
Still, it has been a difficult year for Mr. Li, and the Superman title sat a little awkwardly on him on Thursday, after Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, the flagships of the property-to-ports-to-electricity conglomerate he controls, both reported declines in net profit of more than 40 percent for 2008.
Small wonder, given that the rapid slowdown in the global economy had tipped Hong Kong, along with the United States, Japan and others, into a recession and put a damper on the breakneck growth of neighboring China.
Rental and property prices in the territory, a mainstay of the conglomerate’s earnings, are expected to tumble further this year, hitting developers hard.
But the Cheung Kong group is not just any Hong Kong company, and Mr. Li is not just any Hong Kong company chairman. Thursday’s event was not just any annual news conference, but the pinnacle of the Hong Kong earnings season, complete with a boisterous media scrum that regularly lends the bespectacled and affable Mr. Li the aura of a pop star.
The complex network of companies Mr. Li controls — three of them members of Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index — epitomize the hustle and bustle of entrepreneurial Hong Kong and its roller-coaster economy.
And Mr. Li himself has the kind of rags-to-riches history that inspires every Hong Kong resident. The Cheung Kong group and its various interlinked companies grew out of the humblest beginnings imaginable: a plastic-flower manufacturing business the young Mr. Li set up in the 1950s.
Five decades later, Mr. Li is now one of Hong Kong’s leading developers of residential, commercial and industrial properties — about one in seven private residences here were developed by the group.
Hutchison Whampoa, of which Mr. Li also is chairman, operates businesses as diverse as ports, hotels, supermarkets and drugstore chains, and is a major telecommunications operator in Hong Kong and abroad.
Cheung Kong Infrastructure, headed by Mr. Li’s son Victor, and HK Electric, one of the territory’s dominant power companies, also belong to the Cheung Kong/Hutchison stable of businesses.
Together, these businesses are a cross section of Hong Kong’s economy and reflect more than any other company the territory’s boom-to-bust character: riding the wave of Asia’s breakneck growth in recent years, and now suffering in line with the slowing global economy.
Mr. Li’s personal fortune has fallen as well, having slipped to 16th in the Forbes annual ranking of the world’s richest people, down from 11th in 2008, with a fortune now worth $16.2 billion — down from $26.5 billion a year ago.
Jaymee Ng contributed reporting.
Rising Powers Challenge U.S. on Role in I.M.F.
WASHINGTON — Barely six months ago, the International Monetary Fund emerged from years of declining relevance, hurriedly cobbling together emergency loans for countries from Iceland to Pakistan, as the first wave of the financial crisis hit.
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Related
Obama Will Face a Defiant World on Foreign Visit (March 29, 2009)
Anglo-American Capitalism on Trial (March 29, 2009)
Times Topics: International Monetary FundReaders' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
Read All Comments (68) »
Now, with world leaders gathering this week in London to plot a response to the gravest global economic downturn since World War II, the fund is becoming a chip in a contest to reshape the postcrisis landscape.
The Obama administration has made fortifying the I.M.F. one of its primary goals for the meeting of the Group of 20, which includes leading industrial and developing countries and the European Union. But China, India and other rising powers seem to believe that the made-in-America crisis has curtailed the ability of the United States to set the agenda. They view the Western-dominated fund as a place to begin staking their claim to a greater voice in global economic affairs.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who once worked at the fund, has called for its financial resources to be expanded by $500 billion, effectively tripling its lending capacity to distressed countries and cementing its status as the lender of last resort for much of the world.
Japan and the European Union have each pledged $100 billion; the United States has signaled it will contribute a similar sum, though its money will take longer to arrive because of the need for Congressional approval. China, with its mammoth foreign exchange reserves, is the next obvious donor.
Yet officials of China and other developing countries have served notice that they are reluctant to make comparable pledges without getting a greater say in the operations of the fund, which is run by a Frenchman, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and is heavily influenced by the United States and Western Europe.
A senior Chinese leader, Wang Qishan, said Friday that Beijing was willing to kick in some money, but he called for an overhaul of the way the fund is governed. China wants its quota — which determines its financial contribution and voting power — adjusted to reflect its economic weight better.
China’s contribution, Mr. Wang said, should not be based on the size of its reserves but on its economic output per person, which is still modest. Some American officials now expect a pledge on the order of $50 billion from China.
“Their arms may yet be twisted, but they simply do not want to pony up based on vague promises of governance reform,” said Eswar S. Prasad, a professor of economics at Cornell University who has discussed the matter in recent days with Chinese and Indian officials.
Given the inevitability that these countries will have a growing influence, the London summit meeting, which begins Thursday, is likely to be remembered “as the last hurrah for the U.S. and Europe rescuing the world economy,” said Simon Johnson, a professor at M.I.T. and a former chief economist of the fund.
One reason the I.M.F. has emerged as such a popular cause is that the United States has been unable to rally countries behind its other major priority: economic stimulus. The European Union opposes further stimulus packages in 2010, arguing that its social safety net makes an increase in government spending unnecessary.
European and American officials are also still divided, to a lesser degree, on how to rewrite international financial regulations. France and Germany are more receptive than the United States to giving regulators supranational authority to scrutinize global banks and other financial companies.
“The United States is desperately trying to assert leadership, as if it were 10 years ago, when the U.S. set the agenda,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, an economist at Harvard and another former chief economist of the fund.
With more countries slipping into crisis by the week, there is general agreement that the fund needs additional resources. Since last year, the I.M.F. has made nearly $50 billion in loans to 13 countries. It is streamlining the process for making loans and loosening its strings, hoping to counter the resentment that built up against it during past crises because of its stringent demands.
At a preparatory meeting two weeks ago, finance ministers of the Group of 20 agreed to “very substantially” increase financing, though the Europeans favored an extra $250 billion, not $500 billion.
Whatever their reservations about financing, the Chinese have seized on the fund for another purpose: to tweak the United States. The governor of China’s central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, recently proposed that the American dollar be phased out as the world’s default reserve currency. As a replacement, he suggested using special drawing rights, or S.D.R.’s, the synthetic currency created by the fund that is used for transactions between it and its 185 member countries.
Few economists view that idea as a realistic one, at least for years to come. But the mere assertion that the dollar’s pre-eminence is waning — a theme picked up by Russian officials as well — sends a message.
“I don’t think the Chinese or Russians really believe the S.D.R. is a viable currency,” said Mr. Prasad, the Cornell economist. “But they’re laying down a very clear marker that they’re going to be much more assertive about their role.”
Mr. Geithner took the remarks seriously enough that he publicly reaffirmed the primacy of the dollar.
The United States will address China’s status this week, when it announces details of a new high-level strategic and economic dialogue with Beijing, led by Mr. Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the information was not yet public. The announcement will come after the first meeting between President Obama and the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, in London.
The Obama administration has personal reasons to support the fund. Mr. Geithner was the I.M.F. director of policy planning from 2001 to 2003, after his first stint in the Treasury Department. He recruited Edwin M. Truman, another former Treasury official and a longtime advocate of the fund, as a temporary adviser to develop policies for the Group of 20 meeting.
Just before leaving his academic position at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Mr. Truman proposed that the fund issue $250 billion in S.D.R.’s on a one-time basis to be allocated to all its members, as another way of increasing its resources. Western European countries, he said, could use their S.D.R.’s to lend money to their troubled Eastern neighbors.
That proposal is in a current draft of the statement to be issued at the Group of 20 meeting. If all the American proposals for the fund are adopted, its resources will approach $1 trillion — a big number, even in these extraordinary times.
Yet for Mr. Johnson of M.I.T., it merely shows how difficult it is for the United States to marshal support for anything else.
“They can’t agree on fiscal policy; they can’t agree on regulations,” he said. “The only thing left is the I.M.F.”
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Related
Obama Will Face a Defiant World on Foreign Visit (March 29, 2009)
Anglo-American Capitalism on Trial (March 29, 2009)
Times Topics: International Monetary FundReaders' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
Read All Comments (68) »
Now, with world leaders gathering this week in London to plot a response to the gravest global economic downturn since World War II, the fund is becoming a chip in a contest to reshape the postcrisis landscape.
The Obama administration has made fortifying the I.M.F. one of its primary goals for the meeting of the Group of 20, which includes leading industrial and developing countries and the European Union. But China, India and other rising powers seem to believe that the made-in-America crisis has curtailed the ability of the United States to set the agenda. They view the Western-dominated fund as a place to begin staking their claim to a greater voice in global economic affairs.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who once worked at the fund, has called for its financial resources to be expanded by $500 billion, effectively tripling its lending capacity to distressed countries and cementing its status as the lender of last resort for much of the world.
Japan and the European Union have each pledged $100 billion; the United States has signaled it will contribute a similar sum, though its money will take longer to arrive because of the need for Congressional approval. China, with its mammoth foreign exchange reserves, is the next obvious donor.
Yet officials of China and other developing countries have served notice that they are reluctant to make comparable pledges without getting a greater say in the operations of the fund, which is run by a Frenchman, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and is heavily influenced by the United States and Western Europe.
A senior Chinese leader, Wang Qishan, said Friday that Beijing was willing to kick in some money, but he called for an overhaul of the way the fund is governed. China wants its quota — which determines its financial contribution and voting power — adjusted to reflect its economic weight better.
China’s contribution, Mr. Wang said, should not be based on the size of its reserves but on its economic output per person, which is still modest. Some American officials now expect a pledge on the order of $50 billion from China.
“Their arms may yet be twisted, but they simply do not want to pony up based on vague promises of governance reform,” said Eswar S. Prasad, a professor of economics at Cornell University who has discussed the matter in recent days with Chinese and Indian officials.
Given the inevitability that these countries will have a growing influence, the London summit meeting, which begins Thursday, is likely to be remembered “as the last hurrah for the U.S. and Europe rescuing the world economy,” said Simon Johnson, a professor at M.I.T. and a former chief economist of the fund.
One reason the I.M.F. has emerged as such a popular cause is that the United States has been unable to rally countries behind its other major priority: economic stimulus. The European Union opposes further stimulus packages in 2010, arguing that its social safety net makes an increase in government spending unnecessary.
European and American officials are also still divided, to a lesser degree, on how to rewrite international financial regulations. France and Germany are more receptive than the United States to giving regulators supranational authority to scrutinize global banks and other financial companies.
“The United States is desperately trying to assert leadership, as if it were 10 years ago, when the U.S. set the agenda,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, an economist at Harvard and another former chief economist of the fund.
With more countries slipping into crisis by the week, there is general agreement that the fund needs additional resources. Since last year, the I.M.F. has made nearly $50 billion in loans to 13 countries. It is streamlining the process for making loans and loosening its strings, hoping to counter the resentment that built up against it during past crises because of its stringent demands.
At a preparatory meeting two weeks ago, finance ministers of the Group of 20 agreed to “very substantially” increase financing, though the Europeans favored an extra $250 billion, not $500 billion.
Whatever their reservations about financing, the Chinese have seized on the fund for another purpose: to tweak the United States. The governor of China’s central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, recently proposed that the American dollar be phased out as the world’s default reserve currency. As a replacement, he suggested using special drawing rights, or S.D.R.’s, the synthetic currency created by the fund that is used for transactions between it and its 185 member countries.
Few economists view that idea as a realistic one, at least for years to come. But the mere assertion that the dollar’s pre-eminence is waning — a theme picked up by Russian officials as well — sends a message.
“I don’t think the Chinese or Russians really believe the S.D.R. is a viable currency,” said Mr. Prasad, the Cornell economist. “But they’re laying down a very clear marker that they’re going to be much more assertive about their role.”
Mr. Geithner took the remarks seriously enough that he publicly reaffirmed the primacy of the dollar.
The United States will address China’s status this week, when it announces details of a new high-level strategic and economic dialogue with Beijing, led by Mr. Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the information was not yet public. The announcement will come after the first meeting between President Obama and the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, in London.
The Obama administration has personal reasons to support the fund. Mr. Geithner was the I.M.F. director of policy planning from 2001 to 2003, after his first stint in the Treasury Department. He recruited Edwin M. Truman, another former Treasury official and a longtime advocate of the fund, as a temporary adviser to develop policies for the Group of 20 meeting.
Just before leaving his academic position at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Mr. Truman proposed that the fund issue $250 billion in S.D.R.’s on a one-time basis to be allocated to all its members, as another way of increasing its resources. Western European countries, he said, could use their S.D.R.’s to lend money to their troubled Eastern neighbors.
That proposal is in a current draft of the statement to be issued at the Group of 20 meeting. If all the American proposals for the fund are adopted, its resources will approach $1 trillion — a big number, even in these extraordinary times.
Yet for Mr. Johnson of M.I.T., it merely shows how difficult it is for the United States to marshal support for anything else.
“They can’t agree on fiscal policy; they can’t agree on regulations,” he said. “The only thing left is the I.M.F.”
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