Jean-Claude Trichet may be the new head of the IMF.
May 27 ,2011- Now that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as head of the IMF, there is a power struggle starting to see who will be the next to run the IMF. There are Asian countries calling for an Asian, while there is also a call for an emerging-economy head. Germany has said they feel a European head is needed and France has said that whoever is the candidate they must have the support of the Europeans.
The change in leadership comes at a very sensitive time as the global economic power is shifting and the balance is no longer the same. There are emerging market countries that have expanded tremendously and are playing a contributing role in the world’s economic growth and are beginning to have more of a voice. While many of the developed economies in Europe are growing at a much slower rate over the long term and are having financial troubles because of governmental debt.
There are a number of Asians that say their continent needs greater representation in organizations at the international level because of their growth. Many say the old traditional thought that the IMF is run by a European is just not correct and is not logical. The world is ever changing and has done so greatly in the last three to five years.
The Europeans on the other hand say because of the debt load of some of the governments such as Greece, there needs to be a European in charge. The European Union is meeting next week and will propose a name of a candidate at that time. The French Finance Minister said that a European candidate was not necessary as long as the candidate had the support of the Europeans.
One name mentioned as a possible candidate is Jean-Claude Trichet, the President of ECB the European Central Bank. His supporters say he knows everything about Europe and is independent with a very good track record.
