tax systems and other matters not germane to a financial crisis."

He then quoted IMF director Michel Camdessus as saying that if the IMF had wanted to deal only with the liquidity and debt problems, it would have succeeded but, "Happily, the Asian crisis gave the IMF the leverage to force structural policy changes that national governments would not otherwise accept." (APN italics).

Feldstein wraps up by condemning the IMF. He points out that the Asian economies were fundamentally sound and, with modest adjustments, could easily have earned extra foreign exchange to repay foreign debts. Instead, the IMF falsely criticised them as "incompetent and corrupt," thereby undermining the confidence of global leaders in emerging markets generally, and so contributing to the contagion.

Summing up. What we have and are seeing is Western banking institutions looting developing countries’ central banks, plundering foreign exchange reserves, undermining national governments and destabilising entire national economies, promoting instability and unrest throughout the world. Over the last two years, a massive concentration of financial power has taken place in the hands of the Insiders. Does this not make organised crime look like a Sunday school?