Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Congress Blocks Indiscriminate IMF Aid for Europe
TELEGRAPH BLOG – AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD: Europe may have to clean up its own mess after all. The US Senate has voted 94:0 to block use of taxpayers’ money for IMF rescues that make no economic sense or bail-outs for countries like Greece that far are beyond the point of no return.

“This amendment will help prevent American taxpayer dollars from underwriting dysfunctional governments abroad,” said Texas Senator John Cornyn, the chief sponsor. “American taxpayers have seen more bailouts than they can stomach, and the last thing they should have to worry about are their hard-earned tax dollars being used to rescue a foreign government. Greece is not by any stretch of the imagination too big to fail.”

Co-sponsor David Vitter from Louisiana said America had run out of money. “Our country already owes trillions of dollars in debt. We simply can’t afford to take on other countries’ debt in addition to our own.” Read on and comment >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Revolution from Greece's Ruins as Crisis Deepens
THE TELEGRAPH: As Greeks face changing their way of life, rioters in Athens clash with police at the start of a very long, painful summer for the country.



The week was already going badly enough for mild-mannered Greek prime minister George Papandreou. After months of insisting that his country would be able to claw its own way out of decades of mismanagement and corruption, his belated SOS to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ensured that Greece's world famous ruins are now financial, not archaeological.

But then things got worse. Even as Mr Papandreou likened himself to Homer's great survivor, Odysseus, his country's fortunes were being sunk between a modern Scylla and Charybdis: German intransigence over a financial bailout on one side, and market jitters that downgraded Greek bonds to junk status on the other.

On Sunday, however, as the details of an economic life raft from the EU and IMF are due to be announced, Mr Papandreou will be forced to survey not simply the wreckage of the Greek economy, but the beginnings of "cultural revolution" that analysts say his homeland's crisis is set to unleash across the continent of Europe. >>> Harry de Quetteville and Paul Anast in Athens | Saturday, May 01, 2010

Brown Seeks IMF Cash from Saudis
Gordon Brown at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, accompanied by Saudi officials. Photo courtesy of Reuters
REUTERS: RIYADH (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he expected Saudi Arabia to pump money into the International Monetary Fund, part of moves to ensure the lender can bail out economies hit by a global financial crisis.

The worst financial crisis in 80 years, which started when a U.S. housing market boom turned sour, has raised fears of recession which one bank official said would spread across the globe hurting even fast-growing economies in Asia and South America.

China was the latest country to fear it might be hit by the downturn, saying it must maintain a fast pace of growth or risk heightening "factors damaging social stability."

Governments have cut interest rates, propped up banks and stepped up state spending to try to spur their economies, but some countries have been forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global lenders for help.

Brown urged countries with large financial resources, such as oil-producing Gulf states, to contribute to a new IMF facility and said he expected Saudi Arabia to contribute -- after some time.

"The Saudis, I think, will contribute so we can have a bigger fund worldwide," Brown told reporters in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on a tour of the Gulf to also seek investment and help on oil prices.

"The oil producing countries, who have generated over $1 trillion from higher oil prices in recent years, are in a position to contribute."

He next heads to the gas and oil-producing Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Earlier in Kuwait, the finance minister said the government would base any decision to support international markets on potential returns and investment opportunities. >>> By Matt Falloon | November 2, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>