The Strange Case of Lagarde, Influence Peddling and the IMF
Christine Lagarde's 'allegiance' letter to Nicolas Sarkozy: 'use me' … Christine Lagarde, one of the most powerful women in the world as head of the International Monetary Fund, is facing acute embarrassment after a letter in which she urged former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to "use me" was found during a police raid on her Paris flat. – UK Telegraph
Dominant Social Theme: What powerful people these world leaders are!
Free-Market Analysis: We are led to believe that world leaders are hardly flesh and blood. They arrive at the pinnacle of success via terrific intellectual vigor and by almost supernatural cleverness.
In fact, as this letter reveals, the topmost leaders in the world are enmeshed in a series of confining linkages and usually have abased themselves in numerous ways to get where they are.
Rather than being the strongest among us, they may be among the most craven. Rather than being the most principled, they may be the most unprincipled. The more principles they are prepared to shed, the higher and faster they may travel.
Ms. Lagarde, as head of the International Monetary Fund, is commonly held to be one of the most powerful women in the world. But as this leaked letter shows, she is just as encumbered by alliances as anyone else, and her success may lay in her ability to convince others that rather than being a leader, she can be counted on as a good apparatchik.
Here's more:
An undated copy of the letter was found at Mrs Lagarde's flat in Paris during a raid by police investigating a spiralling financial scandal surrounding payments to businessman Bernard Tapie. "I'm on your side to serve you and serve your projects for France," she said in the letter. "Use me during the time that suits you best and fits your action and your cast….If you decide to use me, I need you as guide and supporter: without guide, I might be ineffective, without support I might be implausible."
… The letter was leaked to French newspaper Le Monde, and its publication has caused acute embarrassment for the head of the IMF. Ms Lagarde was finance minister during Mr Sarkozy's term as President, before stepping down to become managing director of the Washington-based IMF in 2011. Her Paris flat was raided as part of an investigation into her handling of a 2008 compensation payment to a businessman supporter of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, her lawyer said.
Police are investigating claims that Lagarde, when French Finance Minister under Sarkozy, acted illegally in approving the €285m arbitration payout to Bernard Tapie. Ms Lagarde denies any wrongdoing. Mr Tapie, a controversial business figure, went to prison for match-fixing during his time as president of French football club Olympique Marseille.
Prosecutors working for the Court of Justice of the Republic suspect the arbitration was payback for supporting Mr Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election. The massive payout enabled Mr Tapie to clear his huge debts and tax liabilities, and reportedly left him with up to €40m. Ms Lagarde has insisted the arbitration was vital to close a costly dispute, and has always denied having acted under orders from Sarkozy.
What is almost as interesting as the letter itself, assuming it was a copy of one that was actually sent, is the reason Ms. Lagarde is being exposed to such an energetic attack.
In a world where topmost wrongdoing is not only tolerated but is actively a pathway to further success, Ms. Lagarde is being pursued relentlessly over apparent influence peddling, a soft crime at best. Banks meanwhile are laundering trillions for drug dealers and governments pursue vast illegal wars with impunity.
Her predecessor was kicked out of office over a sexual scandal that may have been prearranged. And now Ms. Lagarde is subject to an active investigation and aggressive leaking of embarrassing information.
These constant attacks at the topmost hierarchy of the IMF seem odd to us. We have no specific analysis to offer other than, perhaps, that some may be interested in tearing down Western civil structures generally in order to lay the groundwork for even more globalist ones.
Is the idea to empower the BRICs at the expense of the West and to shift the balance of power toward developing countries? Could the globalists among us be so manipulative? Stay tuned …
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