Greek tragedy and the International Monetary Fund's troubled legacy

Washington

OVER the past five years, the Greek economic and political tragedy has seriously damaged the credibility of the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has consistently indulged in wishful thinking and led Greece along a policy path that has brought it close to economic and political ruin.

So it is all the more lamentable that at last weekend's European summit that produced the latest Greek debt deal, Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, did not insist that the new economic programme imposed on Greece had practically no chance of working.