Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an article on Reuters on the IMF.
From the Article
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday called for an "open process" to select a new head of the International Monetary Fund, although it is expected that Washington will back a European.
The leadership of the IMF was thrown into question by the arrest on Saturday of its managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on charges of sexual assault and attempted rape. Strauss-Kahn resigned on Wednesday. "We want to see an open process that leads to a prompt succession for the Fund's new managing director," Geithner, who worked at the IMF, said in a brief statement.
Under a long-standing agreement between the United States and Europe, the IMF top job has always gone to a European, while an American has led its sister organization, the World Bank. Some emerging market nations, which have gained power at the IMF in recent years, have said candidates from their countries should get a shot at the top job.
However, a sense of inevitability grew on Thursday that Europe would retain the post, with French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde seen as the most likely choice. "The reality is this process is going to result in a European getting this job," a Canadian official said on condition of anonymity.
hough the Obama administration would like to see changes, sources close to the IMF and U.S. Treasury said that in the end it will back a European for the top job so as not to jeopardize its captaincy of the World Bank, which would anger U.S. lawmakers who control contributions to both institutions.
issue is especially sensitive given that Congress is set to shortly consider funding for the poverty-fighting institution, said Arvind Subramanian, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute think tank and a former IMF economist.
"I think Congress is not prepared to give up control over either institution ... But at some stage, Congress and the U.S. public will have to see what's happening in the world as a whole, that the U.S. isn't calling all the shots," he said."The more you rig the institution, the less credible it becomes," he added.