The Fall of Lagarde

 

😬 The Fall of the House of Lagarde.

One ECB staffer writes:

“'Mario Draghi was there for the ECB while the ECB seems to be there for Christine Lagarde” https://t.co/AdHbzkBmKc

— PiQ (@PiQSuite) January 22, 2024

Over half of the ECB crew, the ones who actually crunch the numbers and sweat the spreadsheets, reckon that Christine Lagarde (head of the ECB) is a dud. A whopping 50.6% gave her a thumbs down, labelling her "very poor" or just plain "poor" in the first half of her eight-year term.

So, what's got the ECB crew grumbling like a pack of hungry hedge funds? Well, for starters, there's the whole inflation fiasco. Remember when Lagarde was all, "Nah, inflation's just transitory, like a bad perm"? Yeah, about that... Prices are skyrocketing faster than a Ferrari on nitrous, and the ECB's stuck in neutral, fiddling with its interest rates like a grandma trying to tune a dial-up modem.

Then there's the communication breakdown. Lagarde's speeches are about as clear as a bowl of alphabet soup after a toddler's tantrum. The markets are left scratching their heads, trying to decipher her cryptic pronouncements like they're lost in a Baudrillard seminar. No wonder the ECB's credibility is tanking faster than a meme stock during a market crash.

And let's not forget the whole "out of touch" vibe. Lagarde's jet-setting lifestyle and champagne-popping pronouncements don't exactly resonate with the average eurozone citizen who's struggling to afford groceries. It's like she's piloting the eurozone economy from a private jet while the rest of us are stuck in rush hour traffic on a broken-down moped.

The ECB needs to get its act together, and fast. Lagarde needs to listen to her staff, ditch the doublespeak, and start showing some real leadership. This is about livelihoods, jobs, and the future of the whole euro project.

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The Economic Owl of The ECB

LIVE: Christine Lagarde says she will be an economic "owl" at the ECB – follow our business live blog for the latest news, analysis and reaction https://t.co/Fyvybhx92S pic.twitter.com/2XMHvz8agH

— Telegraph Business (@telebusiness) December 12, 2019

Lagarde Wins Vote To head ECB - She Was The Only Candidate

WATCH: Christine Lagarde wins crucial vote to lead European Central Bank, paving the way for her to become the first woman to hold the post https://t.co/lQLDdFXFZv pic.twitter.com/q9hZp72Tbm

— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) September 17, 2019

Lagarde To Head ECB - Chateauneuf du Pape!

I see that the EU have made a very "interesting " appointment to head up the ECB, a woman who was found guilty of criminal charges over a £355M government payout.

On the positive side, she was fined but not jailed!

Lagarde's "Good Faith"

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said that her team was continuing to negotiate with Greece "in good faith" over its debt issues.

She told Bloomberg TV the aim was to restore Greek competitiveness within a framework of debt sustainability.

Quoted by Reuters, she said:

"The objectives have not changed.

Everything has to add up."

Lagarde is of course being somewhat disingenuous, for she has neglected to mention that Germany has said "nein" to any for of debt relief for Greece.

Without debt relief, the IMF will not remain part of the Quadriga. Which brings us back to the "credit event" that the IMF was plotting, in order to bring about a solution to the Greek/German impasse. This "event" has, of course, been hotly denied by Lagarde.

However, she would deny that wouldn't she?

Varoufakis To Meet Lagarde

#Greece StateMin Flambouràris says Varoufakis to ask Lagarde to agree on postponement of pensions & labor reforms to June talks ~@skaigr

— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) April 5, 2015

@YanniKouts and pay them with money from...?

— Evangelos (@Evangelos2012) April 5, 2015

Lagarde's Greek List

Here is a link to a list of 2,059 names of Greek citizens that have bank accounts with HSBC’s branch in Geneva, Switzerland.

IMF's Lagarde Under Formal Police Investigation

#BREAKING: IMF chief Christine #Lagarde under formal investigation for negligence in fraud probe - Euronews pic.twitter.com/PCkHq3Fjum

— Russian Market (@russian_market) August 27, 2014

As yet though, she is insisting that she won't resign as head of the IMF.

Judgement Day For Lagarde

Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, will find out today if she will be put under formal investigation for her role in a payout made to Bernard Tapie when she was finance minister.

Tapie, a supporter of the former President Nicolas Sarkozy, was awarded 400M euros in 2007, in a dispute with the bank Credit Lyonnais.

Lagarde protests her innocence and, according to the BBC, claims that the payout was the best solution at the time.

Suffice to say, given the economic malaise within Europe this issue could not have come at a worse time for Lagarde, the IMF and the global economy.

Lagarde and Greece Wait For The Fat Lady

Christine Lagarde (CEO of the IMF) is quoted by the Telegraph wrt a possible deal being brokered for Greece next week:

"You know, it's not over until the fat lady sings, as the saying goes.

It's a question of working hard, putting our mind to it, making sure that we focus on the same objective, which is that... Greece can operate on a sustainable basis, can recover, can get back on its feet, can re-access markets as early as possible.

That is what is driving the IMF's determination."

In the meantime, hoping to delay the arrival of the fat lady, Antonis Samaras Greece's PM is to go on a tour of the Middle East, China and Russia to try to attract investment.

However, whilst the trip to Qatar is definitely going ahead the other ports of call have yet to be confirmed; not everyone likes people turning up on their doorstep begging for money.

To Be Or Not To Be? That is The Question Facing The Euro

Christine Lagarde, the CEO of the IMF, has spoken in South Africa about 2012 and the travails that face the global economy (ie the Euro).


"Will 2012 be the end of the euro currency?

I seriously don't think so. Its a young currency, its a solid one as well.

You have within the zone, not in relation to the currency, serious pressure and issues concerning the sovereign debt, concerning the strength of the banking system which are being addressed.


But the currency itself is not one that would vanish or disappear in 2012, not at all."

When addressing the question as to whether Greece will remain in the Euro, she was decidedly "measured" in her response:


"The euro partners have affirmed, reaffirmed their determination..."

Little confidence then of Greece remaining in the Euro!

The Dangerous Juncture

IMF chief Christine Lagarde has told a roundtable on Africa's economic future in Lagos that the world economy is at "a very dangerous juncture".

Despite this, as predicted, the European finance ministers failed yesterday to raise Euro 200BN for the IMF.

However, France is not depressed and has issued an upbeat prediction (or is it a wish?) that the UK (the country that it was criticising so publicly a few days ago) will provide funds to the IMF.

The Germans were also displaying a heavy handed attempt at buttering the Brits, up when Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, described the UK as an "indispensable partner" and promising a "hands-off" approach to our financial services industry.

"My main message is for the British people – you can count on us, and we can count on you. There is no doubt that we want to make the next steps in the EU together as 27. I am here to show you that we are willing to build bridges over troubled water."

How the tone has changed, clearly things really are bad!

Europe Is Fucked!

Those of you who still think that the "leaders" of the Eurozone are capable of "leading" Europe out of its financial crisis, may care to read a few choice extracts from a report in the Telegraph about what really is going on at the Euro meeting this weekend:

"She says she is on a diet and then helps herself to a second helping of cheese," the French president allegedly said after a dinner meeting with Mrs Merkel....

Francois Baroin, the young and inexperienced French finance minister, attempted to hit back, complaining that the IMF's default medicine would hit France the hardest; the country's banks are highly exposed and could threaten its "untouchable" AAA rating. ....

But Mrs Lagarde, who had held his post until taking up the IMF job this summer, "shut him up" by brandishing the report and pointing to it its detailed figures. "She really slapped him down - and in perfect English too, a language he cannot speak," said a diplomat. ....

Their shouting could be heard down the corridor in the concert hall where an orchestra was about to play the EU's anthem, Ode to Joy," said an incredulous EU official. .....


So pointless was the gathering, that Didier Reynders, the Belgian finance minister, left early to attend the world premiere of the new Tintin film, The Secret of the Unicorn. .....

Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, could not resist taking an "I told you so" approach - he had been, after all, the first to call for an "orderly" default for Greece 18 months ago, at a time when the cost of such a move was less than one third of the price today. 
 
"Schaeuble is a man who does not mince his words, whose reputation for harshness and arrogance is well earned. He was, frankly, unbearable," said one diplomat. ....

It was grim. The worst mood I have ever seen, a complete mess," said one eurozone finance minister." 

It should be clear to even to the Europhiles, that Europe is fucked!

Learn this for prep:

- There is no plan
- There was no plan
- There never will be a plan

The Downward Spiral

Christine Lagarde, the IMF's CEO, has told Der Spiegel that the global economic outlook has worsened over the summer.

Hardly a revelation!

She is quoted:

"There has been a clear crisis of confidence that has seriously aggravated the situation. Measures need to be taken to ensure that this vicious circle is broken.

The spectrum of policies available is narrower because a lot of ammunition was used in 2009. But if governments, institutions and central banks work together, we'll avoid recession."

She is correct in that measures need to be taken. However, there is neither the political will nor hegemony necessary to resolve the economic issues that are destroying the global economy.

The endgame, as far as the Euro experiment is concerned, is now being played out.

Christine Lagarde Appointed Head of IMF

Christine Lagarde, the French Finance Minister, has been named as the new head of the International Monetary Fund.

Rather bizarrely, and certainly pathetically, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office declared it a "victory for France".

Does Sarkozy not get the point that the IMF is an international organisation, it is not there to work for France or Sarkozy.

I suspect that Ms Lagarde has sufficient intelligence and ethics to understand that point, it is a pity that Sarkozy has taken the shine off her appointment by making such a partisan and crass comment.

She starts work on 5th of July, her first task being to sort out the Greek tragedy.

Good luck on that then!

SocGen Emulates Northern Wreck

In the fallout from last week's alleged fraud at Societe Generale, shares in the bank continued to underperform the market falling 3.7% today.

Prompting French Economy Minister, Christine Lagarde, to say that there was no need for Societe Generale to merge with another bank.

However, SocGen's problems have spurred longstanding market speculation that it could be taken over by BNP Paribas. There is also speculation that SocGen might be vulnerable to a break-up bid.

Northern Wreck, SocGen...who's next?