The co-President of Attac candidate to the general direction of the IMF

The IMF plays a crucial role in the regulation - or rather the lack of regulation - of international finance.Therefore the association Attac has decided to propose a candidate to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Aurélie Trouvé, 31, is professor of economics and co-chair of Attac since four years.She specializes in agricultural markets, currently one of the favorite fields of international financial speculation. She enjoys the technical and political support of the Scientific Council of Attac, which consists of many economists specialized in financial issues. If she does not yet have the official support of states, her candidacy will attract attention from all those governments or citizens who wish to put the financial industry in its place, that is to support the initiatives of the real economy.

Since the outburst of the financial crisis in 2008, neither the G20 nor the IMF, nor the Basel Committee or the national financial regulators, have taken steps to significantly reduce the volatility of international financial markets. Speculation is now raging on commodities and securities of public debts.

With Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF policy consisted, as before, in unconditionally defending the interests of creditors of indebted states, by imposing brutal austerity plans: Hungary, Ukraine and Latvia in 2008, Iceland in 2009, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland in 2010…Banks and investment funds are the main beneficiaries of policies that are destroying the social solidarity and leading the European Union to the brink.

All indications are that Christine Lagarde will be even worse than Dominique Strauss-Kahn.Christine Lagarde was at the head of a technostructure of the Ministry of Economy (Directorate General of Treasury and Budget Office), composed of ultraliberal officials supporting financial interests. Thus in 2010 France refused to support Germany on the question of the prohibition of speculation in CDS (naked short selling).The representatives of France in Brussels have always held back the meager efforts of the Commission on financial regulation.On the issue of taxation of financial transactions, despite the apparently offensive speech by Nicolas Sarkozy, the Department of Christine Lagarde has always refused to produce notes and studies preparing a decision, and France has never really committed to its partners in the EU or the Eurogroup.

Aurélie Trouvé proposes a fundamental reorientation of the IMF, assuming that global financial stability is a public good that must be democratically managed by the international community as a whole. Her program for the IMF consists of the following points:
- Stopping austerity plans, and the establishment of a tax on financial transactions and strict regulation of transactions on derivative products
- Coordination of economic policies at the international level, leading countries with excessive imbalances (China, Germany, Japan on the side of surplus countries, the U.S. on the side of the deficit countries) to rebalance in a coordinated manner through adjustments in rates exchange as well as active fiscal and wage policies;
- Development of an international currency based on a basket of major currencies, as an alternative to the dollar;
- The issuance of Special Drawing Rights to help countries in difficulty during the reduction of global imbalances or to face unexpected economic shocks;
- Democratizing the IMF, by expanding its board of directors to all countries around the world and integration of the IMF in the UN system, with one vote for each of the 187 IMF member countries: this to end the exclusive power of the great powers.

It's on this basis Attac sent on June 1, 2011 to the IMF the official candidacy of Ms. Aurélie Trouvé, 31 years, economist.  All applications must be submitted by one of the governors and directors of the IMF. The association Attac counts on Christine Lagarde's fair play, current governor of the IMF for France.