In this issue

Cover Story

Treating the Symptoms and Ignoring the Disease

For the real picture of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) role in Bangladesh and for that matter any least developed country (LDC) one need not veer too far away from the words of Joseph Stiglitz. He is as investigative journalist Greg Palast puts it “The Globaliser Who Came in from the Cold”. His disillusionment with the World Bank, IMF and the WTO (all interchangeable faces of essentially the same body) stems from first hand experience of how they tow the line of the corporate west and most importantly the US Treasury Department. Many of our economists place the blame of soaring oil prices and near double digit cost push inflation on IMF's over-the-counter prescriptions, their medicine seemingly treats the symptoms rather than the disease.

Cover Design: Manan Murshed

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