Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Following on from the bubble and the inevitable crash, Global Exchange, which I mentioned earlier, alleges, first, that in regard to the IMF approach to the peso crisis in Mexico in the mid-1990s, and to the Asian countries, "...the IMF required governments to assume the bad debts of private banks, thus making the public pay the costs and draining yet more resources away from social programs".

Does Dr. Donovan agree with that?

Second, if the IMF therefore could be held responsible for encouraging moral hazard on behalf of the major international financial institutions by having them realise that they could be bailed out if they go over into a crisis, would it take any responsibility, some responsibility or none for this situation, the risks that were taken and the type of speculation that was allowed to develop of which witnesses like Professor Black here have evidence?