The race to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the helm of the International Monetary Fund has started in earnest. On Wednesday, Christine Lagarde, finance minister of France, declared her intention to become the IMF’s next managing director. European capitals have quickly fallen into lockstep behind her candidacy. But for all Ms Lagarde’s qualities, it would serve neither Europe nor the IMF if she won the position by a fait accompli as Europeans are hoping.
Leading emerging powers have taken umbrage at the Europeans’ haste in claiming the position for one of their own – after promises that it would no longer be an Old World fiefdom. Executive directors representing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa called for “the most competent person being appointed regardless of his or her nationality”. In this they are right, of course. Whether it will in fact transpire depends largely on the Brics nations themselves coming up with a suitable candidate.
Some of Ms Lagarde’s supporters point to the fact that the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and rescue loans constitute the IMF’s biggest undertaking and most complex challenge. This is true, though one cannot underestimate the importance of the IMF’s other challenges, such as global macroeconomic flows, currency instability, or macroeconomic surveillance in an age of sickly financial sectors.