Migrating here
This is LHommeDeDialogue, a new Ghost site by John McIntire, which is (slowly) migrating from that other place. My posts from that other place should all be available here and there will be new content soon.
Latest
A new Brady debt plan has already failed
“I’ve got a house that’s a show place/still I cant get no place with you” Readers may know the novels of Louis Begley Jr or the stories of John Cheever which portray lost worlds, times now as remote as those of Musil, when well-dressed men managed
How does the World Bank propose to rebuild Venezuela ?
“Whirl is king” — McGuane The World Bank has published a Venezuela reconstruction report in record time[1]. It is a valuable report. The Bank’s team deserves credit, as do the official, scientific, and civil society organizations who contributed. The report nonetheless suffers from several fatal weaknesses, as I will
Some MAGAts dont need to be paid
Seventeen months ago, I argued [1] that the Trump regime would let tariffs, spending cuts, and changes in institutions, regulations, and laws, as planned under Project 2025, fall wherever they happened. The regime’s planners gave little initial thought to distributional effects, probably assuming that their cultural base was strong
What do the IMF and the World Bank owe Venezuela ?
2026-07-04 Introduction Commentary is growing on the legal, procedural, and political aspects of restructuring Venezuela’s external debt1. That commentary works in something of an artistic void on the economic aspects, of which much is said and little is known. The FT reports (June 24, 2026) estimates of
Always be closing
On the false philanthropy of the AI barons
Facing reality on the debts of poor countries
Don’t say I never warned you
The Board of Peace is not the only problem at the World Bank
I thought that Mieko Nishimizu had retired the lifetime award for “highest ratio of vapid ambition to genuine accomplishment in an international organization” but she must accept second place (for now; this is a race in which the competition will always be fierce). Ajay Banga, who is, for the moment,
A brief economics quiz
The featured speakers for the World Bank’s 2026 Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) are like a quiz for third-graders … “Which of the four is not like the other ?” We see the distinguished World Bank Chief Economist, a Nobel winner, a likely Nobel winner, and a climate
A readership of one
How will this play down the street ?
Why is the IMF hiding its failure in Argentina ?
The Washington Post’s economic views have tended to follow neoliberal orthodoxy in the manner of Goldilocks, seeking a center that would attract serious readers without greatly disturbing the ignorance of the less serious ones. In the case of Argentina a 2018 editorial warned that country might be in “deep
Why is Ajay Banga still President of the World Bank ?
Money doesn’t talk, it swears – a Nobel Laureate
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What is the IMF doing in Argentina in 2026 ?
“In the end, there is no one who will drink with you to the bottom of the bowl” — Mailer
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More on why Senegal refuses to restructure its foreign debt
"The very rich are different from you and me" -- Fitzgerald
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Why is Senegal refusing to restructure its external debt ?
Wool comes not to market/sheep bringeth no gain with usura
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NIGERIA: How not to lend in an emergency
Nigeria’s US$3.4 Billion in IMF money and the Weakness of COVID-Era Governance
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Where are the IMF and the World Bank as Trump gives Maduro the boot ?
I have no idea who will run Venezuela after its recent change of management. I do know that whoever is in charge will need cash. Subscribe Why does Venezuela need cash when it has oil ? Venezuela needs cash to invest in oil production and to restructure its external debt. Just
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What do the IMF and the World Bank owe Senegal ?
There are exceptions to the rule that “Un mauvais arrangement vaut mieux qu’un bon procès »
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Milonga Triste
Argentina and the IMF
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The general rule of debt bailouts is—first, help the lenders
Then deal with the borrowers, maybe
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The mismanagement of international agricultural research harms global food security
It will continue until someone stops it
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What Hakeem Jeffries should have said
But didn't because he had some urgent fund-raising emails to send
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Climate finance and the World Bank
Does the World Bank bear any responsibility in the flood at Mokwa, Nigeria ?
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How Bill Gates can spend $200 billion in 2025
It’s easy if you try