Regarding Kevin Rafferty's May 26 article, "Japan: the silent IMF partner": It really doesn't matter whether the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund is a French woman or a Bushman, so long as either shares the ideology of the IMF-World Bank — that only unbridled capitalism can bring growth and prosperity and that state-directed planning is nothing short of stupidity on the part of bleeding-heart liberals.

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn proved that French socialists are no less capitalististic than American or British conservatives. The IMF-World Bank needs fresh ideas that cannot come either from former employees of these institutions or from financial experts or administrators of major institutions in Europe, Asia or the United States. Only an academic who thinks out of the box and sympathizes with the real people of the world — not just financial market players — is suitable for the job.

Look what we've had in the past: a finance professor from the temple of capitalism, the University of Chicago, as the World Bank's chief economist; and financial experts from Wall Street and warmongers from the Kennedy administration and the Bush administration as chiefs of the World Bank and IMF. One may wonder what any of them has done for the rich or poor countries.

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

dipak basu