Agustin Carstens, Mexico’s central bank chief and possibly Michael Moore’s long lost brother, is the first official nominee for the post held until last week by Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Since its inception in 1945, the IMF has had a European as its head (America got dibs on the World Bank spot). Now the EU governments are rallying around Christine Lagarde, France’s finance minister, to be Strauss-Kahn’s replacement. But Carstens may have strong allies, including China and South Africa, which have already expressed their desire for a non-European to have the top spot. Brazil is currently shying away from backing Carstens–Reuters reports that Brazilians find him “too orthodox“–but if their own central banker, Guido Mantega, does not enter the contest for the top spot this stance might appear childish.
Ultimately, the kingmaker will be the United States, as it holds the crucial voting shares that will be needed to appoint the IMF chief. I recommend reading Daniel McDowell’s World Politics Review Feature essay for a timely analysis of IMF operations in a time of growing South-South power.
