INTERNATIONAL VIP MISBEHAVIOR
(when you can run on O.P.M….anything goes)

The arrest in New York City of Mr. Strauss-Khan, head of the IMF, on charges of attempted rape of a hotel chambermaid, is more than just scandalous misbehavior by an international VIP. It illustrates how such misbehavior seems to be predicated on the idea that when you can run on O.P.M. (living it up with three thousand per night hotel suites, and other perks) anything goes. But let’s hope that his arrest by New York’s authorities will now disabuse others of his ilk of that idea.

Yet, there is a greater concern than just scandalous personal misbehavior here, and that is what impact such a sorry episode has on the IMF as an institution. The IMF is the global community’s most important financial mechanism for development and trade. Its policy decisions on funding these can either help or hinder any nation’s maximization of its economic potentials. Thus, the head of it is one of the most powerful persons in the world. So when that top official of the IMF becomes the principal in a criminal case of this kind, the IMF institution’s credibility is affected, especially among those nations which look to its funding for their development projects.

There’s also an interesting irony here. Mr. Strauss-Khan is a hard core Socialist, yet, here he is heading up the world’s leading capitalist institution, and behaving like any capitalist bon-vivant with a no-limit expense account. Apparently, just because one wears socialist-pink underwear, doesn’t mean one can’t enjoy a capitalist life-style.

Well, perhaps all of this simply proves the old adage….power corrupts….and absolute power corrupts….absolutely. In Mr. Strauss-Khan’s case it’s moral corruption…rather than financial….but why nitpick?

CENTURION