Rodrigo de Rato missed a chance to move the Fund away from its lack of transparency in management selection when he nominated US banker John Lipsky as his new deputy managing director. This maintains the convention of keeping the top two posts at the Fund split between Europe and the US. Lipsky, vice chairman of JP Morgan Investment Bank, worked at the Fund from 1974 to 1984, including as the country representative to Chile when it was under Pinochet’s rule. His statements show him as an ardent supporter of financial liberalisation. His prescription for unwinding the massive US current account deficit involves pushing the Chinese into “a flexible economic environment [by] trying to accelerate that process of financial liberalisation, both within the Chinese economy and eventually internationally.”

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