i do not think that the imf, and i will strain and make a comment about the world right. they should not be in the business of operating a single view on how the world should organize itself politically. we do need to be doing -- [no audio] for economic reforms to be sustainable, they have to be seen, to be inclusive, and to offer everyone an opportunity to participate. to talk about not just average numbers on growth rate, tunisian hat among the highest per capita growth rate. to also began to talk about how that growth is being shared and to talk about governance issues in ways you begin to point out if people do not have access to property rights or dispute resolution or finance regardless of their connections, those are important sources of vulnerability. i come back to it from the route of the imf which is macroeconomics, sustainability, and growth. without these things, you cannot sustain this. >> we have been part of missions as it happens with [unintelligible] to libya and tunisia, to egypt, helping these governments manage the situation. what do you think? >> i w

this makes the country more likely to turn to the eu and imf for help. >> other measures had to be taken, including revaluation of the currency, and that option is gone. >> british author goes to gaza to see for himself how children experience an adult war. >> out here on the waste land, icy screaming and shouting. moments later, a donkey cart comes rushing by. a young child lying bleeding inside. >> a debate with a friend from israel. after greece and ireland were forced to seek an eu bailout, many thought it would be portugal next. though the country's cost of borrowing has risen above 7%, so far, it has managed to avoid the fate of those other countries on the periphery of europe, but for how long? with 10 billion euros worth of borrowing ahead in the next four months, its minority socialist government, markets are once again nervous about portugal's health. our economics editor reports. >> when they write the history of the crisis at the edge of europe, it will be littered with scenes like this. there should be brand new homes for sale. the journey suddenly at a halt. welcome to port

the imf suggests that next year it will slow a bit to 4.4%.o 0.5% in the advanced countries with the u.s. at 3% in the euro zone at 1.5%. this suggests that the general mood is more optimistic than the imf. the second point i would make in the introduction is that this is a world economy and it has been a to speed world economy since the year 2000. i would put forward a number that been bernanke -- ben bernanke gave us. he pointed out that if you look back at what has happened to the gdp of the emerging world and the developed world since the beginning of 2005, the former has grown by roughly 45% and the advanced countries have grown by 5%. the final points, there are some very big risks and challenges which everybody knows about. is inflation a big risk? it is clearly a problem in a number of emerging countries. second question, what is going to happen to oil prices and events in the political sphere raise that regard. >> currency wars, there has been a lot of shift in global account balances, but there is a lot of concern that this will reve

the deal either with the eu and the imf was a bad deal. it doesn't work for ireland and it does work for the european union. it has to be changed. labour party said that deal was going to have to be changed. your party, your government, mr. cowen said the interest rate could not be changed. >> what about bonds holding? >> it is not fair and to to not sustainable that the irish taxpayer has to bail -- has to bear the full brunt of the decisions that were made. our european colleagues are already saying that there has to be a burden sharing with bondholders. i heard chancellor merkle said that publicly. we have moved into a space. the issue of burden sharing is already on the table. we have to negotiate the best way in the best interest of the irish people. >> i have made this point before. i have made clear we did have an obligation to insure -- >> they did not stick on the bonds totals. i want to make my point here we had an obligation to the working irish economy that we would protect the banking system. so the modern payment system would

you have the imf as a referee.ou have a provision in the wto that reflects the trade and exchange rates. these are the topics that you could move the process forward, it is an evolutionary force, but you could have productive results. the key thing where i see an added sensitivity from the developing countries is that the g-20 needs to proceed in a way that also recognizes attention for a non g-20 members. >> i would like to go on with this. we have a few other issues. we can always come back to this. there has been a significant crisis in the last year. many people have felt that the euro zone was behind the curve. people are much more optimistic this week. a sense that very strong statements have been made. very clear commitment and that seems to the change the mood about this. whether you think we have got to managing the crisis and what happens next? we know that there are discussion about longer-term reforms of these surveillance system. there is a lot of discussion of how the debt restructuring should occur.

mobility foundation in order to give out invesgation t prime minister made of the allegation that the imf was bullied into turning down its assessment of the dangers facing the u.k. economy? >> well, my honorable friend makes an incredibly important point which the imf was reporting on the state of the british economy and was arguing that we did have a structural deficit and it was a problem. but there's an attempt to gag them by the party opposite when they were in power because they did not want to own up to the mess they got this country into. and even now, they are still denying the fact that they left us with a dangerous fiscal deficit which is the cause of many of the problems we face today. >> jim sherman. >> the prime minister will be very aware of the concerns people have in relation to the coast guard. this week a cross-party deputation members met with coast guard officials. is the prime minister aware from the figures from bangor coast guard over this last year, 654 responses were done at that station and could one station could satisfactory handle ten times to the bangor coas

the world bank and the imf work g. 187. we can play part of the role but i think president sarkozy is going to the african union as well. it's critical because i think to go to some legitimacy of the g-2g-20g-20 would also have to effectiveness, at a certain topics where you can nudge along as christine said, but there are some that are targeted for action. i think the agricultural topic is one where is very important. we have financial safety nets. i think everybody here in dallas recognize there may be some need for food safety nets as we are headed forward. so we suggested that food first on the agenda. this has two different dimensions. one is a topic that has been discussed in president obama took leadership on which is the broader food security agenda. this is going to the question of all across the value chain with a number of private coverage are, how can we bring in the private sector connected agribusiness, take advantage of the increasing demand increase some opportunity. there's also the food price volatility is

that see you-imf field does two things. the ira's tax payer is reliable for the debt of the -- -- for the debt of the banks. it imposes an excessive interest rate on the irish people. it is being lent to island at a 3% interest premium. that is unfair and unsustainable. it is also putting a straitjacket on any government. if that happens, it will drive down the economy. it will prevent growth and jobs being created. and the european commission has acknowledged that it will cost 5 billion extra if we attempted to that in three years. it will have to be renegotiated across the street areas. we have to make sure that the banks bear responsibility for their investments and that the investments -- the interest rates are reduced. >> i will ask you to debate amongst yourselves in a moment. if you are really good seating this bill, you're the ones who negotiated it -- what is your strategy? >> anyone who is renegotiating this deal is not being honest with the irish people. i do not think it is frankfort's way or levers way. -- or l

and the imf. in the picture. furthermore, four weeks and, we were not told that the eu or the imf or anywhere on the scene. within the speaker of the week, at time when there were other countries in the firing line and when the bureau itself was in the firing line, -- when the euro itself was in the firing line, it does not work for the european union. it has to be changed. labour burris said the deal would have to be changed. your party coming toward government, your boss at the time said that the interest rates could not be changed. >> what about bondholders? >> on bondholders, it is not fair and it is not right for sustainable that the irish taxpayer has to bear the full cost in full but none of that that investment decisions made in the banking sector. >> our european colleagues are already saying that there has to be burden sharing with bondholders. i urged chancellor merkel to say that publicly. we have moved into a space where the issue of burden sharing with bondholders is already on the table. " we have

i do not think that the imf, and i will strain and make a comment about the world right. they should not be in the business of operating a single view on how the world should organize itself politically. we do need to be doing -- [no audio] for economic reforms to be sustainable, they have to be seen, to be inclusive, and to offer everyone an opportunity to participate. to talk about not just average numbers on growth rate, tunisian hat among the highest per capita growth rate. to also began to talk about how that growth is being shared and to talk about governance issues in ways you begin to point out if people do not have access to property rights or dispute resolution or finance regardless of their connections, those are important sources of vulnerability. i come back to it from the route of the imf which is macroeconomics, sustainability, and growth. without these things, you cannot sustain this. >> we have been part of missions as it happens with [unintelligible] to libya and tunisia, to egypt, helping these governments manage the situation. what do you think? >> i w

we want to send imf and we want to create jobs that have the best small country in which to do business and raise a family. we are the best small country to grow old with a sense of dignity and respect them in terms of leadership, what is required as honestly. >> in terms of leadership, what is required is honesty. we need the capacity to be radical and assess where we are we need to invite people from outside the political arena to serve in government. we want to enhance and strengthen the role of parliament. i want to unify people as well. we don't want to section -- would want to target special interest groups. targeton't want to special interest groups. >> in terms of leadership, all kind of leadership would you offer at this critical time that would be different from both of the man beside you? >> it is around values and the labor party values are centered on the idea of fairness. we are all equal. we should be treated in an equal and a fair way. whatever decisions we have to make a government should be done fairly. the second issue is that of good judgment. there will be moments i

imf radio but for all the offers i got to work for a big station in chicago. >> host: you may have been there and making history as the first black woman on radio, but your colleagues were not happy to have you there. >> guest: no. it was a big news department for a radio station, there were 14 of us reporters. they did not want me there. they were upset that i was there. they would think what is she coming for parks i have not worked my way up to a great big station in chicago at this time the second biggest market before los angeles grew and chicago was the second city. they resented the fact i was hired. day set out, i believe it was a conspiracy, out to make me fe o or mess up four have management have the excuse to get to rid of me like sending me to a news conference are being assigned a news conference that happened one hour before it was happening and coming back empty-handed having the news directors say, it sounded so lame, they told me, but that is where it was part of they would open the door and someone would make be stopped when i was doing. but i was giving a newscast and

the imf advice would be you need a medium-term fiscal framework. you need some very clear agreed upon rules, you need a bipartisan consensus, you need to say this is what we are going to do on tax reform and on medicare. social security is a problem, but that can be addressed in a relatively straightforward way. if medicare and medical costs explode compared with gdp. other countries, if they scored their medical spending like the cbo scores for us, we will see the problems in most of western europe, also, if that is consolation. if you had the rules that were agreed upon, then you have the flip side of the point david made about us not being a parliamentary democracy, it's not easy to change our rules. if you are locked into those rules in the u.s. constitutional framework, it will take a lot to undo them. you could lock into something 10 or 15 years down the road that the markets would respect which would be hard to undo. it's hard to get there, i understand. but that's from a global comparative perspective. the chinese president paid us a visit

johnson, you are the former chief economist at imf. nobody has a deeper understanding of global economics than you do. what could be your advice to this committee with respect to the question of how you deal with this in a systematic way? >> the imf the device would be focused at the immediate from work. you need a bipartisan consensus. you need to say, this is what we are going to do on tax reform. i can address some concerns in a straightforward way. compared with other countries like europe, they have the same problem. we might see the same problems in western europe as well. if you had the framework, the rules agreed upon, and then the flip side, it is not easy to change our rules. the market will know that it will take a lot to undo them. it is hard to undo in the markets. i think the chinese president's wants to see how his money is doing. other creditors will demand this kind of change as well. we should do it ourselves, now. [unintelligible] >> i hope very much when we deal with these opportunities this year, we are not just de

economic and political independence and sovereignty, that on the centenary of the year, we sent the imf home and our borrowing only four homes and job creation. you have the best small country to do business, the best small country to raise a family and the best small country in which to grow old with a sense of dignity and respect. >> in terms of leadership, what is required is honesty in terms of the issues we put before the people and in terms of one job and one task. another fundamental aspect is the capacity to be radical and a decision that reflect on where we are and make radical decisions, such as fundamentally changing the way we do politics in this country. to change our electrical -- to change our electors -- our electoral system and enhance the role of parliament. the capacity to embrace the radical -- i would do so again as leader of the country and to unify people and not to be targeting the special-interest groups but rather build consensus in terms of the future of this country. building that consensus, what we did before, rebuild and recover our society, which we can do

you know, you can't have the imf involved with the us. i mean, the us is much bigger.t's the reserve currency. it can't go to wheelbarrows of dollars like in germany in the '20s. or can it? - oh, sure it could. absolutely. it could. it's not likely. i think there are a lot of sensible people in the united states; they're just not very visible these days. but they'll emerge when things really get bad. but certainly there's no pressure on the americans to do anything about their deficit now. interest rates are really low, the dollar's fairly firm, inflation is low--published inflation--and so the americans are able to finance these gargantuan deficits and spiralling debt ratios relatively easily, so, you know, they can say, "where's the pressure to change?" - and should we go back--if we're going back, maybe we can't find the age of innocence again, but some basic principles, it seems to me, would be good: having less of a consumer-driven economy, more of a production and export-driven economy--the us was once a great exporter, and so on, and ran huge trade surpluses. is

this goes back to what they were talking about in terms of economic reform and the imf plans in the 1990's. in terms of public education will list some things we might associate with benefits that might accrue from a state in terms of public education and health care. a state services have been abysmal for decades. the salaries of teachers and doctors are at the sub level. some hospitals are at the risk to public health. the arabic word for a hospital is "you will not get better." was some of the highest pollution rates, it is not is a prize that egyptians suffered huge rate of cancer and kidney disease. some of the highest in the world. road fatalities remain a leading cause of debt. -- death. sorry about this. tuesday that -- to say that infrastructure has been crumbling under mubarak is not a metaphor. it is literally the case. egypt has been collapse since the early 1990's. to give an event that really brought this home, a 5.9 degree earthquake hit cairo in december 1992. the reader is anything people were killed. -- 373 people were killed. a corrupt system of building permit meant t

going in and band-aiding a political crisis or going to the imf and saying, please, give them more law is really not what's going to cut it. two minutes. organizers' privilege? be another minute. [laughter] two more. you know, i could talk about terrorism and extremism, but i think the point should be clear. on terrorism i just mention this, just think about if pakistan goes after all the militant groups as many in pakistan and be outside are asking it. the country will seem as if it's imploding from within. for months if not a year or two before they come out on top. if we think that -- and then punjab will happen and something else will happen and the country will remain stable, we're sadly mistaken. it's going to be a very chaotic place when pakistan actually takes those steps. so let me come, then, to the million dollar question. this is the fundamental question that i want to throw out: does pakistan have the space to go through this process? or is its special place in international politics going to deny it this luxury? because we're so microscopically focused on this country, bo

none of them will be a bill to dodge the responsibility for driving ireland into the arms of the imf. i have listened to the people. i have understood the death of the anger felt by people all over the country, people who have -- the depth of anger felt by people over the country, people who have lost their jobs. that anger will not get ireland working again. that is why we offer people the chance to turn that anger into action. we say, please come and work for us. we have a plan to get arlin working. -- to get ireland working. it is effective to get people working, to get government working. right now public ireland is not working. if they are lucky enough to still have a job, people are working harder than ever, coming up with their plans. have our entrepreneurs who run out of ideas and, they are full of more of them, more brilliant than ever. the trouble is well our ministers have a double job or triple job, government is just not working. the systems people depend on are just not working, or they are not working as well as they should be in the people's interests. with our plan to

in the last couple of days, we saw the imf publicly coming out and saying the dollar, not so much anymore. i attribute that to the last couple of years. do you think the president -- the present administration is putting us into that situation? >> this administration is putting that in that possess some starting with the debt. if we had not run up the amount of debt we have run up in the last two years, nobody would be talking about changing to another currency as the reserve currency for other currencies around the world. it starts with our debt. the fact that we have $4 trillion in the national debt compared to what was run up under george bush, it is out of control and the american people know that. china is basically testing the waters. they know that they own more of our debt than any other country in the world. think about that. that is a national security issue. not only are they putting more of our debt, now they want to propose their currency as the reserve currency. that is dangerous. here is how we fight the problem. bring down the debt and supercharge the economy. if our econo

going in and ban dating the political process or going to the imf and saying -- is not what is going to happen. two minutes. organizers probe which. [laughter] two more, okay. you know i could talk about terrorism and extremism but i think the point should be clear, just think about if pakistan goes after all the militant groups as many in pakistan outsider asking it. the country will seem as if it is imploding from within. for months, if not a year or two, before they come out on top. the country will remain stable, we are sadly mistaken. will be a very chaotic place when pakistan takes the steps. select become through this is does pakistan have the space to go through this process? or is a special place in international politics going to deny it this luxury? because we are so microscopically focused on this countries i mentioned every political crisis requires require something to be done. both by the pakistani elite and the people outside who are concerned about pakistan and have an interest. i ask this question especially because of you look at the track record, the pakistani pol

we will be starting off with the imf eu deal.ets in, that is the first thing you have to deal with. if you had the option to negotiate a better deal, eamon gilmore, what would your plan be? >> first of all it needs to be renegotiated, because it does not work. first of all, it leaves the average taxpayer completely responsible for the debts of the banks. that is not fair and it will not work. secondly, it imposes an excessive interest rate on the irish people. at a 3% interest premium, it is putting a straitjacket on any future government in terms of budgetary strategy that would have to be done within three years. if that is attempted, it will drive down the economy, prevent growth from happening, and jobs from being created. the european commission itself has acknowledged it will cost extra if we try to do that within three years. how can we be negotiators across those areas, making sure that banks and bondholders bear the responsibility for those investments, interest rates are reduced, and we are given space. >> we will ask y

and, in fact, there is some evidence, there's been some doubt cast on by some recent work at the imf, when a country announces that it sort taken the tough medicine, that you can get kind of a near-term celebration. one way to think about it would be this, that right now that rhino is talk about how u.s. corporations are reporting their cash and not -- porting their cash. one reason they might be hoarding that cash is they're looking at $1.6 billion deficits and thinking at some point they're going to come to me to pay for that, and with future taxes necessary going up with the deficit, then why should i be investing right now so that i would just have stuff in place that the government can take. they can sort of be more optimistic and they can unleash a flood of capital right away. the evidence is that those effects can really be quite strong, and there's literature even, the title, the non-keynesian effects of fiscal consolidation. something of a puzzle to economist, why we have fiscal consolidation in the near term you can get some growth. i've been looking very carefully at the se

there will be -- this is a decision made in the european union, a lengthening of the debt we have today imf and the european union there've been discussions about the terms of the loan also. these are in the pipeline. all will be positive, and at the same time, i would say that we have to see you have mentioned the growth scenario in the european union, which is on the one hand a new confidence by the markets towards our country but it also is i would say using a number of methods, the eurobond. this is something that generally people have approved of as methods of investing in projects and particularly into a greener europe which i think is very important. >> up we have growth you can see on the graph that the debt will come down quite quickly. >> we will come back to the green question in a minute. neck, a british respective here where essentially you have taken a calculated gamble or a calculated decision to act early and decisively to reduce the deficit to try and get ahead of the market to head off any loss of confidence in the bond market. perhaps you could explain the thinking. >> as

we don't have to borrow from the world bank or the imf with interest rates.can borrow from ourselves at zero interest rates. if you're making $1 million per day, you still keep that percentage of tax bracket. i don't understand why we talk about the tax bracket. it does not make sense and we have to keep improving this country like it was a business. you don't improve the country by cutting health and manufacturing. you bring it back with smart money and you don't do it on borrowed money that you have to pay the interest on. host: iowa, democrats, what do you think? you think?

the entire financial sector including now the withdrawal, potential withdrawal of the imf deals.timate about the population. just referring to the 2009, 2010 elections, the cycle of elections for this last parliamentary election is not yet over. he's also prone to lashing out at the international community for what we're trying to do, and those fundamental disagreements hurt the strategy, and the lack of trust goes both ways. there's a transition time set in lisbon and that's a time for 2014 which is obviously by any standard to short of time for a modern democratic state to emerge, and even if it was a lightened leadership, it would not be possible in that timeline to create a strong central state that provides security and justice for all the people. so, what's the answer? i would say in 2005, i would have argued it's strategic patience. we just have to stay longer, stay the course, and think about decades long commitment in afghanistan which may still be correct, but i think the question now is to do what? certainly, i wouldn't advocate doing the same as what we're doing now f

this is to respond both to the i imf and their own internal needs. this is that step-by-step, if you will, slicing the salami that is to democratic policies around the world. it's slow, it's complicated, but it's hitting in the right direction and it's very, very different than what i was there in 2004 and 2005. >> general, how do you -- can you give us a sort of stronger personalized kind of evaluation, if you will, of the capacity of the iraqi army to respond, particularly -- i mean, most of the games that we've made, i gather, have been special forces operations jointly. backed up, obviously, by everything else but the ability to sort of neutralize al qaeda at this point in time. in the absence of our lead on that, can you share with the committee what it is, on a personal level, gut level that gives you a sense, maybe some examples of the kinds of things that may have even surprised you about iraqi capacity that gives you a sense, that without our presence, they can hold on to those gains? >> well, thank you, senator. and as you know, this is my

was stuck to chairman warner, one who will continue in spain and portugal on the adequate side of the imf, which this community really needs to work on. >> senator akaka. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and congratulations on being chairman. good morning to our witnesses. your agencies have worked late on implementing this law. your efforts i would say have a large part been prompt, thorough and transparent and we do appreciate that. before we begin, i'd like to thank you speech for your leadership and recognize your stats for the extraordinary efforts. chairman shapiro, i was pleased that the commission staff study on obligations of broker-dealers and investment advisers. i'm also encouraged by the recommendations in favor of the human uniform fiduciary. i know an area you have an interest in, so i have two questions for you. first is how can confusion at the very obligations of financial professionals harmed investors, taking advantage of the base? and second is how can a uniform fiduciary's pandered reduce investors caused and improve performance? >> thank you, senator. and they

we're going to -- we are working with the world bank and imf and the african development bank and the european investment bank, eu and arab funds. we expect to have support that is higher than normal. it is something that is expected that should be dealt with and we hope to do that. we are organizing a conference by the end of march, early april to, it is not a donors' conference. we will talk about political reform as well private-sector role and public sector contribution. that is where we have to mobilize. it is something on the donor funding search. we are expecting the private sector to come in and investment to come in to create jobs and to develop the capacity of the country. also, we expect the support of the enforcement of the political institutions and political system. there is lots of needs on that level. going from organizing elections to helping political competition take place and helping the media. needs andalo lot of we're working with our partners. >> thank you. let's widen it to the region. let me ask the question, we talked about unemployment and technology as the

there will be -- this is a decision made in the european union, a lengthening of the debt we have today imf and the european union there've been discussions about the terms of the loan also. these are in the pipeline. all will be positive, and at the same time, i would say that we have to see you have mentioned the growth scenario in the european union, which is on the one hand a new confidence by the markets towards our country but it also is i would say using a number of methods, the eurobond. this is something that generally people have approved of as methods of investing in projects and particularly into a greener europe which i think is very important. >> up we have growth you can see on the come back to the green question in a minute. neck, a british respective here where essentially you have taken a calculated gamble or a calculated decision to act early and decisively to reduce the deficit to try and get ahead of the market to head off any loss of confidence in the bond market. perhaps you could explain the thinking. >> as you can imagine i bridle the characterization of what was a

pakistan will have difficulty accepting more money because it wouldn't be able to pay the imf back. the basic principle is it is a short to medium term linder to paid back so others -- i don't believe there's currently a division or political will, or the economic team knows it has to be made and they are ready to make those reforms but there's no support in parliament. in this chaos and confusion and for those that know me well in washington, i am accused of being an optimist. i am finding it difficult to retain that optimism and less -- this is my big thing, there's an internal effort for these issues. and start looking outside the solutions. we are at a critical juncture. pakistan cannot, the domestic and sri regional pressures. domestic pressures are not just economic. and militancy. the regional pressures whether we like it or not u.s. policy board those in other countries are not heavily tied. domestically the issue is a transition which is going badly. the eighteenth amendment, financing a very good idea but there was no capacity to actually implement the national finance awa

the entire financial sector including now the withdrawal, a potential withdrawal of the imf deal.itically we are hobbled by a president who is being increasingly the legitimate by the pop -- population to register for into the 2009-2010 election. this last parliamentary election is not yet over. he is also prone to lashing out at the international community for what we are trying to do. fundamental disagreements on aspects of the strategy and a lack of trust that goes both ways. there is a transition time line that was set in lisbon, and that is the transition for 2014, which is obviously by any standard too short a time for a modern democratic state to emerge. and even if there was a very enlightened and reformed line of afghan, it would not be possible in that time line to create a strong central state which provides security and justice for all the people. so what is the answer? i would say in 2005i would have argued it is strategic patience. we just have to stay longer, stay the course. think about our decades-long commitment and afghanistan which may still be correct. i think

the imf and assumption should be made available to the public.second, stabilize public-sector pension systems. there to pay what has been promised while minimizing the burden on taxpayers, states should consider freezing or reducing the cost-of-living adjustment and the current defined benefit plans. increasing the retirement age, increasing contributions from workers, and importantly, close the defined benefit plan and move workers to defined contribution plans. the last reform would allow workers more flexibility, shift the risk away from taxpayers and and the political and fiscal manipulation of the worker benefits, which turned what was the best to be a safe investment for the public sector workers into a gamble for both employees and taxpayers. accurate accounting will enable the states to move the tree tops necessary today and to delay would insure the big problem turns into a crisis by decade's end. thank you. i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, ms. norcross. ms. lav? >> mr. chairman, mr. quigley, members of the committee, than

the imf released a report that concluded the united states is falling behind on a promise it made tor top economic countries to have it's budget deaf is the by 2013. let's get to the bigger issue. which is that i've heard you today talk about the importance of lowering the tax rate, broadening the base. i've heard you today talk about the importance of entitlement reform. i agree with you. but the budget doesn't do this. until we can have a debate that is removed from this rhetoric, it's going to be difficult to discuss policy issues. the exact point that i made to the omb director yesterday. we have to be able to move past the rhetoric which is have a discussion on policy. let me ask you a specific question on math which that i've heard the term sustainable deficit. i've heard you talk about trying to stabilize it. 3% of gdp is not the critical number. it's the ratio that's more important. which is the ratio between the size of the debt, excuse me be more clear the size of the deficit, and the growth of the gdp. i'm concerned that over all of this budget with the exception of 2014 a

in recent years the empty bluffs, the site of the development projects sponsored by the imf and other international economic actors encouraged fierce real estate speculation and development for elite housing. new homes for elites were -- who were seeking to flee the crowded city began to be built. new gated communities went up along with all the trappings of good life. local residents had complained that water seepages through the cliffs began soon after the development began weakening the soil and rocks in the neighborhoods -- above the neighborhood of dumayqua and when the neighborhood caught international attention even amnesty international got involved because it was clear to them that some of this had to do with buildings schemes sponsored by the government which is to say some of the ruling cronies, the government finally initiated an investigation. the cause they later determined was fate. all of this raised the important points, what benefits has the state brought most egyptians under mubarak's rule? the historian of egypt, a colleague of ours at george mason university has r

the imf constrain for the u.s. government obvious reasons. i'd like to channel those experience and the sentiments that you would hear from them. they are worried. they think that you face the potential issue with the u.s. debt particularly as international investors shift around the world in the europe and asia. i think your citation of bill gross is spirally appropriate and exactly right. my recollection though mr. gross who was in no way responsible was at the front calling for various kinds of bailouts and calling for the public sector to use it's balance sheet to support the financial sector and prevent the second great depression. we can check the record. i'm sure that's where it was. that moment, his advise was fairly appropriate. now we see people like himself people who are speaking appropriate levels and yield at reasonable and acceptable levels of risk. they start to look elsewhere and start to press us. i absolutely think that the chairman put the emphasis in the right place at the beginning. saving the financial sector given the

the need that money that was living in people's private accounts to cover their deficit that, and the imf actually approved of that on the basis that there was went to help them get out of the debt problems. some countries cut the contributions. this was a more frequent solution. others have made participation voluntary, but i think it's fair to say that the privatized pension systems have been badly hit and destabilized by the financial crisis. u.s. private pensions as was mentioned before are also in crisis. those people who have private pension accounts of the various types know that they have been dramatically reduced balances. there was a joke going on about 401k becoming a 201k, and i've seen that in my own family. the -- there's also the problem discussed before that there is general in adequate that's going to result in the baby boom generation perhaps more than others. at the same time, because of the broad fiscal crisis of the government will only in the united states model for the world governments are having serious problems meeting their obligations, and i will speak about eu

the entire financial sector including now the withdrawal, a potential withdrawal of the imf deal. politically we are hobbled by a president who is being increasingly the legitimate by the pop -- population to register for into the 2009-2010 election. this last parliamentary election is not yet over. he is also prone to lashing out at the international community for what we are trying to do. fundamental disagreements on aspects of the strategy and a lack of trust that goes both ways. there is a transition time line that was set in lisbon, and that is the transition for 2014, which is obviously by any standard too short a time for a modern democratic state to emerge. and even if there was a very enlightened and reformed line of afghan, it would not be possible in that time line to create a strong central state which provides security and justice for all the people. so what is the answer? i would say in 2005i would have argued it is strategic patience. we just have to stay longer, stay the course. think about our decades-long commitment and afghanistan which may still be correct. i t

was stuck to chairman warner, one who will continue in spain and portugal on the adequate side of the imf, which this community really needs to work on. >> senator akaka. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and congratulations on being chairman. good morning to our witnesses. your agencies have worked late on implementing this law. your efforts i would say have a large part been prompt, thorough d transparent and we do appreciate that. before we begin, i'd like to thank you speech for your leadership and recognize your stats for the extraorinary efforts. chairman shapiro, i was pleased that the commission staff study on obligations of broker-dealers and investment advisers. i'm also encouraged by the recommendations in favor of the human uniform fiduciary. i know an area you have an interest in, so i have two questions for you. first is how can confusion at the very obligations of financial professionals harmed investors, taking advantage of the base? and second is how can a uniform fiduciary's pandered reduce investors caused and improve performance? >> thank you, senator. and they do

the entire financial sector including now the withdrawal, a potential withdrawal of the imf deal.olitically we are hobbled by a president who is being increasingly the legitimate by the pop -- population to register for into the 2009-2010 election. this last parliamentary election is not yet over. he is also prone to lashing out at the international community for what we are trying to do. fundamental disagreements on aspects of the strategy and a lack of trust that goes both ways. there is a transition time line that was set in libon, and that is the transition for 014, which is obviously by any standard too short a time for a modern democratic state to emerge. and even if there was a very enlightened and reformed line of afghan, it would not be possible in that time line to create a strong central state which provides securitand justice for all the people. so what is the answer? i would say in 2005i would have argued it is strategic patience. we just have to stay longer, stay the course. think about our decades-long commitme and afghanistan which may still be correct. i think the

was stuck to chairman warner, one who will continue in spain and portugal on the adequate side of the imf, which this community really needs to work on. >> senator akaka. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and congratulations on being airman. good morning to our witnesses. your agencies have worked late on implementing this law. your efforts i would say have a large part been prompt, thorough and transparent and we do appreciate that. before we begin, i'd like to thank you speech for your leadership and recognize your stats for the extraordinary efforts. chairman shapiro, i was pleased that the commission staff study on obligations of broker-dealers and investment advisers. i'm also encouraged by the recommendations in favor of the human uniform fiduciary. i know an area you have an interest in, so i have two questions for you. first is how can confusion at the very obligations of financial professionals harmed investors, taking advantage of the base? and second is how can a uniform fiduciary's pandered reduce investors caused and improve performance? >> thank you, senator. and they do

this is to respond both to the i imf and their own internal needs. this is that step-by-step, if you will, slicing the salami that is to democratic policies around the world. it's slow, it's complicated, but it's hitting in the right direction and it's very, very dierent than what i was there in 2004 and 2005. >> geral, how do you -- can you give us a sort of stronger personalized kind of evaluation, if you will, of the capacity of the iraqi army to respond, particularly -- i mean, most of the games that we've made, i gather, have been special forces operations jointly. backed u obviously, by everything else but the ability to sort of neutralize al qaeda at this point in time. in the absence of our lead on that, can you share with the committee what it is, on a personal level, gut level that gives you a sense, maybe some examples of the kinds of things that may have even surprised you about iraqi capacity that gives you a sense, that without our presence, they can hold on to those gains? >> well, thank you, senator. and as you know, this is my third

and the imf actually approved of that on the basis that that was going to help them get out of theirdebt problems. some countries cut their contributions to individual accounts. this was a more frequent solution, estonia, poland. others made participation voluntary. but i think it's fair to say that the privatized pension system's been very badly hit and destabilized by the financial crisis. u.s. private pensions, as was also mentioned before, are also in crisis. those people who have private pensions accounts of various types know there have been dramatically reduced balances. there was this joke going around about 401(k)s becoming 201ks, and i've scene that in -- seen that in my own family. there's, also the problem was discussed before that there's just, in general, inadequate retirement income as a result of that. that's going to effect the baby boom generation perhaps more than others. at the same time, because of the broader fiscal crisis of the government not only in the united states, but really around the world governments are having serious problems meeting their obligation