I.M.F. Puts Bank Losses From Global Financial Crisis at $4.1 Trillion

This number does not begin to cover over-all losses and monies pumped into economies to stimulate recovery.

I.M.F. Says Recovery Will Be Slow and Sluggish

Turkey Joins Ranks of Tigers

I'd thought of buying a Turkey fund, but pulled back; I think it was TKF -- which is down 24% in the last 7 months.

Turkey works with IMF.

Here is an interesting contrast of viewpoints: first, a secularist.

The opposition, flummoxed by AK Party's economic and electoral successes, has seized on issues like these to try to win back support. Onur Oymen, vice president of the staunchly secular CHP party, dismisses Mr. Simsek and other Westernized officials as window dressing. AK Party's ultimate goal, he believes, is an Islamic theocracy.

"You cannot have a short version of the Quran," he says. "They present themselves as representing modern life. It is just the opposite."

Then an opposite viewpoint:

Nonsense, says Cemil Ipekci, an openly gay Turkish fashion designer who wears gold earrings and assortments of flamboyant necklaces and bracelets. "They are not radical Islamists. They are conservative, yes, but not fanatics. Look at me, they socialize with me." He says he and his boyfriend attend state dinners and parties organized by AK Party ministers. The government-owned airline, Turkish Airlines, hired him to re-design its décor.

Cemil Ipekci is foun don the Web, of course; here is one picture of him. And a second one I found in google images. Not exactly a Muslim fundamentalist.




Thousands of Turks visit Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's mausoleum to protest the government plan to lift a ban on the Islamic headscarf in universities in February.

IMF: Action Needed to Avoid 'More Wrenching' Credit Woes

Ouch. Policy makers world-wide must act immediately to avoid a "more wrenching" credit crunch as potential losses from write-downs of bad debt approach $1 trillion, the International Monetary Fund said. Governments should be ready to help a troubled bank if it poses a "systemic threat," it said, though only if shareholders bear the "full brunt" of the failure and there is an exit strategy. The fund also recommended that governments "prepare contingency plans for dealing with large stocks of impaired assets if write-downs lead to disruptive dynamics and significant negative effects on the real economy."

Now, let me see if I can understand this: plan to deal with a lot of bad stuff if write offs lead to disruption and panic. Yeah, that's about it. Pretty serious stuff.

The IMF report.