What if the IMF prescription fails ?

I have waited for a while, I have read the various pronouncements from sector leaders, banking officials, economist , columnist, politicians and ordinary Jamaicans , who have all hailed this IMF deal the best thing for Jamaica at this time.

They have also commented that the Government should move forward and implement the painful policies being outlined by the IMF as their are no other options available to Jamaica at this time.

They have also said failure is NOT an option at this point in time. The failure I picked up from their comments, is more about not failing IMF set conditions and NOT about Jamaica failing as country in the broad sense should it turn out that IMF gave us the wrong “medication”.

The government on the other hand is moving to ensure that it does what is necessary to ensure we meet the various conditions and passes all the test, to ensure we can continue to get funding over the 4 yr life of the fund agreement with Jamaica.

So here is commonsenseja thinking, what if the policy prescription outlined by the IMF is the wrong one for the patient ?

How will we know that we are taking the wrong medication ?

If we eventually are smart enough to recognize that the medication is not addressing the underlying problem for the patient (Jamaica), is there another set of “medication?

What is the alternative ?

Is their a plan, should the IMF prescription fails ?

The problem with us Jamaicans is we don’t like to hear the bad news or we only like to hear from people who we think are on “our side” whatever that side is good, bad or ugly.

Commonsense is about providing a different and yet sometimes controversial direction, mostly the direct opposite of where everyone else head is turned at that point it time. I think its my duty to offer a different perspective to get people to think vs being robots and just parroting what someone else has written, which though it may be true in the purest form offers little of no help for the Jamaican situation.

Now we heard startling news that IMF PROVIDED GREECE WITH THE WRONG PRESCRIPTION !

Many commentators here in Jamaica dismissed any such suggestions a year or two ago and even this year, suggesting that the IMF has grown, they had learned from their mistakes in the 1970’s and 1980’s and now are as solid as it can get.

I would like to hear what they have to say about this latest report.

Also I would like an answer to my question in the title of the post

What if the IMF prescription fails ?

IMF ‘to admit mistakes’ in handling Greek debt crisis and bailout

Internal reports to suggest International Monetary Fund underestimated the damage austerity would cause to the eurozone country

The International Monetary Fund is to admit that it has made serious mistakes in the handling of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, according to internal reports due to be published later on Wednesday.

Documents presented to the Fund’s board last Friday will reveal that the Washington-based organisation underestimated the damage austeritywould cause to the eurozone country, which has required two bailouts in the past three years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jun/05/imf-admit-mistakes-greek-crisis-austerity