Current head of the Israeli Central Bank, Stanely Fischer, does appear to be on the short list for replacing DSK.
He is not "European" (in fact he was born in Zambia- or Northern Rhodesia as it was known then), but he is by no means outside the mainstream "US/EU" economists. An alumnus of the LSE and MIT, he is the author of two standard texts on macroeconomics for undergraduates and graduates (I and my colleagues have spent many hours working through Lectures on Macroeconomics prepping for qualifying exams), and was the PhD adviser to both Ben Bernanke (current head of our own little central bank) and Greg Mankiw.
If I was to choose the head of the IMF, he would be it. He doesn't have Gordon Brown's political baggage, and his qualifications far outshine other applicants from Turkey, Egypt, Mexico, Brazil, France, India, and Germany. And before you go all Richard Shelby on me and accuse him of being far too academic for a policy role, keep in mind Fischer has served as First Deputy Manager of the IMF, a vice chairman of Citigroup, and Vice President of the World Bank.
It would be a coup for the IMF. A prominent and successful economist who is not European, but certainly will follow the dollar/euro priority as if he was. But will the EU go for this? He doesn't fall into the stereotype as outlined in my last post, but I guess it depends on appearances. Is he too American for the Europeans? Too not American for the Americans? I would be very disappointed if he was passed up for Brown or Lagarde. But this is not just an economic and policy decision; its a political one. Now if he can just get to August without being arrested for some kind of violent crime...
But I'm on Team Fischer. Wonder if I can get a t-shirt for that?
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