WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - An arrogant International Monetary Fund refused to listen to advice as Asia's financial crisis unfolded and must heed the message from protesters in Washington this week, a former top World Bank official said.
Former chief economist Joseph Stiglitz, writing in the April 17 edition of New Republic magazine, said he was appalled at how the IMF and the U.S. Treasury had responded to the world economic crisis of 1997-99.
"If the people we entrust to manage the global economy -- in the IMF and in the Treasury Department -- don't begin a dialogue and take criticisms to heart, things will continue to go very, very wrong," he wrote.
Stiglitz, a colorful and controversial figure, has long been critical of the international response to the financial crisis, which started in Thailand in the summer of 1997 and spread relentlessly around the globe.
He says the IMF was wrong to tell Asian countries to rein in spending at the start of the crisis, and was foolish to foist reforms on Russia without first ensuring that the infrastructure was there to make sure the reforms would work.
But the New Republic article expanded on these views, accusing the IMF of ignoring advice from outsiders and criticizing the caliber of IMF staff.
"The IMF likes to go about its business without outsiders asking too many questions," Stiglitz wrote.
"IMF experts believe they are brighter, more educated, and less politically motivated than the economists in the countries they visit. In fact, the economic leaders from those countries are pretty good -- in many cases brighter or better-educated than the IMF staff, which frequently consists of third-rank students from first-rate universities."
The article appeared at the start of a planned week of protests that the IMF and the World Bank ignore the needs of the poor in their lending and their policy recommendations.
The demonstrations started with a weekend rally calling for deeper debt relief for poor countries and continued on Monday with a handful of arrests of activists protesting the World Bank's environmental record.
The main events are scheduled for Sunday and Monday, when protesters vow to bring Washington grinding to a halt.
Stiglitz, who had infuriated U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers with his blunt comments, announced in late 1999 that he would leave the bank before his term expired because he wanted to be free to speak his mind
At the same time he expressed concern about falling research budgets at the bank, which is charged with development and poverty reduction around the world.:
