The introduction to Arvind Subramanian's new book Eclipse begins with a description of international economic events taking place during a future February 2021.
In a story designed to illustrate the changing balance of financial power in the global economy, Subramanian imagines a newly inaugurated US president en route to a meeting with the Chinese director of the IMF, where he will sign an agreement to get US$3 trillion in emergency financing in return for the US submitting to Fund conditionality.
Meanwhile, back in today's world, Eurozone leaders are reportedly hoping to set up a special fund, possibly managed by the IMF, to attract investment from cash-rich countries like China and Brazil to help out with the current crisis.
As William Gibson said, the future is already here, just unevenly distributed.
