Hampl's inconvenient truth

The destruction of hallowed institutions is part and parcel of the decline of a civilization. First we build them up by ignoring their flaws, and then we tear them down by suddenly discovering their true nature, regardless of whether it's the Catholic Church, Arthur Andersen, nuclear weapons, global warming or the IMF. Czech National Bank Vice Gov. Mojmír Hampl lashed out at the IMF last week, accusing it of fanning the crisis in Central Europe in order to drum up business for its country-rescue division. Although we're sympathetic to the charge - remember, we called the IMF a "corruption facilitator" - we can't judge whether the IMF was intentionally evil or "merely" incompetent. Unlike Lenka Zlámalová of LN, we also can't label Hampl a simple conspiracy theorist. Our take on Hampl is that he's a man with his own mind who has sensed that there's a growing market for inconvenient truths. It's a pity only that these truths weren't voiced earlier, when the disruption to the world order would have been less dramatic. [Czech Republic International Monetary Fund Lidové noviny]