EU Economist Olli Rehn Furious that IMF Admits Mistakes in European Policy Towards Greece

Apparently Admitting Obvious Mistakes is Not Part of the European Union’s Policy

The International Monetary Fund, part of a troika of European policy makers that have imposed massive austerity on countries like Greece, austerity that has resulted in the devastation of those nation’s economies, has admitted that it was wrong. 

The International Monetary Fund admitted to errors of judgment in its handling of the 2010 bailout in an internal report released on Wednesday—a report in which it also took a few shots at one of its partners in the negotiations, the European Commission.

This has infuriated the people who claim never to be wrong about austerity, because they believe the policy is correct as a matter of faith, regardless of the actual impact of the policy on growth, employment and economic activity.

A spokesman for the commission, which serves as the European Union's executive arm, flatly rejected the criticism on Thursday, and on Friday, EU Economics Commissioner Olli Rehn himself fired back.

"I don't think it's fair and just that the IMF is trying to wash its hands and throwing the dirty water on European shoulders," Mr. Rehn said at a conference in Helsinki, using unusually tough language.

Now we all like the language and images of the “washing its hands and throwing the dirty water on European shoulders’ but one has to wonder exactly what Mr. Rehn thinks was the result of the disastrous decisions to destroy Greece, Portugal, Spain et. cetera in order to save them. 

Here are the results for Greece.  Anyone see anything to brag about?