LAGARDE

Purely by coincidence I watched a speech by Christine Lagarde, the MD of IMF on BBC this morning on board, as we cruise down the coast of Argentina in the South Atlantic. The theme was 'What is ahead for the IMF' and true to form she was articulate, strategic, substantive, and down right convincing as the gatekeeper of a not-so-easy to run global outfit. One single statement kept me thinking the rest of the day was ' ... channels that bring convergence in our world today can at the same time bring contagion'. Would you not agree? Lagarde targets the following as IMF's key challenges :

* Demographics - by 2020 there will be more people over 65 than people under 5 years of age.

* Environmental Degradation - those who caused it must pay for the abuse.

* Income Inequality - an issue with both developing and developed countries.

* Genre - the fact that 800 million (!) women are held back at schools, work places, board rooms and governments, they can be game changers.

* New Global Financial System - where the ethos is to serve rather than to rule.

Yes, it may be rainbows and blue skies but very good food for thoughts as well.