IMF's Lagarde, Who Blasted Tax Evaders, Pays No Taxes

IMF chief Christine Lagarde probably wants this one back: She infuriated Greeks last week by asserting that a big part of the nation's financial crisis is "all these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax." It's time for this nation of tax-dodgers to pay up, she declared. After getting bombarded by critics on Facebook, Lagarde walked back the criticism a bit, notes the New York Times. But today, the Guardian follows up with more fodder for her critics: LaGarde has to pay no taxes at all on her own $468,000 salary.

"I suppose we can have a discussion about why international organization employees shouldn’t pay taxes," writes David Dayen at Firedog Lake. "But the bigger issue is that Lagarde surely knew at the time of making comments about evil tax evaders that she paid no tax on her salary. This reeks of the attitude of one system for the little people, and one for the elites, which characterizes elite discourse in this day and age." (More Christine Lagarde stories.)