On October 31, 1997, stunned Indonesians watched on television how Michael Camdessus, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stood with arms folded, looking down on President Suharto "signing away the fate" of Indonesia's economy to the IMF. Less than a year later, however, the IMF admitted that it had committed several blunders in its Indonesia program.

To this day, that agreement between Indonesia and the IMF, c