hristine Lagarde, the current head of the International Monetary Fund, has decided to leave that post to become head of the European Central Bank. This leaves a vacancy to be filled at the IMF. The IMF plays a major role in the economies of developing countries and has been accused of pushing austerity policies at the expense of people’s welfare, policies that have harmed the poor and led to destabilization of nations.

Donald Trump has been relentlessly pushing his daughter Ivanka to play major roles in world affairs in areas where she has absolutely no expertise. She has been like the precocious child whose doting father insists on inserting into meetings of adults and demanding that people listen to her prattling. When the post of World Bank president fell vacant, Trump considered nominating her “because she’s very good with numbers” because, you know, being able to use a calculator is the chief qualification for that job. Ultimately, his advisors persuaded him that it might be a bad idea.

So it would not surprise me in the least if he immediately thought of her for the vacant IMF post. Although there are no fixed rules, typically the head of the World Bank has been an American while the head of the IMF has been a European, though other countries outside those regions with emerging strong economies are increasingly challenging that US-Europe hegemony. But who cares about what is typical? We are now in the era where it is the needs of Trump and his family that must be first met.