Why is it so hard for the IMF and the U.S. government to understand that putting out the fire comes before fireproofing the building?

The IMF is set up to deal with liquidity crises.

Government buffer-stock schemes are rife with politics, and instead of generating profits from buying low and selling high, they tend to generate losses.

When Ronald Reagan was elected president for his first term in 1980, he received strong support from the so-called Sagebrush Rebels. The Rebels wanted lands owned by the federal government to be transferred to state governments.

It turns out that the rich are much better placed to feed at the public trough. The poor get crumbs.

I don't understand why they are so keen to stay in the IMF.