Bono says ‘amoral’ capitalism needs taming

Irish rock band U2 singer Bono (L) reacts as International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde shows an IMF report during a session pannel at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, on Jan 23, 2019 in Davos, eastern Switzerland. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)

• The U2 singer said he had changed his view about the IMF
• He said more people had benefited from capitalism

DAVOS, Switzerland: U2 front man, Bono, has said that capitalism is not immoral: “It’s amoral.”
Speaking at the World Economic Forum, the Irish singer, who has been a prominent campaigner on development issues for decades, said capitalism had taken more people out of poverty than “any other ism” but that “it is a wild beast and if not tamed it can chew up a lot of people on the way.”
Those who have not benefited from capitalism are, he said, driving “the politics in our home toward populism.”
Bono also said he’s had a change of heart with regard to the International Monetary Fund, an institution he once considered to be the “Great Satan” for its “bullying of junior economies.”
Heaping praise on IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde, Bona said the IMF has changed.
The development community, he said, values Lagarde’s “tough mindedness” but he added he would still be on her “case.”