Person of the week.

Christine Lagarde, the French managing director of the International Monetary Fund, who brought some unaccustomed but welcome plain-speaking to the global economic crisis debate last week. She told Britain's government that it needed a Plan B to deal with its economic stagnation and in a Guardian interview she told the Greek people that they must pay their taxes if they want international assistance to continue. “The IMF will not soften its austerity measures,“ she said, “It's the mission of the Fund and it's my job to tell the truth.” (Ray Fleming)