Both Hoy and El Caribe newspapers carried stories on the feasibility and advisability of dollarizing the Dominican Republic’s economy. Mario Mendez, the editor of Hoy’s economic section, reported that the IMF has done little to calm nerves in the money market and points to a report in the Wall Street Journal written by Mary Anastasia O’Grady, which quoted the arguments of economist Victor Canto. Canto favors converting the Dominican economy to a dollar base because the exchange rate could no longer be tampered with. According to data picked up from the Intelligence Unit of the Economist, “the (Dominican) government has raised taxes hoping to close the fiscal gap, but it is not clear whether it will have the political willpower to reduce expenditures. After a 3.2% contraction in 2003, the economy will undergo a further 0.7% contraction in 2004, while inflation eats away at the purchasing power of the peso and high interest rates and lack of confidence limit investments.” According to Canto, the chief benefit of a dollarized economy would be to eradicate what he calls “money mischief” wrought by the politicians. El Caribe headlined the news that the United States would support a dollarized economy in the DR. Quoting John Taylor, a Treasury Department Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, El Caribe says that if the DR wishes to move to a dollar standard, the US Treasury would be happy to lend a hand. El Caribe also points out that so far this year the Dominican economy has seen a 50% inflation rate and a 100% devaluation of the peso. The article picks up additional commentaries from leading business representatives who say their prices are indexed to the exchange rate for the dollar but are still shown in pesos.