-Caveat Lector- > Corporate Globalization and the Poor > By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > > George Bush has thrown down the gauntlet, issuing a public challenge > to > the anti-corporate globalization movement. When hundreds of thousands > last > month demonstrated against the G-8 meeting of rich country leaders in > Genoa, Italy, George Bush decried the activists, saying it was the > advocates of corporate globalization who genuinely are seeking to > advance > the interests of the world's poor. > > It's not enough to mock Bush's pretension of being a defender of the > poor > by pointing out that, through his giant tax cut, the president has > overseen one of the history's great transfers of wealth to the rich > in > U.S. history. Critics must respond to his claims. > > Unfortunately, that turns out to be a remarkably easy challenge to > meet. > The last 20 years of corporate globalization, even measured by the > preferred indicators of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and > World > Bank, have been a disaster for the world's poor. > > Over the last two decades, Latin America has experienced stagnant > growth, > and African countries have seen incomes plummet. The only developing > countries that have done well in the last two decades are those Asian > countries that ignored the standard prescriptions of the IMF and > World > Bank. > > The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research > (CEPR) > has published compelling data comparing growth rates from 1980 to > 2000 > (during the period of ascending IMF/World Bank power, when countries > throughout the developing world adhered to the IMF/Bank structural > adjustment policy package of slashing government spending, > privatizating > government-owned enterprises, liberalizing trade, orienting economies > to > exports and opening up countries to exploitative foreign investment) > with > the previous 20 year period (when many poor countries focused more on > developing their own productive capacity and meeting local needs). > > The results: "89 countries -- 77 percent, or more than three-fourths > -- > saw their per capita rate of growth fall by at least five percentage > points from the period (1960-1980) to the period (1980-2000). Only 14 > countries -- 13 percent -- saw their per capita rate of growth rise > by > that much from (1960-1980) to (1980-2000)." > > CEPR found that the growth slowdown has been so severe that "18 > countries > -- including several in Africa -- would have more than twice as much > income per person as they have today, if they had maintained the rate > of > growth in the last two decades that they had in the previous two > decades. > The average Mexican would have nearly twice as much income today, and > the > average Brazilian much more than twice as much, if not for the > slowdown of > economic growth over the last two decades." > > A follow-up CEPR study used a similar methodology to look at social > indicators. CEPR found that progress in reducing infant mortality, > reducing child mortality, increasing literacy and increasing access > to > education has all slowed during the period of corporate > globalization, > especially in developing countries. > > The CEPR global comparisons across time show the bottomline, combined > effect of the specific policy components of corporate-friendly > policies > imposed by the IMF and World Bank and enforced by free trade > agreements. > These include the following: > > * Trade Liberalization -- The elimination of tariff protections for > agriculture and industries in developing countries often leads to > mass > layoffs and displacement of the rural poor. In Mexico, for example, > opening to U.S. agriculture imports has forced millions of poor > farmers, > who find themselves unable to compete with Cargill and Archer Daniels > Midland, off the land. > > * Privatization -- IMF and World Bank structural adjustment policies > typically call for the sell off of government-owned enterprises to > private > owners, often foreign investors. Privatization is regularly > associated > with layoffs and pay cuts for workers in the privatized enterprises. > > * Cuts in government spending -- Reductions in government spending > frequently reduce the ability of the government to provide services > to the > poor, exacerbating the social pain from rural displacement and > industrial > layoffs. > > * Imposition of user fees -- Many IMF and World Bank loans and > programs > call for the imposition of "user fees" -- charges for the use of > government-provided services like schools, health clinics and clean > drinking water. For very poor people, even modest charges may result > in > the denial of access to services. > > * Export promotion -- Under structural adjustment programs, > countries undertake a variety of measures to promote exports, at the > expense of production for domestic needs. In the rural sector, the > export > orientation is often associated with the displacement of poor people > who > grow food for their own consumption, as their land is taken over by > large > plantations growing crops for foreign markets. > > * Higher interest rates -- Attractive to foreign investors, higher > interest rates exert a recessionary effect on national economies, > leading > to higher rates of joblessness. Small businesses, often operated by > women, > find it more difficult to gain access to affordable credit, and often > are > unable to survive. > > Advancing the interests of the poor has nothing to do with the > corporate > globalization agenda. This agenda is driven first by profit-seeking, > and > second by ideology. > > But the corporate globalizers are nothing if not ambitious. They are > seeking now to push fast-track negotiating authority through the U.S. > Congress, to force all of Latin America into a NAFTA-style trade and > investment agreement, launch a new World Trade Organization > negotiating > round, and intensify the IMF and World Bank's ability to impose > structural > adjustment through a sham debt relief process. > > To lessen preventable human suffering, it is imperative that the > protesters continue to build the movement against corporate > globalization, > with everything from street protests to citizen lobbying of Congress. > > Another world is indeed possible, as the protesters are asserting. > But for > now the immediate challenge is to stop the corporate globalizers from > making the existing one worse. > > > Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate > Crime > Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based > Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: > The > Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: > Common > Courage Press, 1999). > > (c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > > _______________________________________________ > > Focus on the Corporation is a weekly column written by Russell > Mokhiber > and Robert Weissman. Please feel free to forward the column to > friends or > repost the column on other lists. If you would like to post the > column on > a web site or publish it in print format, we ask that you first > contact us > ([EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]). > > Focus on the Corporation is distributed to individuals on the > listserve > [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to corp-focus, send an > e-mail > message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text: > subscribe > > Focus on the Corporation columns are posted at > <http://www.corporatepredators.org>. > > Postings on corp-focus are limited to the columns. If you would like > to > comment on the columns, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or > [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
