EU referendum in Norway - Definite results
Definite results: 52.3% NO, 47.7% YES. Turnout 88.8% (!), while it was 79% in 1972, and usually is 80 - 84% in Storting (= parliament) elections. Trond --- | Trond Andresen ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) | | Department of Engineering Cybernetics | | The Norwegian Institute of Technology | | N-7034 Trondheim, NORWAY| | | | phone (work) +47 73 59 43 58 | | fax (work) +47 73 59 43 99 | | private phone +47 73 53 08 23 | ---
Re: the Democrats are dead?
Doesn't anyone think that this time will give the Dems a chance to revitalize, especially if some common ground is found among public interest groups? Environmental and health and safety issues would be rather important to this aim. Heather Grob
Concerning Moscow study trips
This note concerns the Moscow travel course(s) for 1995 to study Russia's political and economic conditions or the language. (The principal one is 27 May-27 June.) 1) The invitation remains open to all interested adults and I can send details upon request. 2) From 02 December until the end of January my direct e-mail ID will be: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3) For participants who are students and who wish academic credit, Eastern Michigan University will offer four semester units. The additional cost for tuition will be $200. This is low in 1995 because of budget savings which will be exceptional next year. In the case of students at many private American universities, this would often mean that the travel course and the transferrable credits would cost about the same as the credits alone at their home institution. 4) I have a few people who would like an intermediate Russian language course. If there are enough others, I could try to organize one for 27 May-04 July, but I need to hear rather quickly. 5) The question of a shorter course, 29 April-23 May including events and contacts surrounding the 50th anniversary of the end of WW2, remains open, but, again, expression of interest are needed soon. Thank you, Eric
Re: your mail
Dear Penners, This is an occasional reminder of some of the listserv commands at your disposal. The commands have been capitalized for emphasis. These commands should be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you are going to be away and want to postpone messages from pen-l send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and in the message type: SET pen-l MAIL POSTPONE== postpones one's mail SET pen-l MAIL ACK == unpostpone one's mail To unsubscribe from pen-l, please mail listproc the message UNSUB pen-l == two word command Most common mistakes: 1. The inclusion of personal names with the unsub request. 2. Punctuation marks near the two wordsE.g., "unsub pen-l" rather than unsub pen-l unsub pen-l rather than unsub pen-l unsub pen-l. rather than unsub pen-l unsub pen-l rather than unsub pen-l 3. Trying to unsubscribe from an (internet) .edu address when your subscription is registered under a .bitnet address. To determine the address under which you are subscribed, send [EMAIL PROTECTED] the two word request. This request will also give you a list of all subscribers. REVIEW Pen-l If your efforts to unsub have been frustrated, please write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] rather than taking your problem to the list. It is helpful to forward a copy the of mail from [EMAIL PROTECTED] that shows the source of your problem. If you would like to receive pen-l messages in batches or digests several times per week instead of message-by-message, send the following command to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want to return to message-by-message mail, use the command SET pen-l MAIL ACK If you want to see an index of the logs of past messages and other files send (to [EMAIL PROTECTED]) the command INDEX pen-l The list of files returned from the index command are retrievable with the get command. If, for example, you are interested in messages from January 94, you send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and in the body of the message type GET pen-l JAN94 For friends who would like to subscribe, please have them send the four/five word cmd SUB pen-l Firstname Lastname REMEMBER: All of these commands should be sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 916-898-6141 messages E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: help with GATT panel
Oh, boo hoo! It would have been a crying shame if Robert Naiman had roughed up the free-trader on Decatur TV. Sarcastically yours, Steven Zahniser [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: the Democrats are dead?
Perhaps some additional questions are, what is the theoretical structure the Republicans (Gingrich) will use in trying to turn Congress into an executive body (presumably the Cato Foundation and the Heritage Foundation have published on this topic), and what kind of political science framework do the Democrats have to reinvent themselves? Inquiring minds want to know but this mind doesn't know. Sam Pooley
Re: the Democrats are dead?
I believe that the "political science framework" of the Democratic Party rests on the viability of the ddd"welfare state" much as the right wing has chjarged. The big business groupings that under Roosevelt were convinced to suppport the welfare state, and under the pressure of the multitudes of millions gave ground to progressive social legis- lation, have either been weakened or have changed their minds. The "wel- fare state" as such was neverr the demand of the powerful workers' movements of the thirties. And it is arguable, in hindsight, that the form of the concesdsions of unemployment insurance, welfare, legalization of unions, and social security in some cases permitted these concessions to be turned against the movements. In any event, there seems to be "bipartisan" support for abolishing much of the welfare system. I can't imagine the real consequences of this move. Clearly some who had no incentive to work for minimum wage jobs with no health insurance, will now be compelled to do so. But many will be turned even more desperately than now toward criminal activity. Prisons are state and federal budget busters, so I fear there must be plans afoot in the backrooms of the Heritage foundation to shoot a lot of people, or make them otherwise disappear. "Bipartisan" implies to me that there is big business, multi-national corporation consensus. The New York Times and the Washington Post, the LA Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer have mad harsh criticisms of Gingrich and Co on the "welfare state" question since the election. These media, for all of Rush Limbaugh's talk about them being nests of liberalism, have for a long time been mouthpieces for powerful sections of big business. These interests must be fearful of the social consequences of abandoning Keynes, or perhaps they have longer memories and recall the social cataclysms of the thirties that the New Deal was designed to forestall. But the public, including the working class, will not be won to support tax increases if they aren't getting wage increases, which they are not. To win the "traditional coalition" back means doing some things that big business liberalism is not inclined to do even under pressure and never initiate: liberalize worker self organization restraints. So I believe the Democrats will be forced to wait inthe wings for the Republican juggernaut to pass or become exposed again. If disaster looms, they will not be able to prevent it. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: the Democrats are dead?
I keep thinking that one day the Dems will wake up, but every time I turn on the news and hear them talking, the words coming out of their mouths convince me otherwise. It's hard not to feel a sense of despair about all of this. The only way I can think of to move the Dems is to convince them that they could win power by appealing to the folks who were not voting this past election. The only way to convince them of that is to convince the nonvoters that it is worthwhile making the Dems think they damn well will vote next time. Otherwise, the Dems are jsut going to keep scrabbling after the same folks the Reps are, and the Reps are so much better at being Republicans and appealing to those folks. How do you make people shake of cynicism and despair and get active? I do not support the value of the immiseration of the masses, but it may be that the Reps will gore enough oxes (a la the reaction to Prop.187 by those potentially harmed by it here in California) that they will decide to act. Having lots of school kids rise up and protest is heartening. They've been willing to be outraged once and to dream of better things - maybe there is a chance. It would also be awfully nice to have someone in the Democratic party who has vision and can communicate a vision of society to the US. That would take imagination, guts, "a song to sing," etc. etc. Yeah, there's no hope. Ellen J. Dannin California Western School of Law 225 Cedar Street San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619-525-1449 Fax:619-696-
Re: help with GATT panel
Bob, Is Mark under wraps?..nurb
Alec Nove, computers and socialism
In an effort to better understand "market socialism", I just concluded Alec Nove's "The Economics of Feasible Socialism Revisited". I recommend this book for anybody who wants a lucid and generally wise presentation of all the arguments against planned socialism. One of Nove's central premises is unacceptable to me, however. For Nove, bureaucracy is a necessary consequence of trying to plan a vast economy like the former Soviet Union's. Bureaucrats must keep track of all of the intermediate steps involved in industrial production. Nove rejects Lenin's claim that "Capitalism has simplified the work of accounting and control, has reduced it to a comparatively simple system of bookkeeping, that any literate person can do." Nove's replies to Lenin as follows: "A large factory, for instance, making cars or chemical machinery, is an assembly plant of parts and components which can be made in literally thousands of different factories, each of which, in turn, may depend on supplies of materials, fuel and machines, made by hundreds or more other production units. Introduce the further dimension of time (things need to be provided punctually and in sequence), add the importance of provision for repair, maintenance, replacement, investment in future productive capacity, the training and deployment of the labor force, its needs for housing, amenities, hairdressers, dry-cleaners, fuel, furniture...'Simple', indeed!" I have worked as a systems analyst, database adminstrator and computer programmer since 1968 and am astonished that Nove does not recognize that these types of tasks have long since been relegated to large-scale automation. I have worked on systems that automate these tasks since the early 1970's and can attest to the fact that bureaucrats are not necessary to keep track of anything in the production process. For example, a system which can automate the assembly and subassembly of parts and components is known in my trade as a "bill of materials" database application. It allows managers to keep track of what parts are required to put together an automobile, an aircraft engine, a mainframe computer, etc. With respect to "the further dimension of time", Nove doesn't seem to be aware that facilities management systems have been around for the longest time. These types of systems are responsible for the scheduled maintenance, upkeep and expansion of all sorts of industrial and non-industrial plants. I have been involved with a new facilities management system at Columbia University and confess that while it does not keep track of hairdressers, it does keep track of everything else on Nove's list. Not only does my experience in the business world at odds with Nove's theories, I also have witnessed the impact automation can make in a revolutionary society. I was formerly the President of Tecnica, a technical aid project for Nicaragua. One of our volunteers wrote a database application that ran on a single PC which kept track of spare parts for private and government enterprises in Nicaragua at the height of the contra war. This modest little application had a MAJOR impact on Nicaragua's ability to keep key industries going during the war. Imagine what large-scale automation could have meant in a Nicaragua at peace. Nove has surprisingly few words to say about automation. I started off reading the first edition of his work which dates from 1983 and switched to the newer edition on Boris Kargalitsky's recommendation. I expected the newer edition to cover computers in more detail, but was disappointed to find that no new insights appeared in second edition, dated 1991. This is after nearly 10 years worth of advances in personal computing, telecommunications, networking and databases. I was won over to socialism in the same year I first became a computer programmer. I always used to stress to comrades that it seemed that computers (in those days, IBM 360's) made socialism objectively possible for the first time in history. If nothing else, this conviction has only deepened even while bureaucratic socialism has entered into crisis or disappeared. I think that Lenin's claim is as true as ever if it is modified in the following manner: "Capitalism has simplified the work of accounting and control, has reduced it to a comparatively simple system of bookkeeping, that any literate person can do with a computer." Louis Proyect
Re: the Democrats are dead?
On Wed, 30 Nov 1994, HEATHER GROB wrote: Doesn't anyone think that this time will give the Dems a chance to revitalize, especially if some common ground is found among public interest groups? No. They'll keep doing dumb stuff, lunge for the center-right, and marginalize themselves further. They've got a fundamental problem: financed by a wing of the bourgeoisie, they nonetheless need the votes of what used to be called the working class. To please their paymasters they must continually alienate their base. The Republicans may face such a contradiction, with their advocacy of free trade and their dependence on the vote of working class white men, but so far they've been able to paper over this issue through appeals to bigotry. Environmental and health and safety issues would be rather important to this aim. Yeah. But the paymasters won't like that. Doug Doug Henwood [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Left Business Observer 212-874-4020 (voice) 212-874-3137 (fax)
No subject
Tavis Barr writes: "I'll buy your prediction of a death of the DP, ecxept that it is no more 'out of office (except for the presidency)' than the Republicans were during the Reagan/Bush years." Yes, but unlike the DP these days, the GOP has grass roots in the country clubs, fundamentalist churches, and the like all across the country. The GOP is strongly allied with organized money. Now, the DP can try to link up with these organizations and sectors (and has been doing so for awhile) but that brings up the problem that when given the choice between a Republican and a Republican, people usually vote for the real thing. To save itself, the DP would have to do what Marion Barry did in DC: try to mobilize the poor and other groups that have been feeling disenfranchised. This would be a major shift, especially given the nature of the folks who currently run the party. Heather Grob asks: "Doesn't anyone think that this time will give the Dems a chance to revitalize, especially if some common ground is found among public interest groups? Environmental and health and safety issues would be rather important to this aim." Good idea, though the President and other DP leaders would oppose this. However, IMHO, I don't think the DP is worth saving. Frankly, what's needed is mass pressure (outside of the bounds of narrowly-defined politics) to counteract the power of money, the fundamentalists, etc. This might have the side-effect of saving the DP and also shifting it to the left (as in the 1930s). But my interest is not in saving the DP but rather in understanding what's happening in narrowly-defined politics (which is relevant even if one doesn't think that should be the main arena of political work). Sam Pooley asks: "Perhaps some additional questions are, what is the theoretical structure the Republicans (Gingrich) will use in trying to turn Congress into an executive body (presumably the Cato Foundation and the Heritage Foundation have published on this topic), and what kind of political science framework do the Democrats have to reinvent themselves?" On the latter, see above. On the former, I think we will see a new kind of gridlock (with the executive at war with the legislative branch), with the legislation that does get signed being even more right-wing than in the last 2 years. Look for a federally-financed voucher plan that takes money from public schools to pay for private religious schools. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, CA 90045-2699 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950
Call for papers
C A L LF O RP A P E R S The international journal, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, is soliciting papers for a special issue (Summer 1995) focusing on "Social Institutional Change for Economic Development". The issue will deal with (i) different theories of institutional change; (ii) the effect of different institutional arrangements (production, markets, finance) on economic efficiency and sustainable development; (iii) a critical assessment of the factors leading to, the strategies pursued, and the future perspectives for decollectivization. Papers in any of these areas, preferably original contributions reporting on empirical research with a comparative perspective, are invited. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 15, 1995. If you are interested to submit a paper, please send a brief note indicating your topic and a short summary to: D. Umali [EMAIL PROTECTED], or K. Deininger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Proposed Papers: I. Theoretical Issues The goal of this section is to illustrate the usefulness and complementarity of different approaches to institutional change. Specifically, explanations based on transaction costs, political economy, the adaptive mechanisms developed by local institutions managing resources, and the evolution of these instiutional arrangements, will be presented. These articles will summarize recent developments in the theoretical analysis of institutional change, review empirical evidence confirming and/or contradicting these theories, and outline implications and the resulting agenda for future research. II. Institutional Change The second section will illustrate, utilizing case studies and empirical research, the effect of different institutional arrangements (natural resources, production, markets, finance) on economic efficiency and sustainable development. III. Decollectivization: A Comparative Policy Perspective The third section will utilize the broad range of experience in different countries to highlight: (i) the factors leading to the emergence of different institutional forms in organizing production, and their evolution over time; (ii) the role of government in facilitating or obstructing the adaptation of existing institutions to changes in the socio-economic environment, and (iii) the potential role of government in fostering change in the institutional environment to increase efficiency and/or equity.
greetings of solidarity (fwd)
Forwarded message: Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 17:00:03 -0800 From: La Mujer Obrera [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: greetings of solidarity Dear Friends, It is with great sadness and concern that we send these greetings of solidarity. Conditions in Mexico are quickly deteriorating and we are preparing for the growing possibility of war in Mexico. Troop movements continue, with increased repression against popular movements. In addition the recent resignation of Mexico's Deputy Attorney General Mario Ruiz Masseiu, who had conducted a substantial investigation into the murder of his brother, PRI general secretary Francisco Ruiz Masseiu confirms fears that the PRI government is infiltrated by drug lords. Its internal decomposition signals not only a clear inability to govern, but an inability to maintain the negotiated peace because of the party's hard line against any kind of democratic reform; much less to respond to demands for justice for the country's poor and indigenous communities. Here in the US, we are stunned by the pronounced indifference of the press and the U.S. government to this situation, and fear that the American people will once again be shocked out of complacency much as they were January 1st of this year. Only recently a report from the Copley News Service, distributed along the U.S.-Mexico border characterized outgoing President Carlos Salinas de Gortari as "the man who revolutionized the face of 20th century Mexico, [transforming] Mexico from an inefficient, underdeveloped country into one of the most promising economies in the world". The article signals the North American Free Trade Agreement as the "crowning economic accomplishment." This misinformation serves the purpose of keeping potential investors calm and interested; but it goes against national interests, both in the US and Canada. A war in Mexico will be another Vietnam; except its consequences will be double in size and destructiveness. It appears that the United States has learned nothing from the past. It is now a real possibility that it will allow the genocidal annihilation of indigenous communities much as it did in the mid-1800's in order to satisfy the need for land of the multi-nationals. It does not question, even at the most basic level, its alliance with a dictatorship which has been in power for 65 years; apparently nothing was learned from the experience with Panama and Iran. As people of conscience we must struggle to hold our governments accountable for the destruction being created by neo-liberalism. Our futures are intrisincly linked with the future of Mexico. Unless we in the United States and Canada struggle to secure democracy within our own countries and in Mexico, our own possibilities of a stable economic future and just political system will diminish as well. We welcome the opportunity to work with you, our northern neighbors, in the struggle for genuine peace, democracy and justice throughout the continent. Please keep us informed of your efforts, and we will work to do the same. It is important that all of us do our part to combat the misinformation of the mainstream press and our governments. Sincerely, Cecilia Rodriguez, National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, USA
