[PEN-L] world bank and contreversy over modes of production
Big world bank bosses in theirpapers address the impending crisis resulting from poor growth rates and rising unemployment. Remedies: Move from public to private sector Move from closed to open economies Move from raw material to diversified economies Reasons for policy prescription: The public sector cannot be as efficient as its private counterpart nor can it create sufficient jobs for many young people. developing economies are highly protected and that retards growth. developing economies should move out of primary commodities because oil varies a lot causing disturbances at all economic levels. they add at times :conflicts have drained resources and undermined development. This last proposition should represent the predicate that underlines the unfolding process of development. Indeed, there is hardly a mention of the total investment rate that has been in steady decline or the worsening terms of trade defined in terms of political power vectors. Public and private investments usually move in tandem with the former providing the insurance scheme necessary for the latter. The investment rate is underpinned by risk consideration, a matter that refuses to go away easily. that aside... where the WB gets really bad is here: the principal blame for underdevelopment lies on the developing region, the moral and economic fault is that of the poor nation. now from a developing world perspective when underdeveloped capitalism represents an addendum or a reservoir for fully developed capitalism such a message cannot be put forth. when however two modes of production can regulate their being apart of each other,then blame can shift to the poor etc, but so long as colonialism and post colonialism exists there is hardly room for the latter. Do you Yahoo!? Jazz up your holiday email with celebrity designs. Learn more.
[PEN-L] Henry Liu on money, power and modern art
part 1: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FL15Dj01.html part 2: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FL17Dj01.html -- www.marxmail.org
Re: [PEN-L] Re BUSH AND THE FASCIST MENACE
To begin with, why would the American ruling class and those who administer the U.S. government decide at this time to substitute extreme authoritarianism and/or fascism for the capitalist democracy that has kept them in power and riches? Why, when the U.S. is at the apex of its political, military and economic supremacy, with an empire of a new type solidifying in its possession, would it create the conditions for havoc and rebellion at home and catastrophe in the world? Fascism, after all, is not the product of whim, pique, meanness or anger by the right wing. It is the most drastic response to particular economic, social and political conditions undermining the capitalist system itself, upon which all other functions of state repose. HUDSON VALLEY ACTIVIST NEWSLETTER/CALENDAR Nov. 25, 2004 Issue #103 BUSH AND THE FASCIST MENACE by Jack A. Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Editor's Note: The history of the United States has frequently been punctuated by periods of political repression, from the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to the USA Patriot Act of 2001, and many, many instances in between. In the modern era, serious repression has taken place under both Democratic and Republic regimes. In the recent election, a number of progressives raised the fear that the election of George W. Bush to a second term would pave the way for fascism in the U.S. We examine the question of repression and fascism below.] Every several years, the Republican Party puts forward a shockingly reactionary presidential candidate. And each time, most liberals and certain sectors of the left respond by insisting that the only way to save the republic from deep repression, authoritarianism or fascism is for all good citizens to come to the aid of the lesser-evil candidate of the Democratic Party, regardless at times of the anointed one's stunning political shortcomings. This has happened a number of times in just the last 40 years, principally in the elections of 1964, 1968, 1972, 1980, 1984 and 2004, but it tends to be a continual theme. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has gradually metamorphosed from liberalism to centrism and now appears to be contemplating yet another accommodation toward the right on the question of social values evidently pursuing the theory that the best way to defeat the right is to imitate it part of the way. In 1964, the Republicans nominated arch-conservative Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, author of the famous campaign line, Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. A good portion of the left was hysterical about Goldwater, calling him a precursor to fascism. He lost handily. The Democrats convinced the electorate the GOP candidate was going to start a nuclear conflagration. President Lyndon Johnson then went on to escalate the Vietnam War to the extent that he became too unpopular to even run for reelection. Richard Nixon won the GOP nod and the presidency in 1968 and 1972, despite liberal and left warnings that he was a neofascist. The sky didn't fall on democracy, though it did on Nixon's head as a result of the Watergate scandal. His government was no more repressive than Johnson's. In fact, as we wrote in an earlier newsletter, the arch-reactionary, red-baiting Nixon presided over some fairly progressive legislation. He was competitive on that score with his two Democratic successors Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. A few years later, many on the moderate left trembled at what they thought was the near-audible cadence of jackboots on the cobblestones of American democracy when the Republicans put forward B-movie actor, corporate shill and so-called neofascist Ronald Reagan, who won in 1980 and '84. A long newsletter analysis of Reagan a couple of months ago clearly showed the man was a reactionary, a militarist and imperialist. But fascist, or harbinger of great repression? No. Perhaps one of the more unattractive outcomes of his reign was that it convinced leading Democrats to adopt portions of the right-wing program in order to win future elections. Now seated in the Oval Office for four more years is one of the most ultra-conservative presidents in history, George W. Bush. The fear that he personally is leading the United States toward fascism is palpable among many progressives. In our view, Bush is a dangerous right-winger, but he is neither the personification, nor harbinger, of fascism. Does this mean American democracy is too healthy and resilient to be transformed into brutal authoritarianism, or even fascism? No. Authoritarianism and fascism are proven variants of capitalist governance. Dictatorial regimes have been imposed in many capitalist countries, often with Washington's instigation and support, such as in Iran in the '50s or Chile in the '70s. Fascism has been experienced in Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Japan and other capitalist societies at one time or another as a consequence of extreme crises. Such a fate cannot be ruled out in the United States, though hardly
[PEN-L] ABB did it
Blame Kerry's Loss on the ABB Crowd An interview with Kevin Zeese By Joshua Frank (CounterPunch, November 27/28) -- Kevin Zeese served as press secretary for the Ralph Nader presidential campaign in 2004. He recently spoke with Joshua Frank. JOSHUA FRANK: Kevin, so the tallies are now in and it looks as though Ralph Nader had nothing to do with George W. Bush's reelection. At this point, and I know there are some recounts going on, what is the total number of votes the Nader/Camejo ticket received? And is the Nader campaign happy with the results? KEVIN ZEESE: We received approximately 500,000 votes, and we are not satisfied with that outcome. (Write-in ballots are still being counted.) Of course, half the voters in the United States did not have Nader-Camejo on the ballot, due primarily to the Democratic Party efforts to keep us off the ballot. The Democrats' intimidation and harassment of our signature gatherers and the signers of our petitions, their dirty tricks, and their phony lawsuits manipulated the ballots to try and force people to vote for John Kerry. While we think it is good for the public to see the Democrats for what they are -- anti-democrats who are willing to go to any length, even undermining democracy in order to win at all costs -- and we think it is good the public is more aware of the ballot access hurdles placed in front of third party and independent candidates denying voters more choices, still we are not satisfied. JF: What was left out of the discourse in Election 2004? KZ: Ralph Nader and Peter Miguel Camejo wanted to talk about the issues that confront Americans on a daily basis -- 80 million people were without healthcare over the last two years -- yet there was no discussion of any plan to provide healthcare for all; 47 million full-time workers earn less than $10 per hour -- one in three full-time workers -- yet there was no discussion of a living wage or how U.S. workers will compete with the cheap labor of the world market. There was no discussion of how to responsibly get out of Iraq -- only how essential it was to win the war; no discussion of thinking for ourselves on Israel-Palestine issue -- just blind support of Ariel Sharon; no discussion of repealing the Patriot Act and protecting the privacy and civil liberties of Americans -- just how we need to give up freedom to fight terrorism and on and on -- whether [it was] the environment, civil rights, women's rights, [or] rich-poor divide, there was no real discussion. On world affairs Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Mexico were not discussed -- Israel-Palestine was barely discussed; the Abu Gharib prison scandal was not discussed. The American public lost -- because their concerns were not addressed. The election showed more and more Americans that the two-party system is a central part of the problem. The parties continue to move toward each other and ignore the peoples' interests. Then, on top of that we got stuck with Bush for four more years. The liberals laid down, let themselves be stomped on by Kerry, allowed him to ignore and not discuss their issues and what did they get in return? We've got Bush/Cheney Regime II. Some day they may realize that their failure to push Kerry to be a better candidate. By failing to stand for their issues, which mostly have majority support, they allowed Kerry to become a worse candidate. How can anyone be satisfied with an election like that!? JF: Even with this sense of frustration at the Democrats, undemocratic tactics to keep Nader/Camejo off the ballot, don't you feel somewhat vindicated? There were many liberal and progressive thinkers, as well as hordes of Democrats opposing Nader's run -- including former Nader supporters like Norman Solomon, Medea Benjamin, and Barbara Ehrenreich. This year they all worked vigorously to oppose Nader's bid, out of fear that he would help swing the vote to Bush by taking away votes from Kerry. These progressive leaders proved to have wasted their efforts, no doubt, as we now know the Democrats can lose all on their own just fine. Do you think the failure of these people on the left to challenge Kerry, like [Norm] Solomon and company, will have a beneficial effect, as they won't be able to shut out third-party voices in elections to come? For me, I think the blowback has already occurred. You seem to agree. Did these progressive stalwarts in fact *help* Bush win by not forcing Kerry to take on issues that could have attracted the 40 percent of voters who stayed home on Election Day 2004? Do you blame people like Solomon and Benjamin for Kerry's loss? KZ: We were telling the ABB liberal intelligencia for the last two months of the campaign that they were making Kerry a weaker candidate by not demanding him to be a stronger candidate, and thereby increasing the likelihood of a Bush victory. The only demands Kerry received were from the corporate Democrats -- and he gave them what they
[PEN-L] A Tale of Two Sisters
Produced in South Korea, A Tale of Two Sisters is the latest and most artistically realized horror film to come out of East Asia in the genre of Ringu and Ju-On, which were made in Japan. These sorts of films rely more on mood and psychological insight than on flashy special effects. It also shares with them a focus on the dysfunctional family and child abuse. The plot of A Tale of Two Sisters evokes classic Grimm fairy tales of children being victimized by a cruel elder. In this case, we are dealing with two teenaged sisters who have returned from an extended hospital stay to the country estate of their wealthy physician father and his sadistic new wife. Their mother has died under mysterious circumstances. It is also not clear whether the sisters' ailments were physical or mental. Under director Kim Jee-Woon's sure hands, the film grows creepier by the minute. Although the lavish home has beautiful gardens and spacious, well-furnished rooms, there is something *off* about them from the start--especially the ornate floral wallpaper that begins to almost pulsate when the camera hones in on it. The wallpaper evokes toxicity and danger, not comfort and reassurance. Eventually it becomes along with the house itself a kind of actor in this Gothic tale, a Korean version of the house described by Edgar Allen Poe in Fall of the House of Usher: During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was --but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. It would seem that Kim Jee-Woon has a flair for macabre tales set in country estates. His 1998 The Quiet Family is a black comedy about a family that moves to the country to run a bed and breakfast. When guests feel inspired one after one to commit suicide in the house, the family works overtime to conceal the bodies. Besides sharing a creepy house with A Tale of Two Sisters, the two films share a father figure who seems impervious to everything around them. In Two Sisters, the father is blissfully unaware of the strange goings on in his house. In The Quiet Family, the father rises from the dinner table, walks off screen, and proceeds to kick the family dog, before returning to the table to resume eating as nothing has happened. In a voice-over, his daughter explains that the tension of disposing of all the corpses has gotten to him. It is not clear whether the director's avoidance of special effects is driven by a tight budget or by style. Whatever the case, A Tale of Two Sisters is far more expert in the tools that it works with than the typically bloated Hollywood horror film. This is especially true with respect to the sound effects, which are unlike any I have encountered in any other film. The house is alive with bizarre night sounds coming from within its innards that drive the two sisters over the edge, along with everything else in this truly haunted house. A Tale of Two Sisters has the same kind of ambiguity as Henry James's Turn of the Screw. Even in the final scenes, we are never quite sure whether the gruesome events taking place are in the children's minds or actually taking place. In the conventional Hollywood horror movie, from Psycho to Halloween, there is always a psychiatrist to explain the events of the film at the conclusion, neatly tying a string around the package. In A Tale of Two Sisters, we leave the theater unsure of what happened. The characters are haunted and so are we. Kim Jee-Woon was clearly inspired by Ringu, the Japanese flick that was remade in the USA as The Ring. Koji Suzuki, the author of the novel that the film was based on, is known as the Stephen King of Japan. His novels and the East Asian horror films he has inspired share King's preoccupation with the hidden menace of everyday objects. In Ringu, the telephone and the VCR become as threatening as a meat cleaver. In A Tale of Two Sisters, the wallpaper threatens to detach itself from the wall and attack the audience crouched in their seats. All of these works also share a sense that the nuclear family is falling apart at the seams. For the better part of two decades, Japan and South Korea were seen as embodying all of the traditional values of middle-class life. With growing economic insecurity, novelists and film directors are bound to reflect this anxiety. In an interview, Kim-Jee Woon answered the question about the relationship of his movies to reality in the
Re: [PEN-L] Re BUSH AND THE FASCIST MENACE
...for all good citizens to come to the aid of the lesser-evil candidate of the Democratic Party, regardless at times of the anointed one's stunning political shortcomings. This has happened a number of times in just the last 40 years, principally in the elections of 1964, 1968, 1972, 1980, 1984 and 2004, 1996 and 2000 were also lesser evil years, in my opinion. Dan Scanlan
[PEN-L] Stunning legal victory on the real threat to the life of the nation
On the application of Gareth Peirce, one of the bravest civil liberties lawyers in the land, backed by Liberty, the civil liberties union, the law lords in the UK have ruled the government's indefinite detention of 9 foreigners without trial on suspicion of terrorism is incompatible with the Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights. Although couched in ancient and majestic language the most revolutionary phrases came from Lord Hoffman and they weld the best of the British tradition to that of the best of the European. As you read it, remember what is at stake are not the lives of thousands, caught up in a catastrophe, but the lives of 9 foreigners, and what Lord Hoffman redefines as the life of the nation, that will not be subordinated to the politics of fear. And remember Engels to Schmidt Oct 27 1890 As soon as the new division of labour which creates professional lawyeres becomes necessary, another new and independent sphere is opened up which, for all its general dependence on production and trade, still has also a special capacity for reacting upon these spheres. In a modern state, the law must not only correspond to the general economic condition and be its expression, but must also be an internally coherent expression which does not, owing to inner contradictions, reduce itself to nought. And in order to achieve this, the faithful reflection of economic conditions suffers increasingly. Lord Hoffman was also one of the three law lords who granted the application of the eccentric Spanish judge Baltazar Garzon, against Pinochet 6 years ago. http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/nov1998/pin-n28.shtml These struggles are part of the Gramscian struggle for ideological hegemony, in Britain, in Chile, in Europe and in the world. They will succeed. Chris Burford London _ Lord Hoffman 91. What is meant by threatening the life of the nation? The nation is a social organism, living in its territory (in this case, the United Kingdom) under its own form of government and subject to a system of laws which expresses its own political and moral values. When one speaks of a threat to the life of the nation, the word life is being used in a metaphorical sense. The life of the nation is not coterminous with the lives of its people. The nation, its institutions and values, endure through generations. In many important respects, England is the same nation as it was at the time of the first Elizabeth or the Glorious Revolution. The Armada threatened to destroy the life of the nation, not by loss of life in battle, but by subjecting English institutions to the rule of Spain and the Inquisition. The same was true of the threat posed to the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany in the Second World War. This country, more than any other in the world, has an unbroken history of living for centuries under institutions and in accordance with values which show a recognisable continuity. 92. This, I think, is the idea which the European Court of Human Rights was attempting to convey when it said (in Lawless v Ireland (No 3) (1961) 1 EHRR 15) that it must be a threat to the organised life of the community of which the State is composed, although I find this a rather dessicated description. Nor do I find the European cases particularly helpful. All that can be taken from them is that the Strasbourg court allows a wide margin of appreciation to the national authorities in deciding both on the presence of such an emergency and on the nature and scope of derogations necessary to avert it: Ireland v United Kingdom (1978) 2 EHRR 25, at para 207. What this means is that we, as a United Kingdom court, have to decide the matter for ourselves. 93. Perhaps it is wise for the Strasbourg court to distance itself from these matters. The institutions of some countries are less firmly based than those of others. Their communities are not equally united in their loyalty to their values and system of government. I think that it was reasonable to say that terrorism in Northern Ireland threatened the life of that part of the nation and the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom as a whole. In a community riven by sectarian passions, such a campaign of violence threatened the fabric of organised society. The question is whether the threat of terrorism from Muslim extremists similarly threatens the life of the British nation. 94. The Home Secretary has adduced evidence, both open and secret, to show the existence of a threat of serious terrorist outrages. The Attorney General did not invite us to examine the secret evidence, but despite the widespread scepticism which has attached to intelligence assessments since the fiasco over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, I am willing to accept that credible evidence of such plots exist. The events of 11 September 2001 in New York and Washington and 11 March 2003 in Madrid make it entirely likely that the threat of similar atrocities in the United Kingdom is a real one. 95. But the question
[PEN-L] On Scapegoating
late stephen jay gould pointed out in _mismeasure of man_ that u.s. social science harbors singularly lamentable history of looking for demographic scapegoats to buttress prevailing political needs... michael hoover -- Please Note: Due to Florida's very broad public records law, most written communications to or from College employees regarding College business are public records, available to the public and media upon request. Therefore, this e-mail communication may be subject to public disclosure.
[PEN-L] video
http://www.cageprisoners.com/dn_files/silencenew.swf
[PEN-L] Bernanke heading to the CEA?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6001-2004Dec16.html White House May Pick Bernanke Fed Governor Would Chair President's Economic Council By Nell Henderson Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 17, 2004; Page A08 The White House, seeking a strong economic team to craft and sell key features of its second-term agenda, is considering appointing Federal Reserve Board member Ben S. Bernanke to be chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, officials confirmed yesterday. Bernanke, 51, former chairman of Princeton University's economics department, would succeed N. Gregory Mankiw, who is on leave from Harvard University and expected to return there early next year. One administration aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that the process is at an early stage. The Fed and Bernanke declined to comment on the possibility, which was reported in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. A White House spokeswoman also declined to comment on speculation about Mankiw's successor, noting that he has not yet resigned. Bush appointed Bernanke to the Fed two years ago. The highly regarded economist has focused most of his research on monetary policy -- adjusting the money supply through the availability of credit, which in turn affects the rates of inflation and economic growth. His speeches and research since joining the Fed also have addressed primarily the topics of monetary policy and the economy in general. They have not touched the politically controversial subjects of changing the tax code and Social Security, the issues that are Bush's second-term focal points. If appointed, Bernanke would be one of the top officials involved in explaining and selling the president's economic policies to Congress, Wall Street and the media. Bernanke has developed a reputation at the Fed as a good communicator of the central bank's thinking and policy, an analyst said. On Wall Street, Bernanke would be viewed as a very credible person to take on the role of one of the administration's chief economic spokesmen, said William Dudley, chief economist at Goldman Sachs U.S. Economics Research. The job of CEA chairman has varied in influence over the decades, depending on the nature of the White House and the economist in the job. R. Glenn Hubbard, the first CEA chairman under Bush, was perceived as having significant influence on the president's tax cut proposals. But Mankiw has served in a position that appeared somewhat sidelined over the past two years. Bernanke is largely untried in the political arena. Fed officials do not hold news conferences. And aside from Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is regularly questioned by Congress on a variety of topics, Fed policymakers generally speak on the topics they choose in front of the audiences they select. If successful in the CEA role, some observers speculated, Bernanke could boost his chances of succeeding Greenspan, who has indicated he will step down when his board term expires Jan. 31, 2006. Two of the top contenders for Greenspan's job are former CEA chairmen: Hubbard and Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, who held the job under President Ronald Reagan. Greenspan was CEA chairman under President Gerald R. Ford.
Re: [PEN-L] Sermon (is it fascism?)
In a message dated 12/14/2004 5:17:20 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Right. Scapegoating is always part of fascism.But I have a nightmare: "black and white, unite and fight -- againstArabs." Comment We are perhaps in theseventh decade of what has been a profound rejection of Christianity amongst a significant section of the African American population in favor of Islam and its various offshoots, although stands of this movement existed during slavery and its aftermath. The rise and consolidation of the Nation of Islam has been its most visible organizational _expression_ in the post WW II period,but this shift in spiritual striving is not limited to the Nation. The concentration of "Arabs" in Detroit and the Toledo area (and though out California) is going to make it extremely difficult to isolate them as the "outsider in our midst," especially in the areas of their high concentration. There is a certain intermingling of "Arabs" and blacks with a growing population of children in common. A tremendous section of the black population have "Arab" names. It seems that "black and white unite" - on any basis, is a slogan that cannot maintain itself in today's political environment because blacks are long ago removed from southern agricultureand are an intimate part of the working class proper. Yet, there is a certain political move underway to balkanize the population. This is being played out in Detroit in a complex manner involving Powernomics or what is balkanization in the international arena. The political opposition to Powernomics is another complexity involving the various Arab small and not so smallbusinessmen, directly challenged by a program of "black economic development" advanced by the African American henchmen of the imperial bourgeoisie. If carried to its conclusion the politics of Powernomics is to expel the various "Arab" businesspersons from area of high African American concentration, while opposing "white" domination as the fundamental basis of "unity." The author of this policy is Claud Anderson. The blueprint was formulated in his mid 1990s book "Black Labor-White Wealth." Here is the voice of the African American bourgeoisie seeking to rally the most backwards sections of the population to their economic cause. An anti-Islamic backlash is going to run into a major roadblock amongst the most poverty stricken section of the population, many who gravitate towards Islam by way of the prison system circuit. Whether fascism as a political form of rule requires extra economic coercion in the post industrial era remains to be seen as well as the slowly growing role of prison labor.At any rate it is hard to see how fascism can even momentarily solve the issue of the falling rate of profit. Hitler's momentary power and authority in the German population was based on incessant warfare and securing colonial possessions - "French wine," "Polish hams" and "Slavic women." A section of the population is calling for fascism on themselves to restore what they believe to be lost privileges and a "certain way of life." It is going to take much more than cops and an army to hold the people in check who are striving simply to live in decency and contribute to societies well being. Waistline.
[PEN-L] Lessons on Currency Reserves
Rakesh Bhandari posted this to the ope list. Very strained argument that dollar depreciation may lead to new forms of state socialism. rb Published on TaipeiTimes http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/12/13/2003214922 Call in the reserves Large holders of US dollar reserves, such as China and Japan, can learn a historical lesson from the nasty fate of big holders of British sterling in the 1920s By Harold James Monday, Dec 13, 2004,Page 9 Advertising The People's Bank of China and the Bank of Japan -- as well as other central banks in Asia -- are in trouble. They have accumulated vast foreign exchange reserves, estimated at more than US$2 trillion. The problem is that almost all of it is in US dollars -- a currency that is rapidly losing its value. All policy options for Asia's central banks appear equally unattractive. If they do nothing and simply hold onto the dollars, their losses will only increase. But if they buy more, in an attempt to prop up the dollar, they will only have a bigger version of the same problem. If, on the contrary, they try to diversify into other currencies, they will drive down the dollar faster and create greater losses. They are also likely to encounter the same sort of problem with other possible reserve currencies. The euro has been touted as the replacement for or alternative to the dollar. Some enthusiastic Europeans encouraged Asians to diversify their reserve holdings. But the same scenario might well be repeated with the euro in a few years. Large fiscal deficits and slow growth might convince foreign exchange markets that there is little future in the euro, fueling a wave of selling -- and hence losses for central bank holders. ILLUSTRATION: YU SHA There is a historical parallel to today's concern about the world's major reserve currency. The interwar economy, shattered by the Great Depression of the early 1930s, offers a whole series of painful, but important, lessons for the present. In the 1920s, the world economy was reconstructed around a fixed exchange rate regime in which many countries held their reserves not in gold (as was the practice before World War II) but in foreign exchange, especially in British sterling. During the course of the 1920s, some of the official holders of pounds grew nervous about Britain's weak foreign trade performance, which suggested that, like today's dollar, the currency was over-valued and would inevitably decline. `The sterling balances proved to be the starting point of inefficient state planning regimes that did long-term harm to growth prospects in all the countries that took this course.' Foreign central banks asked whether the Bank of England was contemplating changing its view of the pound's exchange rate. Of course they were told that there was no intention of abandoning Britain's link to gold, and that the strong pound represented a deep and long commitment (in the same way that US Treasury Secretary John Snow today affirms the idea of a strong dollar). Only France ignored British statements and substantially sold off its sterling holdings. When the inevitable British devaluation came on Sept. 20-21, 1931, many foreign central banks were badly hit and were blamed for mismanaging their reserves. Many were stripped of their responsibilities, and the persons involved were discredited. The Dutch central banker Gerard Vissering resigned and eventually killed himself as a result of the destruction wrought on his institution's balance sheet by the pound's collapse. Some countries that traded a great deal with Britain, or were in the orbit of British imperial rule, continued to hold reserves in pounds after 1931. During World War II, Britain took advantage of this, and Argentina, Egypt, and India, in particular, built up huge claims on sterling, although it was an unattractive currency. At the war's end, they thought of a new way of using their reserves: spend them. Consequently, these reserves provided the fuel for economic populism. Large holders of sterling balances -- India, Egypt and Argentina -- all embarked on major nationalizations and a public sector spending spree: they built railways, dams, steel works. The sterling balances proved to be the starting point of vast and inefficient state planning regimes that did long-term harm to growth prospects in all the countries that took this course. Could something similar be in store for today's holders of large reserves? The most explicit call for the use of dollar reserves to finance a major program of infrastructure modernization has come from India, which has a similar problem to the one facing China and Japan. It will be similarly tempting elsewhere. This temptation needs to be removed before the tempted yield to it. Reserve holdings represent an outdated concept, and the world should contemplate some way of making them less central to the operation of the international financial system.
Re: [PEN-L] Re BUSH AND THE FASCIST MENACE
If my posts have been going out twice, I don't understand why, but apologies. Ralph Ralph Johansen wrote: *Charles Brown wrote: Ralph Johansen : I'd like to add some takes I have on use of the word fascism. For Trotsky and others at the time of the German and Italian advent of cut
[PEN-L] emergency?
http://ArnoldWatch.org Web Log - Dec. 16, 2004 - 01:45 PM /i mur jen see/ by Carmen Balber e.mer.gen.cy /i mur jen see/ n. An unexpected and sudden event that must be dealt with urgently. Arnold really needs to work on his definitions. For the past year he has defined special interests as anybody that criticizes Arnold. Now he can't figure out the meaning of the word emergency. On Friday, the Gov submitted an emergency regulation to change enforcement of California's mandatory meal and break rules. The regulation would severely weaken workers' legal right to a lunch hour. Who benefits when it's harder to enforce labor laws? Big hourly employers, like Arnold-backers Target ($240,000 donor to the Gov), the Gap ($197,400) and Wal-Mart ($210,000). California law allows a governor to implement regulations on an emergency basis -- with no public hearing or input -- only when a regulation is necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace, health and safety, or general welfare. What sudden public health threat was so urgent that Arnold was forced to call an immediate halt to lunch hours? Too many workers falling asleep at heavy machinery in after-lunch-lethargy? Actually, Wal-Mart broke the lunch time rules and is facing a lawsuit. For Arnold, that's an emergency. Contributors like Wal-Mart would be off the hook if the regulation takes effect. For Arnold, calling the lunch break issue an emergency avoids the unpleasantly public regulatory process where California employees might toss up their lunch if they heard that Arnold wants to toss out lunch breaks on behalf of the special interests. So he throws out the dictionary and calls it an emergency, like he did last month when he tossed out the nurse-to-patient ratios. Can someone get Arnold that book from Merriam-Webster? Read more at: http://www.ArnoldWatch.org
