Re: [PEN-L] a pretty good editorial
--- Devine, James [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: REPLY: yes. There's was also the problem that the system wasn't good at providing good consumer goods or freedom of expression. My own suspicion is that internal contradictions were more important for the breakup of the USSR than external circumstances (though of course low oil prices were a major factor at harming the economy). But of course it's debatable. REPLY: Right. I was using glasnost as short-hand for both itself and perestroika. (democracy was the third part of Gorby's trinity, right?) Yes. BTW the word perestroika is used in Russia also to refer to the Yeltsin-era reforms. Perestroika and glastnost were related but different phenomenon, economic restructuring (literally, pere-stroika, building-through, tunnelling through something to get to the other side) on the one hand and freedom of expression on the other. Efforts at economic restructuring seem to have started in the 1950s, if not earlier. Libermanism and all that. And did Khruschev promise more consumer goods? Yes, but he didn't succeed very well. That was an era of shortages. My roommate's mother (she's about 65) says it was like the war. The Brezhnev era was when living standards really started to improve, at least until the early 80s. REPLY: right. But there was also the class issue of workers vs. bureaucrats. Which Yeltsin appealed to brilliantly -- we must get rid of the priviliges of the bureaucrats! (This sounds hilarious today, at a time when bureaucrats in Russia live at a level beyond their wildest Soviet dreams.) = Nu, zayats, pogodi! __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250
[PEN-L] JPMorgan: Predecessors linked to slavery
Jan. 23, 2005 PEN-L: And slavery reparations from JP Morgan for African Americans in the article below? Not a word. Seth Sandronsky SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER Thursday, January 20, 2005 · Last updated 9:20 p.m. PT JPMorgan: Predecessors linked to slavery THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK -- JPMorgan Chase Co. is the first company to acknowledge that two of its predecessor banks had specific links to the slave trade. The filing was meant to comply with a Chicago ordinance requiring such disclosures. The bank, the nation's second largest, said in a statement Thursday that the two Louisiana banks had received thousands of slaves as collateral before the Civil War. The New York-based bank also apologized for contributing to a brutal and unjust institution and said it was setting up a scholarship fund in Louisiana as a way to make amends. JPMorgan officials said the bank undertook the study after Chicago passed an ordinance in 2003 requiring companies that do business with the city to research their history to determine any links to slavery. Among the companies that have been required to do such research are banks, insurance companies, bond underwriters and other financial vendors. Jennifer Hoyle of the city's law department said it was the first contractor's filing to disclose specific slavery information under the new ordinance. JPMorgan's disclosure was outlined in a letter to the bank's employees that was signed by William B. Harrison Jr., the bank's chairman and chief executive, and James Dimon, the president and chief operating officer. The letter was made available to reporters. The bank said that historical researchers had found that two now-defunct predecessor banks - Citizens Bank and Canal Bank, both based in Louisiana - served as banks to plantations from the 1830s until the Civil War. Collateral for mortgages and other loans included land, equipment and/or enslaved individuals, the statement said. The bank estimated that the two banks accepted approximately 13,000 enslaved individuals as collateral and that the banks came to own approximately 1,250 enslaved individuals as a result of defaults. The disclosure did not make clear what happened to those people. The two Louisiana banks merged in 1924 but failed in March 1933 amid the Depression. A federally chartered bank in May 1933 assumed some of the failed banks assets, and that institution - the National Bank of Commerce in New Orleans - was a precursor of Bank One Corp. Bank One was purchased last year by JPMorgan. We apologize to the African-American community, particularly those who are descendants of slaves, and to the rest of the American public for the role that Citizens Bank and Canal Bank played, Harrison and Dimon said in their statement. The slavery era was a tragic time in U.S. history and in our company's history. JPMorgan said it was setting up a program called Smart Start Louisiana. The bank will provide $5 million over five years for full tuition undergraduate scholarships for African-American students from Louisiana to attend college in their home state. --- On the Net: www.jpmorganchase.com www.cityofchicago.org
Re: [PEN-L] a pretty good editorial
James wrote: REPLY: right. But there was also the class issue of workers vs. bureaucrats. I wrote: Which Yeltsin appealed to brilliantly -- we must get rid of the priviliges of the bureaucrats! (This sounds hilarious today, at a time when bureaucrats in Russia live at a level beyond their wildest Soviet dreams.) --- I add: It occurs to me that we are confusing the historically related but distinct issues of a) the collapse of the USSR as a geopolitical unit and b) the collapse of the Soviet system and Communist Party. The nationalism issue concerns mostly a, and the bureaucrat-worker conflict concerns mostly b. You could conceivably have had b without a or vice versa. (There was nothing _requiring_ the newly-independent states from adopting more-or-less Western models. Certainly Belarus and Turkmenistan haven't adopted Western models even rhetorically: the former is quasi-Soviet in political and economic organization, and the latter is dominated by a Cult of Personality similar to North Korea, with lots of state intervention in the economy.) = Nu, zayats, pogodi! __ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com
Re: [PEN-L] a pretty good editorial
--- Devine, James [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: many of the bureaucrats (and a lot of black-market traders, etc.) transformed themselves into capitalists. JD -- Oh yes, they've done very well for themselves. (Though, interestingly, with a few exceptions -- Khodorkovsky being among them -- the big-name oligarchs were not part of the bureaucracy.) Lots of KGB guys started private-security firms and so forth. = Nu, zayats, pogodi! __ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com
[PEN-L] Sacramento premiere of Weapons of Mass Deception
Sacramento premiere of Weapons of Mass Deception, a documentary on media and the Iraq War by Danny Schechter. Thursday January 27, 2005 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. showings Crest Theater 1013 K St. in downtown Sacramento Tickets $10 Benefit for Soapbox, Access Sacramentos progressive TV talk showMondays at 8 p.m., Wednesdays at 4 a.m. on Channel 17, in Davis Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on Channel 15 For more info Jeanie Keltner 916 444 3203. The release of WMD is well timed given the recent admission by the presidents of ABC, NBC and CBS news departments that their own coverage of the run-up to the Iraq War was flawed. WMD investigates and exposes the major U.S. media networks for allowing the government to influence their coverage. A former ABC and CNN producer and four time Emmy-Award winner, Schechter embedded himself in front of several televisions before and during the war to examine whether the networks kept the airwaves fair and balanced. The film reveals how the war Americans saw and read about is an entirely different war than the one the rest of the world viewed. It is more cohesive and devastating than Fahrenheit/911, says the Boston Phoenix, while Vanity Fair media writer Michael Wolff brands the film a comic masterpiece, where Schechter out Michael Moores Michael Moore. The Chicago Reader says WMD goes beyond Moore to offer a comprehensive and devastating critique of the TV news networks complacency and complicity in the war in Iraq ... brilliantly argued and well documented. Schechter, the news dissector, is a veteran journalist, filmmaker and media critic who edits Globalvision's Mediachannel.org, the world's largest on-line media issues network. His latest book, Embedded: Weapons of Mass Deception (Prometheus Books), provided the foundation for the 98-minute WMD, which is his 15th independent film. Seth Sandronsky
[PEN-L] the $ and CBs
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9ef63678-6d7d-11d9-9b69-0e2511c8.html Central banks shift reserves away from US By Chris Giles Published: January 24 2005 00:03 | Last updated: January 24 2005 00:03 Euro and dollarCentral banks are shifting reserves away from the US and towards the eurozone in a move that looks set to deepen the Bush administration's difficulties in financing its ballooning current account deficit. In actions likely to undermine the dollar's value on currency markets, 70 per cent of central bank reserve managers said they had increased their exposure to the euro over the past two years. The majority thought eurozone money and debt markets were as attractive a destination for investment as the US. The findings emerge from a survey of central bank reserve managers published today and conducted between September and December of last year. About 65 central banks, controlling assets worth $1,700bn, took part and the results showed a marked change in attitude over the past two years. Any rebalancing of central bank reserve portfolios has serious implications for the global financial system as the US has become increasingly dependent on official flows of funds to finance its current account deficit, estimated at $650bn in 2004. At the end of 2003, central banks held 70 per cent of their official reserves in dollar- denominated assets and central bank purchases of US securities had financed more than 80 per cent of the the US current account deficit in 2003. Any reluctance to increase exposure to dollar assets further could cause the greenback to plunge on currency markets. The US cannot take support for the dollar for granted, said Nick Carver, one of the authors of the study conducted by Central Banking Publications, a company that specialises in reporting on central banks. Central banks' enthusiasm for the dollar seem to be cooling off. In a further worrying sign for the greenback, 47 per cent of reserve managers surveyed said they expected the growth of official reserves to slow to less than 20 per cent over the next four years. Between the end of 2000 and mid-2004, official reserves had increased by 66 per cent. Slower reserve accumulation growth implies the supply of official finance is likely to become more limited but few expect the demand from the US for finance to slow. The consensus among economists is that the US current account deficit will increase to $694bn in 2005. More than 90 per cent of central bank reserve managers said that the income from reserve management was important or very important. In the two years since a similar survey was conducted, reserve managers had begun to seek higher returns for the money under management. For these managers, dollar assets have become less attractive because the fall in the dollar since 2002 has reduced the yield they received and, in some cases, has led to negative real returns. Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned in November that there was a limit to the willingness of foreign governments to finance the US current account deficit. The survey was conducted on the guarantee of anonymity for the banks involved. The 65 central banks that participated control 45 per cent of global official reserves. Individually, they had up to $250bn under management.
Re: [PEN-L] the $ and CBs
Are there enough Euros outstanding to allow for a massive shift? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: [PEN-L] the $ and CBs
outstanding euros (as of november 2004): M3 = 6,483 billions Michael Perelman wrote: Are there enough Euros outstanding to allow for a massive shift? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu -- I was recently asked whether universities should teach values. My response was that universities, whether implicitly or otherwise, always, always teach values. They teach values in the way they hire and treat employees. Ruth Simmons President, Brown University -- E. Ahmet Tonak Simons Rock College of Bard Great Barrington, MA 01230 Phone: 413-528 7488 Fax:413-528 7365 Cell: 413-329 7856 Homepage: www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak
Re: [PEN-L] the $ and CBs
Are there enough Euros outstanding to allow for a massive shift? If not, we can always print more, love, Europe.
Re: [PEN-L] realized capital gains
In the end, the only real thing is the fiction (sorry Michael, but I couldn't help it...) In all these civilised countries, where the price system has gone into effect men count their wealth in money-values. So much so that by settled habit, induced by long and close application to the pursuit of net gain in terms of price, men have come to the conviction that moneyvalues are more real and substantial than any of the material facts in this transitory world. So much so that the final purpose of any businesslike undertaking is always a sale, by which the seller comes in for the price of his goods; and when a person has sold his goods, and so becomes in effect a creditor by that much, he is said to have realised his wealth, or to have realised his holdings. In the business world the price of things is a more substantial fact than the things themselves (Thorstein Veblen, Absetnee Ownership) Jonathan Nitzan michael perelman wrote: Can anyone point me to a good source for realized capital gains? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
Re: [PEN-L] realized capital gains
michael perelman wrote: Can anyone point me to a good source for realized capital gains? Congressional Budget Office. if it's not on the web site, you can get it from the staff. Doug
Re: [PEN-L] realized capital gains
Do I detect that Veblen is finally being re-recognized for his insight in the use of market power to expropriate surplus value? Paul Phillips Jonathan Nitzan wrote: In the end, the only real thing is the fiction (sorry Michael, but I couldn't help it...) In all these civilised countries, where the price system has gone into effect men count their wealth in money-values. So much so that by settled habit, induced by long and close application to the pursuit of net gain in terms of price, men have come to the conviction that moneyvalues are more real and substantial than any of the material facts in this transitory world. So much so that the final purpose of any businesslike undertaking is always a sale, by which the seller comes in for the price of his goods; and when a person has sold his goods, and so becomes in effect a creditor by that much, he is said to have realised his wealth, or to have realised his holdings. In the business world the price of things is a more substantial fact than the things themselves (Thorstein Veblen, Absetnee Ownership) Jonathan Nitzan michael perelman wrote: Can anyone point me to a good source for realized capital gains? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.7.2 - Release Date: 1/21/05
[PEN-L] Auschwitz and the Logic of Destruction
This is the subtitle of Architects of Annihilation by Goetz Aly and Susanne Heim. p 294 Our study has shown that the modern praxis-oriented social sciences and the reception of their findings in the seats of political power played a significant part in the decisions that led to systematic mass murder. If the links between Auschwitz and visionary German projects of the time for a modernized and pacified Europe are denied or ignored, then Germany's crimes appear as a descent into barbarism and a break with Western civilization - rather than a potentiality inherent within it. Such an interpretation fails to engage with the larger truth, and makes the German annihilation policy of those years appear the product of a completely atypical historical situation, without context or explanation. Architects of Annihilation by Goetz Aly and Susanne Heim. Phoenix pb 2003, LondonISBN 1 84212 670 9 Weidenfeld and Nicolson hb 2002 London, translation by Allan Blunden First published 1991 Germany by Hoffman and Campe as Vordenker der Vernichtung
