a student from Harare who says the internet will not go far:
Certainly an interesting expose. What Loren Goldner asserts happened to Japan, as its reserves got reduced by 32%, and contends, China is likely to go through and see its owed loans and reserves reduced as it devalues to the expected RMB4:US$, is but a prototype or mirror image of what was done to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was seduced with supposedly "generous" loans when its exchange rate was Z$1:US$2 at independence in 1980. With external debt pegged at 3.4% of GDP in 1980, this rose to 40% by 1990, 62% by 1995 and 80% by 2000, and to anybody’s guess to the now declining GDP. Exchange rate changes at the appropriate time of transfer form a critical basis for the primitive accumulation. Most of Zimbabwe’s external debt was maturing around 1991, 1996-2000 periods. The Z$ plummets from Z$0.50:US$ in 1980 to Z$2.27 in 1989; $5 in 1991; $9 in 1995;$18 in 1997; $37 in 1998 ; $55 in 2000; and now $300 000 and many times over on the parallel market. As all this happens with no relevance to purchasing power parity, Zimbabwe has to sacrifice more export goods to meet the initial loan injections with value transfer in some kind of "Gypsy" great trick as it were. Like happened during the colonial imperialism, this exploitation will require local collaborators, and these are strategically positioned among the ruling elite in both ruling and opposition parties. Thus Zimbabweans demonise each other, are demonised, and when all is said and done exploited. Because manufacturing, which was around 25% of GDP has now fallen to below 10%, the exploitation has now gone to primary commodities including labour force, with over 20% of its "skilled workforce" now abroad. Increased mineral extraction for export, which is not rewarded by conspicuous forex earnings. Minerals such as platinum, which are known to be mined with lot of other raw high value minerals like gold; silver, copper, etc. are exported as raw platinum, extracted across the border/s and value accorded to raw platinum only. Talk of primitive accumulation, it is probably gone worse than the slave trade error, save for the human face and bits of human rights funding to divert people from the core problem. Your stomach is the slave driver. At the heart of the imperialist modus operandi is the existence a local collaborative cluster, with some semblance of legitimacy, and a local and international agenda to divert the genuinely concerned and more empathetic from reading the signs. Harare, 7/12/06 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com
