The basic function of the IMF and the WB have has not changed. It should be remembered that they are not charitable but financial organizations. They are supposed to assist developing countries by providing payment facilities and development finance. Instead of providing aid grants, the idea is that poor counries are supposed to develop their economies so they do not need aid. In many cases this ideal has failed because of what may be described as a lack of social capital in the recipient countries. Conditions are applied to the loans to try to create a suitable result, developing the physical and social capital of the country, whereby the money will be paid back. It is not the job of the IMF and WB to hand out money for nothing - that is the job of aid organizations. Yes, they do operate sometimes right wing ideological lines, not all of which I would agree with. The World Bank has also been pressured by environmental groups into refusing finance to build dams in many places where people have no fresh water, no electricity and no income, and where a dam would assist all three problems. It is highly misguided to suggest that the world would be better off without the IMF or the WB and some people like Monbiot suggest. And Stiglitz, for all his criticism, has never suggested they be abolished. That would make matters far worse. What is required is to reform their financing and lending policies. Some informed debate about that would be far better than the wild conspiracy theories that seem so popular now. And an informed debate would not ignore the question of what type of loan guarantees should be required. Now, as I have tried to explain before, the biggest cause of world poverty is the lack of free trade in agricultural goods. Subsidies of US$350 billion p/a (six times the global aid budget) cause massive damage to the world's poor. As I have said in another post, to agree with this policy and oppose requred changes to WTO rules, is to condemn 400 million people to poverty of less than US$2 per day. It is just unconsionable. It is a crime against humanity. If you celebrate the recent failure of WTO talks then you are complict in this crime. I do not know how to expess this any more strongly. Ignorance is no excuse because this has been known and shouted about by economists for years. For an example of a statement of the problems (and where I get the 400 million figure from) see: World Bank, International Monetary Fund, "Achieving the MDGs and Related Outcomes: a Framework for Monitoring Policies and World Actions - Background Paper", http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/dcs/devcom.nsf/(documentsattachmentsweb)/April2003EnglishDC20030003Add.1/$FILE/DC2003-0003-Add.1all.pdf John At 15:22 21/09/03 +1000, you wrote: >Sorry, John Perkins, but I think you are decades out of date in your >account of IFI (IMF-WTO-WB) functions. >Yes, their IFI predecessors were set up at Bretton Woods to help poor >economies for the sake of all countries interested in free trade. But >there is a growing mountain of books exposing their disastrous failures. >I quote just one example: Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economist of >the World Bank, top adviser to Clinton, professor at most ivy league >universities from time to time, disclosed how the IFIs arbitrarily vary >interest rates on their loans, dictate policies to the borrowing >governments including forced privatization of utilities and downgrading >and privatization of public services. Results include monopoly trends, >inefficiencies, inequities and ecological irresponsibility, loss of >self-sufficiencies, and bankrupting of local farms and industries, >while exemptions are granted to the dominant "lender" nations and their >corporate mentors, dominated by big privately controlled banks. WTO >forces removal of trade barriers including health and ecological >safeguards sought by the borrowing nations while the lending nations su >bsidize their domestic producers to ensure the ruin of the borrowing >nations' producers. US and EU subsidies to their own farmers amount to >several times the total foreign aid from all sources. >When my computer behaves itself I can e-mail you my 20-page paper >'World Democracy' which was approved for publication at the 2002 >conference of the International Institute for Public Ethics. It quotes >Stiglitz and others. > -- Doug Everingham >--------------- > >From: John Perkins >Date: Tue Sep 16, 2003 12:40:38 PM Australia/Brisbane >To: humanist@topica.com >Cc: rob@essential.org >Subject: Re: [CAHS] Failures of Global Capitalism >Reply-To: humanist@topica.com > >> The nearly six-decade-record of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) >> and World Bank is marked by one colossal failure after another. > >These sentiments merely illustrate a colossal failure to comprehend what >the functions of the IMF and the World Bank are. Such wilful ignorance >is >on a par with religious delusion - a blight on the progress of humanity. > >The purpose of the IMF is to facilitate financial transactions between >countries that would otherwise be unable to trade. The purpose of the >World >Bank is to provide finance for development projects that are too risky >for >any commercial bank to undertake. These are beneficial functions. >Without >them, developing countries would unambiguously be worse off. > >With no IMF, many countries would be forced to cease trading causing >gross >hardship to them. With no World Bank, developing countries may be >deprived >from all hope of economic improvement. > >Economic failure in developing countries is not caused by the IMF or the >WB. It is caused by corruption, incompetence, ignorance and lack of >opportunity. >The latter is in large part due to the trade restrictions on >agricultural >goods imposed by developed countries, which cost poor countries $US 300 >billion annually, which is six times the global aid budget. The repeated >failure at WTO meetings to end this immoral and venal extortion is for >some >reason celebrated by middle class rich country anti-capitalists as a >victory. They are like ignorant medieval peasants celebrating the >burning >of witches. > >John > > >> At 12:00 15/09/03 +1000, you wrote: >> Relayed by Doug Everingham >> --------------- >> >> Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\image7.tif" >> >> Economic Reform Australia >> ERA Information Network >> >> Relayed by: Robert Weissman >> Subject: Empty Promises - new booklet from 50 Years is Enough >> Source: STOP-IMF network >> Date: Wednesday, 03 September, 2003 >> >> Below is a review of a new booklet published by the 50 Years Is Enough >> Network. To order copies of the booklet, go to: >> http://www.50years.org/promises.htm. >> >> Empty Promises: The IMF, World Bank, >> and Planned Failures of Global Capitalism >> by Robert Weissman, Essential Action >> 50 Years Is Enough Network Newsletter >> >> The nearly six-decade-record of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) >> and World Bank is marked by one colossal failure after another. >> >> Over the last three decades, the institutions have exerted decisive >> influence over the shape of economic policy-making in most of the >> Global >> South. And with greater power has come even greater failure. >> >> Following the directives of the IMF and World Bank, country after >> country in the Global South has seen economic growth rates slowed, or >> even reversed, unemployment skyrocket, inequality rise, rural economies >> collapse and urban slums mushroom. Governments have cut spending on >> education and health care. Service delivery has worsened. Control of >> the >> commanding heights of Global South economies has transferred from >> public >> hands to foreign multinationals or narrow bands of domestic elites, >> with >> corrupt deals often facilitating the giveaway of public property to >> private hands. >> >> What can possibly account for this stunning record of repeat failure? >> Why don't the powers to which the IMF and World Bank are ultimately >> accountable -- the rich countries, and most importantly the United >> States-- demand improved performance, or simply replace the >> institutions >> with more effective alternatives? >> >> Empty Promises: The IMF, the World Bank, and the Planned Failures of >> Global Capitalism, a new booklet published by the 50 Years is Enough >> Network in conjunction with a dozen or so colleague organizations, >> proposes an answer: "that the institutions are not failing at all -- >> that they are doing precisely what they are meant to do." >> >> "The claimed missions of the IMF and World Bank are genuinely Empty >> Promises," asserts the booklet's introduction. The structural purpose >> is >> to integrate Global South countries into the corporate globalised >> economy, paving the way for multinational oil, mining and other >> companies to extract their natural resources, foreign investors to >> exploit their labor forces, international banks to reap profits from >> high-interest loans, and foreign and domestic elites to take control of >> once-publicly owned enterprises. >> >> Empty Promises aims to present an accessible overview of the >> institutions and how they work. The booklet is structured as a series >> of >> short essays contributed by groups working in different areas. Some >> sections explain the different components and programs of the IMF and >> World Bank, some outline key programs and policies of the institutions. >> Others deal with closely related issues in the corporate globalized >> economy, such as the workings of Export Credit Agencies and the >> proposed >> Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA). >> >> An essay by a Canadian group, the Halifax Initiative, on the IMF's >> proposed Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism -- a method of writing >> down borrowing country debts in cases of financial crisis that make >> repayment impossible -- explains how the proposal would fail to cancel >> debt while requiring countries to adhere to new structural adjustment >> requirements. And, as do many of the contributors, the Halifax >> Initiative elaborates a viable and desirable alternative to the IMF's >> proposal: a Fair and Transparent Arbitration Process. Such a process >> "would ensure that creditor interests would be addressed only after the >> fundamental human rights of people in debtor nations are ensured" -- >> meaning meeting human needs would take priority over repaying loans. >> >> Irrespective of their prior knowledge, readers of Empty Promises will >> emerge conversant with most of the key policy issues at the World Bank >> and the IMF, and will know the global justice movement's critique of >> the >> way those policies are being addressed. They will understand the >> avoidable misery and suffering caused throughout the Global South by >> the >> policies imposed by the World Bank and the IMF. And they will see the >> wide range of possible alternatives available -- in a world where >> Global >> South economic policy was not decisively influenced by institutions >> whose purpose is to serve the global elite rather than the world's >> majority. >> >> The Empty Promises booklet is co-sponsored by Africa Action, Center for >> Economic Justice/World Bank Bonds Boycott, Food First & Land Research >> Action Network, Global Exchange, Halifax Initiative, Institute for >> Policy Studies/Global Economy Project, Jobs with Justice, Jubilee USA >> Network, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, and the Sisters of the >> Holy Cross. >> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >> ERAInf-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com >> > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- >Discussion list of the Council of Australian Humanist Societies >--^---------------------------------------------------------------- >This email was sent to: jperkins@alphalink.com.au > >EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1dni4.b3PGz7.anBlcmtp >Or send an email to: humanist-unsubscribe@topica.com > >TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. 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