> From: Doug Henwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> . . .
> Except that these international bailouts, unlike the S&L resuce, don't cost
> U.S. taxpayers anything. The Treasury made a profit on the Mexico bailout,
> and the Bretton Woods institutions are also profit-makers.
The question is how much profit. The average
interest cost of public debt is between six and
seven percent. After adjusting for risk (and
don't ask me how to do that), the Mexico deal
should garner more to be declared a good
investment for the U.S. fisc, if we're going to
be wearing our green eye-shades.
If there really is no cost in the narrow sense,
then the right focus would seem to be on how the
deal is connected to a coerced restructuring that
reduces global labor/environmental standards.
But that is not likely to be as prominent a
political issue, except in the debtor nations.
Walker's post is a gem, but I'd like to hear more
on the substance of the accounting issues, which
really get my juices flowing.
MBS
==================================================
Max B. Sawicky Economic Policy Institute
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Suite 1200
202-775-8810 (voice) 1660 L Street, NW
202-775-0819 (fax) Washington, DC 20036
Opinions here do not necessarily represent the
views of anyone associated with the Economic
Policy Institute.
===================================================
