[PEN-L:6380] Re: Mergers and Acquisitions
This is a really general question, but I need some references and suggestions on how to research the trend towards mergers and acquisitions on wall street. (I already have Doug's book). Specifically, how has this affected the rising price of stocks, etc. thanks, maggie coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:6381] Re: questions on modest proposals
The clever Englishman was actually Irish and his name was Jonathan Swift. The modest proposal was that the Irish solve their food and population problem by eating their children. Second, way back when some clever englishman wrote an essay entitled "A modest proposal", which in similar fashion, I'm told, took classicial economics to some (horrifically) logical conculsions. Anyone know about that piece? is it "out there" in cyber spaces somehwere? Many thanks- Tom Tom Kruse Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-4) 248242, 500849 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Rod Hay [EMAIL PROTECTED] The History of Economic Thought Archives http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/index.html Batoche Books http://www.abebooks.com/home/BATOCHEBOOKS/ __ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
[PEN-L:6383] Re: Re: Re: Re: modernism
Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: Yes, you did put quotation marks around progress in your original post as well. What is striking about the present state of capitalist 'progress' is, though, that capitalism seems to be to a certain extent doing away with even the ideology of 'progress' for many parts of Africa, Yugoslavia, Russia, and elsewhere. Even the corporate press are quite open about the NATO intention of making Kosovo a Euro/American protectorate (an unabashed declaration of colonialism), for instance. In other words, regress seems to be spoken of simply as regress, not as an inevitable cost of 'progress.' Oh, but the protectorate would be in the name of "civilized Western values," because as everyone knows the people of the Balkans are only marginally white. And structural adjustment too is imposed in the name of progress. The bourgeoisie has been quite adept in rebranding 19th century economic and social policy as forward looking, and welfare state and developmentalist interventions as backward-looking. Doug
[PEN-L:6385] Re: Re: Re: Re: partition?
Unfortunately, the ruling class thinks as vulgarly and ruthlessly economically as your joke here. CB Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 04/29/99 04:13PM At 03:14 PM 4/29/99 -0500, Ken wrote: ... I think the solution is simple. Milosoevic should use the southern sites as shields for tanks or guns. NATO will destroy both site (collateral damage) and military object (legitimate target). Milosevich will be able to use this as ant-NATO propoganda but the way will be cleared, so to speak, for a settlement :) has anyone considered the possibility of leveling the the entire province and putting up a WalMart and time-share condos? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html Bombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia!
[PEN-L:6387] Hedge-Fund Meltdown
Friends, I read the article below with much concern. A second Russian debt default could make the meltdown of the Long-Term Capital Management "hedge fund" look like a walk in the park, no? Seth Sandronsky Monday May 3 1999 HK issues US with hedge-fund warning BARRY PORTER in Manila Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong has told the United States not to put the interests of American hedge funds and other highly leveraged institutions ahead of small open markets such as Hong Kong. He warned the US and other economic powerhouses against stalling proposed reforms to the world's financial architecture in the wake of the economic crisis. Mr Yam told a gathering of leading international bankers that the many working groups set up to review possible global financial sector changes were taking "too long". "There is always the risk that, when the dust has settled, the initiative and enthusiasm, dare I say, on the part of those less affected by the crisis, may be stifled," Mr Yam said in an address to the Institute of International Finance in Manila. "There is also the risk that the plight of those who have been seriously affected by the crisis is not given the attention it deserves, simply because they do not have an adequately representative voice on the issues at hand at these international forums." Mr Yam said there had been no lack of ideas, but these needed to be translated into action sooner rather than later. He said it was clear highly leveraged institutions acted in a calculated, secretive and potentially highly destablising way and safeguards were needed. Mr Yam made three suggestions. He called for greater transparency of markets, particularly over-the-counter (OTC) markets, which, he said, were very opaque and were where highly leveraged institutions conducted most of their activities. "Unlike ordinary exchanges, OTC markets are subject to little, if any, transparency or regulatory requirements, raising the risk of price-ramping, collusion of misconduct," said Mr Yam, calling for a better disclosure framework. He said he supported a German proposal for an international credit register, which would collate information on the exposures of international financial intermediaries to large market players that have a potential to create systemic risk. He called for highly leveraged institutions and hedge funds to be regulated. The Basle Committee on Banking Supervision, a working group of specialists from the Group of 10 leading industrialised nations, has recommended indirect regulation whereby banks adopt more prudent policies on the assessment and management of their exposure to such institutions. Mr Yam said: "Other tools of indirect regulation could include the imposition of capital charges on lending to such institutions, raising margin and collateral requirements." However, he was yet to be convinced that such indirect measures could adequately protect smaller markets like Hong Kong from overwhelming speculative onslaughts. Finally, the HKMA chief said there was a need for international co-operation to tackle regulatory arbitrage, in order to penalise highly leveraged institutions trying to escape any new market environment. He suggested higher risk weights for counter-party transactions for banks doing business with financial entities operating out of offshore jurisdictions that did not comply with Basle core principles. However, Mr Yam stressed he was not against free markets and warned that a delicate balancing act would be required not to impose over-heavy reporting burdens or infringe too much on proprietary information of individual institutions. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All Rights Reserved. ___ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit
[PEN-L:6388] Re: FWD: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo's
IN THIS MESSAGE: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo's Glittering Prize Chapter 4a, Article I -- "The economy of Kosovo, shall function in accordance with free market principles." It is crystal clear whose interests are being advanced here: Kosovo has substantial mineral resources, including the richest mines for lead, molybdenum, mercury and other metals in all of Europe. Obviously one cannot leave the control over such resources to an independent Yugoslavia. Kosovo also has the largest lignite field in Europe...Michael Hoover
[PEN-L:6389] Re: Hedge-Fund Meltdown
Seth Sandronsky wrote: I read the article below with much concern. A second Russian debt default could make the meltdown of the Long-Term Capital Management "hedge fund" look like a walk in the park, no? Come on, confess - you're not really worried about that, you'd kind of welcome it. No? Doug
[PEN-L:6390] Re: Re: Re: Re: Ciao, Baby
I am one of the many on this list who has yet to figure out what on earth was racist about Max's original play on Henry's name. However, once it was clear that Henry objected for whatever reasons to having his name fooled around with, it was inappropriate for Max to do it some more. Max has withdrawn I believe partly out of exhaustion. After all, with Nathan laying low, Max has been the sole defender of the war in Yugoslavia on this list, or at least the sole open such defender. I think it got to him and I think he resented being called "evil" by Henry. I have encouraged him off list to return after a suitable cooling off period. I don't know if he will or not. I remain opposed to the bombing. But I would remind people on this list that it is unwise to be too self-righteous about all this. We may sneer at all the self-styled progressives who are supporting the bombing. But it is a serious position and they are not all doing it to kiss somebody's derrriere or to win favors or positions in the US Congress, or whatever. There are a lot of people who see the trains and the refugees and think, "Holocaust." That this is not an appropriate analogy is for us to convince them of, not to presume that such an analogy is automatically idiotic or immoral. Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, May 03, 1999 11:40 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6370] Re: Re: Re: Ciao, Baby Max made a joke about Henry's name which Henry interpreted as a racist response and protested. In response, Max came back with an even more obnoxious joke using Henry's name that I for one found obnoxious and, in the context of making fun of ones name after having been asked not to do so, I found intolerable on what is supposed to be a 'socialist' list. Henry interpreted it as racist and having made that point, when Max compounded the offense, I could only conclude that Max was insensitive to the racial offense he was giving. Thus, I hope that Max would withdraw until he calms down and becomes a little more sensitive to others on the list. And I don't mean on the Kosovo situation as I tried to indicate, perhaps not very clearly. But since he is not on the list, I will not try to debate his position now. Paul Phillips, Economics, University of Manitoba I'm all for flogging Max for his horrible position on Kosovo, but what did he write that was of a "racist tone"? Bill
[PEN-L:6391] Re: questions on modest proposals
It's hard to say for sure, but reading Summers' concluding section does make it seem to me he _was_ being ironic and provocative, but in a most cynical way. The memo slyly acknowledges the inherently evil logic of liberalization but does so in order to ask, in effect, "how far can we go? how much can we get away with?" He seems to clearly recognize that the line between the acceptable and the unacceptable is rhetorical, not logical. I would compare this memo with the Javier Solana statement on NATO's "moral responsibility". If you haven't read that, please do [PEN-L:6375]. It is a statement that has no intention of being believed. Every claim in the argument is so unqualified, so unambiguous and so self-righteous as to call attention to the impossibility of such a absolute state of moral certitude. It is a self-affirmation entirely devoid of self-reflection. It is a rhetoric of terror, not of morality. There is a direct line from Summers' irony to Solana's terrorism. That line passes through Clinton's sexual conduct and grand jury testimony and through Littleton, Colorado. It is a line of strategic, distorted communications; of technical rationality unmediated by ethical reflection. This is the Habermasian socio-cultural motivation crisis whipped into a frenzy. World Bank chief economist Lawrence Summers, who now claims he was being ironic and provocative. He concluded this section by saying that disagreement with this logic suggests the belief that things like "intrinsic rights to certain goods, moral reasons, social concerns, lack of adequate markets, etc. could be turned around and used more or less effectively against every Bank proposal for liberalization." Exactly; as they should be. regards, Tom Walker http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/covenant.htm
[PEN-L:6393] BLS Daily Report
BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, MAY 3, 1999: More than half (57 percent) of all youths work at some time while age 14, mostly in freelance jobs, according to a new survey by BLS. The findings represent the first round of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a nationally representative sample of 9,022 young men and women who were 12 to 16 years old on December 31, 1996. The survey provides information on employment experiences, schooling, family background, and social behavior (Daily Labor Report, page D-13). The U.S. economy grew at a 4.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter, as consumers spending boomed, the Commerce Department reports. Personal consumption surged 6.7 percent (Daily Labor Report, page D-3). __As American consumers continued their shopping spree, increasing their spending at the fastest pace in more than a decade, the U.S. economy grew at a stronger than expected 4.5 percent annual rate in the first 3 months of the year, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. Consumers spend more than they received in current after-tax income, snapping up new motor vehicles, furniture, clothing and a variety of services. That meant that households had to borrow or dip into savings to cover the difference, driving the personal savings rate to an all-time low of minus 0.5 percent. Consumers appear emboldened by a variety of factors, including plentiful jobs, rising wages, low interest rates, low inflation and rising household wealth because of the soaring stock market and solid real estate markets. Nonetheless, economists and financial analysts keep expecting consumer spending gains to drop back so that they are more in line with increases in current income (John M.Berry, in The Washington Post, May 1, page 1). __America's economic boom -- already the second longest on record -- shows no signs of flagging. Despite a declined in auto production and another sharp deterioration in the trade balance, the United States economy grew at a surprisingly robust rate during the first quarter of 1999 (Sylvia Nasar, in The New York Times, page 1). __Consumers were buying up everything in sight in the first quarter of 1999, keeping the U.S. economy roaring ahead despite a worsening trade deficit. Over the 4 quarters of 1998, the U.S. economy expanded by 4.3 percent. The GDP, or the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S., shot up at a 4.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 1999, following a stunning surge of 6 percent in the fourth quarter or 1998 (The Wall Street Journal, page A2). Throughout April, investor enthusiasm over a recovering global economy and firming commodity prices sent the stocks of economically sensitive companies through the roof. Yet this positive sign could have its unpleasant flipside. Could a stronger economy and stronger commodity prices feed inflation pressure, drive up interest rates and undermine one of the most richly valued stock markets ever? (The Wall Street Journal, page C1). Although analysts have been predicting a moderation in consumer spending and overall economic growth for some time, U.S. households have continued to defy those forecasts, using net worth, low interest rats, and falling import prices to fuel their demand for goods and services. Yet there are some tangible signs, suggesting that consumers are starting to rein in their purchases, a notion supported by the upswing in April tax payments, higher long-term interest rates, and a decline in weekly saving. Generally, economists contacted by the Bureau of National Affairs, say consumer spending should slow to about half of its first-quarter pace in the April-June period, with outlays forecast to advance to about a 3 percent annual rate rather than the lofty 6.7 percent pace charted at the start of 1999. With consumer expenditures accounting for two-thirds of total U.S. economic activity, that still would yield an overall growth rate of about 2.5 to 3.4 percent for the second quarter, analysts say (Daily Labor Report, page D-1). Real, inflation-adjusted, wages have finally surpassed their 1989 level after stagnating or failing through much of this economic expansion, an Economic Policy Institute report indicates. Tight labor markets, especially during the past year, have helped raise the wages of workers, particularly in the last few years, according to the article "Real Median Wages Finally Recover 1989 Level," in the inaugural issue of EPI's "Quarterly Wage and Employment Series". By the end of 1998, average real wages were 1.6 percent higher than in 1989. Wage growth and low inflation have especially helped low-income groups, the report by EPI economist Jared Bernstein said. Unemployment levels fell to a 29-year low of 4.3 percent in 1998, greatly benefiting low- and middle-wage workers, according to the report (Daily Labor Report, page A2). Coal exports to Europe from West Virginia, Kentucky and
[PEN-L:6394] Re: Greenspan on Foreign Exchange Management
The importance of Greenspan's utterances lie not in his wisdom but on the self-fulfilling impact his power. Greenspan allows: "The distributions of income that arise in unregulated markets have been presumed unacceptable by most modern societies, and they have endeavored, through fiscal policies and regulation, to alter the outcomes." He admits: "We in the United States built up modest reserve balances of DM and yen only when we perceived that the foreign exchange value of the dollar was no longer something to which we could be indifferent, as when, in the late 1970s, our international trade went into chronic deficit, inflation accelerated, and international confidence in the dollar ebbed." In other words, the US uses reserves in foreign currency not to buttress or stabilize the value of its own as reflected by market fundamentals, but as a tool to manage international trade to its advantage. After listing some technical reforms that he admits may not be sufficient or even relevant, Greenspan summarizes: "The adoption of any rule is not a substitute for appropriate macroeconomic, exchange rate, and financial sector policies. Indeed, the endeavor to substitute such a regime for the more difficult fundamentals of sound policy will surely fail." It is a "do as I say, but not as I do" statement. Greenspan concludes: "Over the medium term, it would be desirable for emerging market economies to develop a more sophisticated approach to the problem of managing their liquidity. There is an obvious connection between "value-at-risk" techniques used by large financial institutions to manage their exposure to risk and the liquidity-at-risk approach proposed here. It would be productive were those large financial institutions to play a role in helping countries develop their own capabilities to implement this approach, perhaps with technical assistance from G-7 supervisory authorities and international financial institutions." There are two problems with this conclusion. 1) It is the very attempt by emerging market economies to develop a more sophisticated approach to the problem of managing their liquidity and risk that gave birth to the rapid growth of the global foreign exchange markets and the field of sophisticated structured finance of derivatives in the last decade that had brought on the global financial crises. Greenspan seems to be advocating an increase rate of mutation of the virus to boost the resistance of the patients. 2) Greenspan's advice for emerging economies to adopt the "value-at-risk" techniques used by large financial institutions to manage their exposure to risk will only reduce sovereign governments to the status of commercial enterprises. Unlike multinationals, governments cannot use mass lay-off and market retrenchment as management tools for maximize profit and pass the burden to society at large. This is a point that the US dominated IMF has yet to fully grasped. Henry C.K. Liu "William F. Hummel" wrote: On April 29, Alan Greenspan gave a very interesting speech at the World Bank Conference in Washington DC yesterday. I would be interested to hear PK views on it. The speech can be found http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/1999/19990429.htm William F Hummel
[PEN-L:6397] Free Trade Road Show
The Wall Street Journal Copyright (c) 1999, Dow Jones Company, Inc. Tuesday, May 4, 1999 Politics Policy Tour by Commerce Secretary to Sell China-WTO Deal Is Joined by Few CEOs By Helene Cooper Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal FALL RIVER, Mass. -- The yellow van carrying protesters pursued Commerce Secretary William Daley's deluxe motor coach yesterday all the way from Boston to this city of defunct textile mills and then on to Rhode Island. On its side was a huge sign: Free Trade Fat Cats on Board. But actually, there were few fat cats to be found. Abandoned by the chief executive officers who pledged to help him sell China's entry into the World Trade Organization to Congress and the public, Mr. Daley nonetheless gamely began his five region bus tour to preach the benefits of free trade to the common folks. Mr. Daley's "National Trade Education Tour" was billed as a chance for U.S. executives to talk to workers across the country about the benefits of trade. Last month, during a news conference announcing the tour, six corporate chieftains, including Dana Mead of Tenneco Inc., Michael Armstrong of ATT Corp. and Phil Condit of Boeing Co., flanked Mr. Daley, pledging their participation. Yesterday, however, the only chief executives on the bus were Larry Liebenow, head of local upholstery plant Quaker Fabric Corp., and Jack Manning of Boston Capital. The only big-company chieftain to be seen yesterday was Ray Gilmartin, CEO of Merck Co., who showed up only to say a few words at a breakfast meeting. "I saw my role this morning as one to thank everyone," Mr. Gilmartin said, when asked why he and other CEOs weren't joining the tour. "Someone more involved in the community, like Quaker Fabric, is better to talk to the local community." Aides said Mr. Mead of Tenneco pulled out of the tour because of last week's announcement of the company's breakup into two parts, and Mr. Condit never intended to join this part of the tour, anyway. More executives may join other legs of the trip, said lobbyists with the Business Roundtable, which represents 200 big companies and is partly sponsoring the tour. The U.S. and China are in the final stages of working out a deal that would let China join the WTO, a move that amounts to joining the trade world's major leagues. Under terms of the deal being negotiated, China would make big concessions in many areas of its economy, opening them to competition from abroad. Nevertheless, it will be tough to sell such a deal to a skeptical Congress that is obsessed with Chinese spying and repression of human rights. The CEOs had signed up to convince people outside of Washington that the deal is in America's interest anyway, and thus put pressure on lawmakers to approve it. Environmental and labor activists trailing the tour were quick to seize on the corporate pullout as a signal that Big Business doesn't care about the locals. "I'm not too surprised," said John Demeter, one activist. The CEOs, he said, "were probably very busy counting up their compensation packages." Of course, those same activists were equally quick to scoff at the notion of the tour to begin with. One group, the Citizens Trade Campaign, called the tour "goofy" and "self-serving baloney." The weak business support highlights a growing concern among Clinton administration officials that big business will leave the job of selling a China-WTO agreement to them. Senior Clinton officials, from Mr. Daley to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin to U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, all say that corporate America must help sell the China-WTO deal. If it doesn't mount a big effort to convince Congress and the American public that the deal is important to the country's economic health, the issue will be dead on arrival in a Republican-led Congress that has become increasingly hostile to President Clinton's China policy. In particular, Clinton officials want business to help mute criticism from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R., Miss.), whose opposition to a China deal could be critical. Mr. Daley yesterday took pains not to publicly criticize the missing CEOs. Still, he said, "obviously their insight would have been helpful to those who have a problem" with trade liberalization. There were plenty of people in Fall River with such a problem. While this mill city has come back from the 17% unemployment rates of a decade ago, thousands of workers here have seen their jobs go overseas. Significantly, the China issue has particular resonance here because many textile and apparel workers believe they have lost their jobs to cheap imports. "We're losing our jobs left and right to China," said Suzanne Almeida, a 45- year-old employee at a local lingerie mill. Ms. Almeida and about 20 other workers showed up at Al Macs Diner to confront
[PEN-L:6398] Re: FWD: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accordproposal; Kosovo's
Sounds like part of a potential vulgar materialist motive for war. Charles Brown "Michael Hoover" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/04/99 11:42AM IN THIS MESSAGE: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo's Glittering Prize Chapter 4a, Article I -- "The economy of Kosovo, shall function in accordance with free market principles." It is crystal clear whose interests are being advanced here: Kosovo has substantial mineral resources, including the richest mines for lead, molybdenum, mercury and other metals in all of Europe. Obviously one cannot leave the control over such resources to an independent Yugoslavia. Kosovo also has the largest lignite field in Europe...Michael Hoover
[PEN-L:6399] FW: (mai) Two stories on the battle for WTO Director-General Position
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Margrete Strand-Rangnes Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 9:06 AM Subject: (mai) Two stories on the battle for WTO Director-General Position BATTLE ROYAL FOR WTO LEADER'S POST By Martin Khor (Director, Third World Network, an international NGO based in Penang, Malaysia). Blurb:The months-long contest for the job of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation has reached a dramatic and less-than-pleasant climax. Supporters of Mike Moore, former New Zealand Prime Minister, claim victory. They want Thai Deputy Premier, Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi to withdraw. But the countries supporting Supachai claim that he has led in support all the while until manipulation by big players intensified. They are calling for a vote, which is being resisted by the US and some other countries. Underlying the bitter fight is a strong feeling by many developing countries that the WTO's decision-making process is again being manipulated in an undemocratic way to suit the interests of major powers. The fight over who becomes the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation has turned both dramatic and nasty over the past few days in Geneva. The issue has gone beyond whether Thai Deputy Premier Supachai Panitchpakdi or former New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore is the better candidate. At stake is the credibility of the WTO itself, as the months-old selection process has raised questions about the way key decisions are made and how the organisation seems to be susceptible to the influence of a few major powers, especially the United States. Supachai is strongly backed by the Asean group in WTO and other Asian countries (including Japan and India), a majority of African countries, some European countries and a few key Latin American (Brazil and Mexico) and Central American countries. He is thus seen as a candidate of the developing world. Moore however has the support of the United States, a key and perhaps decisive factor, since the US wields such enormous power at the WTO. He is also backed by many European countries (especially France), most Latin American and some African countries. Previous Directors General of the GATT (the predecesor of the WTO) and the WTO have all come from developed countries, especially from Europe. It had been said at the time Renato Ruggiero, an Italian, was made D-G in 1995 that the next appointment would go to a candidate from a developing country. That would be fair, for after all the vast majority of the WTO's members are developing countries. And Supachai seemed an appropriate choice, given his experience as Commerce Minister and Deputy Premier and his scholarly record (he holds a PhD in Economics, specialising in development planning). Moore too has an interesting history, having risen from trade union leader to Trade Minister and Prime Minister. The WTO members agreed that both candidates were excellent and suitable. In that case, many argued, Supachai should be given the advantage since he is from the developing world. Indeed, for the past few months, Supachai has been ahead in the race, commanding a clear majority support. In a normal democratic procedure, involving some kind of vote, he would have been acclaimed the victor. But in the queer process of the WTO, decisions are made by "consensus." This theoretically means that everyone should agree or at least no one should object. Given such a vague concept, "consensus" has often really meant that decisions can be made only when the major powers, particularly the US, agree.At meeting after meeting at the WTO, no "consensus" could be reached to approve of Supachai, even though it was widely known he had clear majority support. Then in the past two weeks, intense campaigning was made on Moore's behalf by the US. It is widely known that Washington made use of its extensive network and influence to contact the governments of many developing countries and persuade them to change their mind in Moore's favour. Then, at a marathon WTO session last Friday that went well past midnight, the chairman of the WTO council, the Tanzanian Ambassador, Ali Mchumo, made a controversial opening speech, announcing that "the latest evaluation indicates" that Moore had the support of 62 countries against 59 for Supachai.He proposed that Moore be appointed the D-G. This raised a storm of controversy from Asean and other delegations supporting Supachai.They felt that the selection process had been manipulated, as there had been no announcement by the Chairman of the levels of support of the two candidates at previous meetings when it had been clear that Supachai enjoyed a clear lead. Moreover it was by no means clear how the "evaluation" or head count had been done, and by who, or when. Many countries
[PEN-L:6400] Re: Re: FWD: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accordproposal; Kosovo's
We've already heard about the mines of Kosmet as an alleged material cause. It just does not fly. Is mining all that profitable these days? Why should European or US capitalists give a hoot and not just buy the stuff, given that prices have not been all that high lately? I'm sorry, but I don't believe mining interests were whispering in Madeleine Albright's ear on January 17 when she convinced the national security group to recommend bombing Yugoslavia if there was no signature at Rambouillet. (That European and US capital would like to see free market capitalism extended to Yugoslavia is quite another kettle of fish.) As for lignite, what a joke! The stuff is highly polluting and not particularly desired by anybody anymore, although it might be acceptable in poorer and more polluted countries like (Larry Summers would approve ). Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 12:32 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6398] Re: FWD: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accordproposal; Kosovo's Sounds like part of a potential vulgar materialist motive for war. Charles Brown "Michael Hoover" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/04/99 11:42AM IN THIS MESSAGE: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo's Glittering Prize Chapter 4a, Article I -- "The economy of Kosovo, shall function in accordance with free market principles." It is crystal clear whose interests are being advanced here: Kosovo has substantial mineral resources, including the richest mines for lead, molybdenum, mercury and other metals in all of Europe. Obviously one cannot leave the control over such resources to an independent Yugoslavia. Kosovo also has the largest lignite field in Europe...Michael Hoover
[PEN-L:6403] Re: Re: FWD: Appendix B to RambouilletAccordproposal; Kosovo's
Ok lets eliminate that one. I would like to add to the list of eliminated explanations: humanitarian rescue, anti-fascism , muddling through not knowing what they are doing. having no economic master plan and no material motives whatsoever, free floating machoism, What is the DEFINITE combination of causes for the war ? Could the mines be part of a COMBINATION of material motives ? Does such a combination include seeking to exploit the labor of Yugoslavians as by the Rambouillet Appendix B provision requiring a "free" market in Kosovo ? making Yugoslavia an example to others to forestall the unravelling of neo-colonialism in the former socialist countries and other countries similar to Yugoslavia in its relationship to the U.S., Germany, Britain, France and other neo-imperialist countries ? Are you saying that this war has no material cause or combination of material causes whatsoever ? No main material cause or main combination of causes ? That its main cause is not material ? That it is random ? Charles Brown "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/04/99 12:50PM We've already heard about the mines of Kosmet as an alleged material cause. It just does not fly. Is mining all that profitable these days? Why should European or US capitalists give a hoot and not just buy the stuff, given that prices have not been all that high lately? I'm sorry, but I don't believe mining interests were whispering in Madeleine Albright's ear on January 17 when she convinced the national security group to recommend bombing Yugoslavia if there was no signature at Rambouillet. (That European and US capital would like to see free market capitalism extended to Yugoslavia is quite another kettle of fish.) As for lignite, what a joke! The stuff is highly polluting and not particularly desired by anybody anymore, although it might be acceptable in poorer and more polluted countries like (Larry Summers would approve ). Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 12:32 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6398] Re: FWD: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accordproposal; Kosovo's Sounds like part of a potential vulgar materialist motive for war. Charles Brown "Michael Hoover" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/04/99 11:42AM IN THIS MESSAGE: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo's Glittering Prize Chapter 4a, Article I -- "The economy of Kosovo, shall function in accordance with free market principles." It is crystal clear whose interests are being advanced here: Kosovo has substantial mineral resources, including the richest mines for lead, molybdenum, mercury and other metals in all of Europe. Obviously one cannot leave the control over such resources to an independent Yugoslavia. Kosovo also has the largest lignite field in Europe...Michael Hoover
[PEN-L:6404] Re: (Fwd) A WAR AGAINST ALL OF THE SERBS
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 22:20:03 -0500 Subject: [PEN-L:6319] (Fwd) A WAR AGAINST ALL OF THE SERBS Priority: normal Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Forwarded Message Follows --- Date sent:Fri, 30 Apr 1999 13:32:25 -0700 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Sid Shniad [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: A WAR AGAINST ALL OF THE SERBS The Chicago Tribune April 29, 1999 A WAR AGAINST ALL OF THE SERBS It's hard to justify a policy whose chief achievement _ and possiblyits main purpose _ is to make life miserable, frightening and dangerous for people who have no control over what is going on in Kosovo. By Steve Chapman War is to morality what the desert is to fish: a uniformly inhospitable clime. That's true even if the war is small and limited. The air campaign in Yugoslavia was conceived as a brief, surgical strike on Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and his murderous military and paramilitary forces. But in five short weeks, it has expanded into a war on one group of his victims: the Serbian people. After bombing and re-bombing all the strictly military sites it could find, without inducing Milosevic to surrender, NATO expanded its list to include facilities whose destruction will do the most harm to civilians. NATO Allied Supreme Commander Gen. Wesley Clark, an advocate of what is known as "bringing the war home to Belgrade," finally got permission to take out mainstays of the Serbian economy, including the nation's electric power grid. Purely economic facilities were originally off-limits, but The Wall Street Journal reports that this "restriction is slipping almost daily." NATO is also planning a naval blockade to cut off Serbia's oil supplies. Even many of the attacks on "military" targets have had far less effect on Milosevic's campaign of terror than on the daily life of his long-suffering populace. Rail lines have been severed, industrial plants flattened and bridges demolished. Often, bystanders have found themselves classified, posthumously, as "collateral damage." Travel is hazardous, and just getting to work can be nearly impossible. Last week, at least 10 employees were killed when allied warplanes blasted a most unmilitary target--the official state television station in Belgrade. Why? Because "it has filled the airwaves with ... lies over the years," said a NATO spokesman. Well, so has Bill Clinton, but NATO hasn't fired any cruise missiles at the White House. The alliance deserves some credit for clearly going out of its way to minimize direct civilian casualties. It also can be excused if some strikes unavoidably kill non-combatants. But it's hard to justify a policy whose chief achievement--and possibly its main purpose--is to make life miserable, frightening and dangerous for people who have no control over what is going on in Kosovo. The apparent goal is to inflict so much pain as to force Milosevic to change his policies or to force his people to change rulers. "We're holding civilians hostage," says DePaul University political scientist Patrick Callahan, an expert on just-war theory. He may not get an argument from German Gen. Klaus Naumann, chairman of NATO's military committee, who says Yugoslavia has been set back economically by 10 years and figures that the air campaign could eventually turn the clock back half a century. Naumann warns that if Milosevic doesn't retreat, "he may end up being the ruler of rubble." NATO, in short, plans to reduce a country that is home to 10 million people to a huge pile of worthless debris. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, the most fervent supporter of the air war, endorses that approach, telling the Serbs, "Every week you ravage Kosovo is another decade we will set your country back by pulverizing you. You want 1950? We can do 1950. You want 1398? We can do 1398, too." Why stop at 1398? Why not revive the idea, proposed but never adopted in Vietnam, of bombing the enemy all the way back to the Stone Age? If the aerial onslaught continues month after month, as threatened, some civilians will be blown up, but many more will be endangered by the secondary effects--food shortages, lack of fuel, loss of medicines, destruction of water, sewage and sanitation systems, poorly functioning hospitals, and the like. In Iraq, the international economic embargo already has had these consequences, causing some 90,000 deaths a year, by United Nations estimates. In Yugoslavia, as in Iraq, it's unlikely that punishing the villain's subjects will advance our larger purpose. Disrupting transportation hasn't stopped or even slowed the Serb offensive
[PEN-L:6406] BLS Daily Report
BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1999: Today's News Release: "Productivity by Industry: Service Sector and Mining, 1997" reports on labor productivity changes in 1997 for selected industries in the service and the mining sectors of the U.S. economy. Labor productivity -- defined as output per hour -- rose in 1997 for most of the industries measured by BLS in these sectors. In 1997, output per hour increased in 74 percent of the service and mining industries, as measured at the 3-digit level of the SIC Manual. Output, which is the production of goods and services, rose in 81 percent of the industries at the 3-digit level, while hours of labor rose in 72 percent of the industries. A Labor Department survey found that more than half of 14- and 15-year-olds are employed. According to the survey, 57 percent of 14-year-olds work in some capacity, while 64 percent of 15-year-olds a re employed (The New York Times, page A12). The nation's manufacturing sector continued to grow in April, with a broader-based gain but slower pace than in March, the National Association of Purchasing Management says. Although the purchasing managers' index was slightly lower in April at 52.8 percent, growth was unabated. Despite healthy economic demand, however, factory payrolls continued to shrink in April, although at a slower pace than in March. The employment index stood at 49.5 percent, up from 48 percent in March. "The industrial sector is firming, but certainly not booming," according to a Merrill Lynch economist (Daily Labor Report, page A-2). __Manufacturing grew in April for the third consecutive month, and personal income and spending and construction spending all rose in March, a private industry survey and Government reports showed today. "The economy looks like it still has lots of momentum," said an economist at Standard Poor's DRI in Lexington, Mass. "Manufacturing looks reasonably good. Consumer spending is rising. Housing is strong." The National Association of Purchasing Management's factory index was 52.8 last month. While that was down from a March reading of 54.3, it was still the third consecutive monthly reading above 50, indicating more businesses reported improved conditions than showed declines. On the inflation front, the purchasing association reported its index of prices paid rose to 49.9 in April from 43.2 during March, an indication that more companies reported price increases during the month (Bloomberg News, in an article in The New York Times, page C6). __The nation's purchasing executives said that manufacturing activity continued to grow in April, but at a slower pace than the month before. Meanwhile, other sectors of the economy continued to produce positive news. The Commerce Department said personal income and consumption both rose moderately in March, but the savings rate has remained negative for 4 consecutive months. It also said construction spending rose 0.5 percent in March (The Wall Street Journal, page A2; The Journal's page 1 chart is of the Purchasing Management Index, 1997 to the present). Personal income rose 0.4 percent in March, the same pace as spending, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. Private industry wages and salaries rose 0.2 percent in March, after advancing 0.6 percent in February. Manufacturing wages and salaries decreased 0.1 percent in March after a 0.3 percent February gain. Service industries wages and salaries rose 0.6 percent in March, following a 0.8 percent jump in February (Daily Labor Report, page D-1). __Personal income and personal spending grew at a slower rate in March than in previous months, but both continued to rise at a hefty 5 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department reports. Analysts said the March figures indicated the economy entered the second quarter on a somewhat less exuberant note, and some forecasters said the economy is likely to grow this spring at a 3 to 3.5 percent pace, down from 4.5 percent in the first 3 months of the year and a roaring 6 percent rate in the fourth quarter of last year. Meanwhile the National Association of Purchasing Management's monthly index of conditions in the manufacturing sector of the economy slipped to 52.8 last month, from 54.3 in March, indicating that conditions are still improving but at a slower rate. In another indication of solid U.S. economic growth, Commerce said the value in March of construction work on homes, office buildings, factories, hospitals, roads and other structures was up only slightly from February, but was 11 percent higher than in March 1998 (John M. Berry, writing in The Washington Post, page E2). Both private and public-sector construction reached record levels in March, contradicting economists' predictions of a slight decline, the Census Bureau reports (Daily Labor Report, page A-4). Warning that American future retirement security depends on
[PEN-L:6409] Re: Re: Re: FWD: Appendix B to RambouilletAccordproposal;Kosovo's
At 02:04 PM 5/4/99 -0400, Charles Brown wrote: Are you saying that this war has no material cause or combination of material causes whatsoever ? No main material cause or main combination of causes ? That its main cause is not material ? That it is random ? Charles, why is it so difficult to accept that powers that be make blunders and screw things up from time to time, sometimes even royally? Wojtek
[PEN-L:6408] Re: Re: Re: FWD: Appendix B to RambouilletAccordproposal; Kosovo's
At 12:50 PM 5/4/99 -0400, Barkley Rosser wrote: As for lignite, what a joke! The stuff is highly polluting and not particularly desired by anybody anymore, although it might be acceptable in poorer and more polluted countries like (Larry Summers would approve ). Exactly. DDR used it to fuel its power plants, making Saxony one of most polluted areas of Europe, but after the "anschluss" these plants were first to close. Wojtek
[PEN-L:6411] Death of 'Progress' (was Re: modernism)
Doug wrote: Oh, but the protectorate would be in the name of "civilized Western values," because as everyone knows the people of the Balkans are only marginally white. And structural adjustment too is imposed in the name of progress. The bourgeoisie has been quite adept in rebranding 19th century economic and social policy as forward looking, and welfare state and developmentalist interventions as backward-looking. They may want to sell it, but marketing efforts seem sporadic + half-hearted (probably because they don't believe it either). Besides, do people buy it? What I see in American people's responses to the Clinton Administration's Kosovo policy, for instance, is mainly indifference or acquiescence, along with smaller currents of distrust, anger, and hostility. As far as I know, only cruise-missile liberals + social democrats (_very few_ in number) who belong to the _opinion-making professions_ talk and act like as if they bought it. It's hard to sell MacJobs, sweatshops, deindustrialization, pauperization, debt peonage, colonialism as the way forward in 1999. People aren't as naive as Susan Sontag. The way I see it, neither the ruling class nor the working class believe in the rhetoric of 'progress' any longer. The working class seem committed to a Machiavellian relativism as much as the ruling class are; it's just that the working class version is a releativism of the powerless while the ruling class and the governing elite go about their business without even promising capitalist 'progress' in terms of fatter paychecks. 'Progress' is dead under capitalism. In this sense, I think that postmodernists have proven to be better at reading the rhetoric and structure of feelings of the fin-de-siecle capitalism than most non-pomo/anti-pomo leftists are. Yoshie
[PEN-L:6414] German documents reveal no genocide prior to bombing (fwd)
forwarded by Michael Hoover [www.IraqWar.org] Americans Against World Empire www.IRAQWAR.org Very important documents. German govt. reports state that no extensive persecution of Albanians in Kosovo was taking place prior to the Nato bombing. ( The German govt. nonetheless supported the bombing decision. ) This revelation completely undercuts the pro-war argument that Nato bombing was intended to prevent "genocide." It is not that the "genocide" or "ethnic cleansing" accelerated after the bombing; it simply did not exist prior to the bombing--it began with the bombing. The documents point out that the Serbian forces were fighting the KLA, not Albanians in general. http://www.zmag.org/ZNETTOPnoanimation.html IMPORTANT INTERNAL DOCUMENTS =46ROM GERMANY'S FOREIGN OFFICE REGARDING PRE-BOMBARDMENT GENOCIDE IN KOSOVO As in the case of the Clinton Administration, the present regime in Germany, specifically Joschka Fischer's Foreign Office, has justified its intervention in Kosovo by pointing to a "humanitarian catastrophe," "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" occurring there, especially in the months immediately preceding the NATO attack. The following internal documents from Fischer's ministry and from various regional Administrative Courts in Germany spanning the year before the start of NATO's air attacks, attest that criteria of ethnic cleansing and genocide were not met. The Foreign Office documents were responses to the courts' needs in deciding the status of Kosovo-Albanian refugees in Germany. Although one might in these cases suppose a bias in favor of downplaying a humanitarian catastrophe in order to limit refugees, it nevertheless remains highly significant that the Foreign Office, in contrast to its public assertion of ethnic cleansing and genocide in justifying NATO intervention, privately continued to deny their existence as Yugoslav policy in this crucial period. And this continued to be their assessment even in March of this year. Thus these documents tend to show that stopping genocide was not the reason the German government, and by implication NATO, intervened in Kosovo, and that genocide (as understood in German and international law) in Kosovo did not precede NATO bombardment, at least not from early 1998 through March, 1999, but is a product of it. Excerpts from the these official documents were obtained by IALANA (International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms) which sent them to various media. The texts used here were published in the German daily junge welt on April 24, 1999. (See http://www.jungewelt.de/1999/04-24/011.shtml as well as the commentary at http://www.jungewelt.de/1999/04-24/001.shtml). According to my sources, this is as complete a reproduction of the documents as exists in the German media at the time of this writing. What follows is my translation of these published excerpts. Eric Canepa Brecht Forum, New York April 28, 1999 I: Intelligence report from the Foreign Office January 6, 1999 to the Bavarian Administrative Court, Ansbach: "At this time, an increasing tendency is observable inside the =46ederal Republic of Yugoslavia of refugees returning to their dwellings. ... Regardless of the desolate economic situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (according to official information of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 700,000 refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzogovina have found lodging since 1991), no cases of chronic malnutrition or insufficient medical treatment among the refugees are known and significant homelessness has not been observed. ... According to the Foreign Office's assessment, individual Kosovo-Albanians (and their immediate families) still have limited possibilities of settling in those parts of Yugoslavia in which their countrymen or friends already live and who are ready to take them in and support them." II. Intelligence report from the Foreign Office, January 12, 1999 to the Administrative Court of Trier (Az: 514-516.80/32 426): "Even in Kosovo an explicit political persecution linked to Albanian ethnicity is not verifiable. The East of Kosovo is still not involved in armed conflict. Public life in cities like Pristina, Urosevac, Gnjilan, etc. has, in the entire conflict period, continued on a relatively normal basis." The "actions of the security forces (were) not directed against the Kosovo-Albanians as an ethnically defined group, but against the military opponent and its actual or alleged supporters." III. Report of the Foreign Office March 15, 1999 (Az: 514-516,80/33841) to the Administrative Court, Mainz: "As laid out in the status report of November 18, 1998, the KLA has resumed its positions after the partial withdrawal of the (Serbian) security forces in October 1998, so it once again controls broad areas in the zone of conflict. Before the beginning of spring 1999 there were still clashes between the KLA and
[PEN-L:6416] Positions vs. Individuals (was Re: Ciao, Baby)
Barkley Rosser wrote: I accept that I mischaracterized Henry's position vis a vis Max. However, Henry certainly characterized one position as being "evil" even if he did not specifically list people who held it, although Max came closer to it than anybody on the list. Not too surprising that he took offense. Unless one separates a position from those who hold it, one can't argue about anything that would arouse passion. If Henry (or anyone) wants to say that a position X is evil, unjust, immoral, or whatever, I hope he'll continue to say it, without tempering his words. Barkley Rosser also wrote: We may sneer at all the self-styled progressives who are supporting the bombing. But it is a serious position and they are not all doing it to kiss somebody's derrriere or to win favors or positions in the US Congress, or whatever. It may be a 'serious' position in the sense that it is sincerely held without self-interested motives. However, it isn't a serious position in that it is negated by facts (e.g. NATO has bombed those whom they claim to protect as well), among other reasons. One can only hold this position seriously as long as one pays no attention to the effects of bombings. Yoshie
[PEN-L:6418] GDP before and after communism in selected Balkan countries
The source for this material is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development--via a BBC news analysis. GDP in 3 selected years as percentage of GDP at the fall of communism (1989=100) Country1997 19981999 (est.) ALBANIA80 8690 BULGARIA 63 6566 CROATIA76 7879 MACEDONIA 56 5860 ROMANIA82 7674 BOSNIA30 3436 YUGOSLAVIA54 5048 I don't know if the estimates for 99 were made before or after the bombing. Now we know why the Rambouillet peace agreement has the bit about the free market economy. With these figures the population might not want one, and they don't even tell about level of social services or the distribution of income and wealth. Cheers, Ken Hanly
[PEN-L:6419] Re: GDP before and after communism in selected Balkan countries
Sorry about the columns. The system reacted strangely to the data. I wrote it out in three neat columns from 97 to 99 using the tab key. The data is still under the correct columns. Cheers K. Hanly Ken Hanly wrote: The source for this material is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development--via a BBC news analysis. GDP in 3 selected years as percentage of GDP at the fall of communism (1989=100) Country1997 19981999 (est.) ALBANIA80 8690 BULGARIA 63 6566 CROATIA76 7879 MACEDONIA 56 5860 ROMANIA82 7674 BOSNIA30 3436 YUGOSLAVIA54 5048 I don't know if the estimates for 99 were made before or after the bombing. Now we know why the Rambouillet peace agreement has the bit about the free market economy. With these figures the population might not want one, and they don't even tell about level of social services or the distribution of income and wealth. Cheers, Ken Hanly
[PEN-L:6420] Sanders v. progressives on NATO bombing; Crisis in Yugoslavia It's Relation to Global Fascism (long)
IN THIS MESSAGE: Sanders v. progressives on NATO bombing; Crisis in Yugoslavia It's Relation to Global Fascism (long) People interested in the response of Bernie Sanders political constituency (at a Sanders Town Meeting) to his pro-war stance on the U.S./NATO bombing of Yugoslavia might want to check out the Vermont Labor Party's web page - complete with pictures at: http://mishima.goddard.edu/~vlp/ The page is updated daily. Fraternally, Hal Leyshon member of affiliated Teamsters Local#597 and VTLP executive committee member see the Vermont Labor Party web page at: http://mishima.goddard.edu/~vlp/ === Bernie's "Town Meeting" on NATO/US War in Yugoslavia May 3, 1999 Jozef Hand-Boniakowski Upwards of 500 people attended a forum at the Pavilion Auditorium in Montpelier with Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders and a panel consisting of four individuals representing various perspectives on the war in Yugoslavia. The event was not a town meeting as advertised with panel members limited to 10 minutes and floor speakers to 2. Speakers included Dawn Calabia, U.N. High Commisioner on Refugees who spoke on Western Leaders ignoring the pattern of "internal displacement" for a year. Shirley Geden, a University of Vermont economics professor spoke on the International Monetray Fund's (IMF) contribution to the economic instability in Yugoslavia during the 1980's which contributed to the crisis. The assistant Pastor from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Burlington spoke on Women in Black and the non-violent possibility for resolving the conflict and going beyond militarism. A professor from CUNY spoke supporting the NATO bombing and urging the use of ground troops. With very few exceptions the more than two dozen individuals who spoke from the floor disagreed with Bernie's position on the daily massive bombing taking place in the Balkans. The general theme repeated throughout the evening was that violence in the name of stopping violence is a mistake and that militarism by the world's remaining (sometimes called "rogue") superpower under the guise of humanitarian concerns is a cover for further corporate global expansion. Some speakers suggested a greater master plan of the planet's largest purveyor of arms for profit. Others questioned the sanity of the patriarchical might-makes-right philosophy of the United States. A speaker questioned Bernie about the eventual return of the refugees to their homeland in Kosovo, a place becoming uninhabitable through the use of radioactive depleted uranium shelld. Bernie's response was to avoid answering the question. Others suggested that the military-industrial-prison complex had much to gain from the war and from the continued use of billions of dollars of soon-to-be-replaced sophisticated arms further pushing Wall Street ticker tape results and profits upward. The forum clearly was a difficult night for Congressman Sanders with many in attendance feeling let down by a politican whom they have become accustomed to trusting and admiring, a "progressive " whom they believed like them is determined to change the business-as-usual mentality of Congress. Bernie's quick arrest of demonstrators at his office draws ironic attention to an intolerance for dissent, something which less than a few decades ago he was willing to participate in. Two students recently arrested in Bernie's office sat in the front row of the auditorium wearing handcuffs as a sign of that intolerance. Bernie is to be commeded for his efforts in participating in a congressional delegation reaching an agreement with members of the Russian Duma trying to find a political solution to the war. That being said, some speakers questioned Bernie's late participation in the delegation and only after the fallout in Vermont began quickly reaching his office. Whether the forum and its high energy on May 4 made a difference only time can tell. What is evident however, is how Bernie's support for bombing in Sudan, Afhghanistan, Iraq and now Yugoslavia is eroding his base of support in the progressive and social justice communities. Youth Arrestees Statement Pavilion Auditorioum Crowd Dawn Calabia Shirley Geden Text of Author's Statement Read at the Forum Good evening. I would like to thank congressman Sanders for organizing this forum. This is my 28th year teaching and my 14th at Burr and Burton
[PEN-L:6421] IMF ready to offer financial help, structural reforms to theBalkans - Javier Solana
The National Post Monday, May 03, 1999 NATO: UNITED TO SUCCEED The International Monetary Fund and Group of Seven industrialized countries stand ready to offer financial help to the countries of the Balkans. This help should go hand in hand with necessary structural reforms. By Javier Solana The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has changed too: The new NATO that emerged from the Washington Summit is ready for the next millennium. In all of this our core principles remain constant: In 1949, the founding members of NATO signed the North Atlantic Treaty to defend democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law. These remain directly relevant to the world of today, but proclaiming them is not sufficient. The Kosovo crisis obliged us to take action to defend them. This challenge is every bit as great as those we faced 50 years ago. Our New Strategic Concept approved in Washington helps equip NATO for such new challenges. We have a moral responsibility to act to defend our values once the efforts of diplomacy have failed. And we are doing so with the determination that has become our characteristic since 1949. This has not changed. Our action in the Balkans is the latest chapter in a long history of standing up for these principles. Principles that will help ensure Europe enters the next millennium a peaceful and stable place. The Washington summit endorsed our continuing action in Kosovo. It showed that the resolve of the international community is getting stronger; and it encouraged us to intensify this action with immediate effect. We will do so. And, more than ever, I am totally confident that we will succeed. We have three key strengths: unity of spirit; clarity of purpose, and the right strategy. At the Washington summit, more than 40 countries stood shoulder to shoulder: not only the 19 Allies but also our partners, with whom deepening our co-operative relations is one of our top priorities. And the countries neighbouring Yugoslavia asked us to follow our efforts through to the end. They do not enjoy living next door to the Milosevic regime. We value their help to us -- both in the military and humanitarian effort. It is vital to the success of our operation. And NATO will respond to any challenges made to them by Yugoslavia. Our aims remain clear. The Washington summit wholeheartedly confirmed NATO's continuing commitment to them. We welcome the continuing diplomatic efforts of the international community. I am in close contact with Kofi Annan. I also welcome the efforts of Viktor Chernomyrdin. Russia will be central to the lasting solution. But let us be clear -- the aims we set out on April 12 are not negotiable. And our longer-term strategy remains the achievement of a lasting political settlement, based on the Rambouillet agreement. After that, I look forward to the day when we will be able to welcome a democratic Yugoslavia back into the European family, as part of a stable Balkan region. Our strategy is working. Day by day we are gradually degrading Milosevic's war machine, cutting off his ability to sustain his forces in Kosovo. The air campaign has so far made a dramatic impact: The air-defences are weak; the air force no longer takes to the air -- many aircraft have been destroyed and fuel is in short supply -- as most of the storage capacity has been eliminated. In Washington we had one simple message for Milosevic: NATO's resolve is unshakeable. You have the power to end the campaign. Meanwhile, the damage to your country's infrastructure, and every single casualty, is your responsibility. But our military goals must not deter us from our humanitarian mission. Indeed we are committed to helping those who have suffered as a result of Milosevic's actions. More than 700,000 refugees have fled Kosovo. Our troops will go on working in support of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and other agencies in the camps. 12,000 troops are helping with the humanitarian effort in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, 5,000 in Albania. They have helped in the delivery of more than 3,000 tons of food, 800 tons of medical supplies, and 1,500 tons of tents. The Allies will work with the rest of the international community to help rebuild Kosovo once the crisis is over: The International Monetary Fund and Group of Seven industrialized countries are among those who stand ready to offer financial help to the countries of the region. We want to ensure proper co-ordination of aid and help countries to respond to the effects of the crisis. This should go hand in hand with the necessary structural reforms in the countries affected -- helped by budget support from the international community. Our ultimate aim is to build lasting peace in the Balkans. Serbia is an integral part of
[PEN-L:6417] NATO Workshop on Political-Military Decision Making (was AppendixB to Rambouillet...)
Barkeley Rosser to Charles: Also, now that it is going, the US military-industrial complex is enjoying the higher earnings and saying "go go go," although they were not behind its initiation, I don't think, At the XIIth NATO Workshop on Political-Military Decision Making in 1995, Dr. Wolfgang Piller of Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG gave a talk entitled "European Prerequisites for Transatlantic Cooperation." Piller said, among other things: * n. Markets in Europe, like those in the U.S., are sinking rapidly; government budgets for procurement have been sharply reduced. But the fragmented national industries in Europe have and will become critical much faster than their U.S. competitors, who can merge and concentrate on the home market (which is still a large one) in their huge unified country. To sum up, then, there is no alternative to thinking and acting together in the framework of an industrial and political division of labor: what we need is a unified, consolidated European market that includes the new democracies of Central Europe http://www.csdr.org/95Book/Piller.htm * I don't think that European arms manufacturers have achieved their objectives in the Balkans, but certainly they have been behind the creation of a "New NATO" whose primary raison d'etre is offensive military actions (billed as 'humanitarian') _outside_ the NATO countries. Yoshie
[PEN-L:6415] Re: Beneath Exploitation (was Appendix B toRambouillet....)
At 05:05 PM 5/4/99 -0500, Yoshie wrote: I think that this war is, in an important sense, an expression of the fact that a huge part of the working class have become expelled from productive labor under neoliberalism. ... There is no currently legal profitable way to incorporate, for instance, most if not all of the Russian working class in the capitalist world economy. What do capitalists do with the working class people they do not need to employ? Imprison them, starve them, or kill them. ... I don't get this. In the US, a lot of people have been kicked out of productive labor by neoliberalism, but a lot have gotten new jobs, often in productive industries. (BTW, from a capitalist class point of view, i.e., from the point of view that defines "productive labor" for Marx, service labor is productive.) The rise in incarceration lowers the unemployment rate, but even when you correct for this to allow comparisons over time, the unemployment rate so far in 1999 looks pretty good except compared to the late 1960s, at least in the US. We also must remember that capitalism is an expansionary system. Neoliberalism has lowered wages and boosted profits. The latter encourages capitalist accumulation and increased demand for labor-power. So nowadays, in the US you hear capitalists complaining about shortages of labor... You'd think that the capitalists would want to increase the availability of cheap labor in the Balkans (as with the Rambo accord's demand that free markets prevail in Serbia) rather than killing off a bunch of workers. Now it's true that capitalism is irrational, i.e., it won't always serve capitalist class interests, as when they _prevent_ cheap labor by killing a bunch of people and destroying the economies in the Balkans. But your description makes it sound like the capitalists want to get rid of surplus population and are pushing war in order to attain these goals. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html Bombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia!
[PEN-L:6413] Re: Hedge-Fund Meltdown
Despite convoluted denial by Greenspan and the NY Federal Reserve Bank, moral harzard has been increased with the Fed orchestrated bail-out of LTCM. Incidentally, while the crisis of LTCM was caused by the sudden impact of the Russian default on the normal paradigm of global interest rate parity, the collapse of LTCM, if allowed to occur, would have been many folds the impact of the Russian default. The notional value of LTCM exposure was around US$2 trillion with risk exposure of several hundred billions (no one knew how many). In contrast, the Russian default involved less than US$4 billion. The problem is with the spectacular and unregulated growth of privately traded derivatives, the underlying asset of which (notional value) rose from negligible in 1988 to US$37 trillion in 1998, almost 5 times the GDP of the U.S., by unbundling risks in globalized markets for buyers who will pay the highest price for specific protection. At year-end 1998, U.S. commercial banks, the leading players in global derivatives markets, reported outstanding derivatives contracts with a notional value of $33 trillion, a measure that has been growing at a compound annual rate of around 20 percent since 1990. Of the $33 trillion outstanding at year-end, only $4 trillion were exchange-traded derivatives; the remainder were off-exchange or over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. An OTC instrument is traded not on organized exchanges (like futures contracts), but by dealers (typically banks) trading directly with one another or with their counterparties (hedge funds) using electronic means. The $2.5 trillion-a-day repurchase agreement, or repo market, is the place where bond firms and investors drum up cash to buy securities, and where corporations and money market funds park billions of dollars daily to lock in attractive returns. It is also the main source for funds by commercial banks for financing derviative trading. I posted an apologetically long post on the subject: The Repo Market Time Bomb, on this list on April 8, 1999. The counter-party credit risk of the global structured finance market is unbelievably fragile and explosive. Henry C.K. Liu Seth Sandronsky wrote: Friends, I read the article below with much concern. A second Russian debt default could make the meltdown of the Long-Term Capital Management "hedge fund" look like a walk in the park, no? Seth Sandronsky Monday May 3 1999 HK issues US with hedge-fund warning BARRY PORTER in Manila Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong has told the United States not to put the interests of American hedge funds and other highly leveraged institutions ahead of small open markets such as Hong Kong. He warned the US and other economic powerhouses against stalling proposed reforms to the world's financial architecture in the wake of the economic crisis. Mr Yam told a gathering of leading international bankers that the many working groups set up to review possible global financial sector changes were taking "too long". "There is always the risk that, when the dust has settled, the initiative and enthusiasm, dare I say, on the part of those less affected by the crisis, may be stifled," Mr Yam said in an address to the Institute of International Finance in Manila. "There is also the risk that the plight of those who have been seriously affected by the crisis is not given the attention it deserves, simply because they do not have an adequately representative voice on the issues at hand at these international forums." Mr Yam said there had been no lack of ideas, but these needed to be translated into action sooner rather than later. He said it was clear highly leveraged institutions acted in a calculated, secretive and potentially highly destablising way and safeguards were needed. Mr Yam made three suggestions. He called for greater transparency of markets, particularly over-the-counter (OTC) markets, which, he said, were very opaque and were where highly leveraged institutions conducted most of their activities. "Unlike ordinary exchanges, OTC markets are subject to little, if any, transparency or regulatory requirements, raising the risk of price-ramping, collusion of misconduct," said Mr Yam, calling for a better disclosure framework. He said he supported a German
[PEN-L:6407] Re: Re: Re: FWD: Appendix B to RambouilletAccordproposal; Kosovo's
Charles, Never said any such thing, only that it is complicated. And I did not reject all of those things you listed, certainly not that one about muddling through not knowing what they are doing. Some obvious ones that have been listed and not rejected include periphery pacification for Euro- capital and general assertion of global authority by the US for its capital to operate (globally). Also, now that it is going, the US military-industrial complex is enjoying the higher earnings and saying "go go go," although they were not behind its initiation, I don't think, but are certainly a much bigger material interest than might-be-miners in Kosmet or Danube river shippers in Germany. Certainly the spectacle of Repug reps in the US House voting against "supporting Clinton's war" but voting FOR the funding of it plus some has been most edifying. Also, I would not minimize the more global concern of pleasing the Turko-Central Asian oil belt for US oil companies. These look all pretty substantive, although I also think that at least some of these leaders have convinced themselves that they really are doing for humanitarian reasons, absurd as that may be. Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 2:04 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6403] Re: Re: FWD: Appendix B to RambouilletAccordproposal; Kosovo's Ok lets eliminate that one. I would like to add to the list of eliminated explanations: humanitarian rescue, anti-fascism , muddling through not knowing what they are doing. having no economic master plan and no material motives whatsoever, free floating machoism, What is the DEFINITE combination of causes for the war ? Could the mines be part of a COMBINATION of material motives ? Does such a combination include seeking to exploit the labor of Yugoslavians as by the Rambouillet Appendix B provision requiring a "free" market in Kosovo ? making Yugoslavia an example to others to forestall the unravelling of neo-colonialism in the former socialist countries and other countries similar to Yugoslavia in its relationship to the U.S., Germany, Britain, France and other neo-imperialist countries ? Are you saying that this war has no material cause or combination of material causes whatsoever ? No main material cause or main combination of causes ? That its main cause is not material ? That it is random ? Charles Brown "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/04/99 12:50PM We've already heard about the mines of Kosmet as an alleged material cause. It just does not fly. Is mining all that profitable these days? Why should European or US capitalists give a hoot and not just buy the stuff, given that prices have not been all that high lately? I'm sorry, but I don't believe mining interests were whispering in Madeleine Albright's ear on January 17 when she convinced the national security group to recommend bombing Yugoslavia if there was no signature at Rambouillet. (That European and US capital would like to see free market capitalism extended to Yugoslavia is quite another kettle of fish.) As for lignite, what a joke! The stuff is highly polluting and not particularly desired by anybody anymore, although it might be acceptable in poorer and more polluted countries like (Larry Summers would approve ). Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 12:32 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6398] Re: FWD: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accordproposal; Kosovo's Sounds like part of a potential vulgar materialist motive for war. Charles Brown "Michael Hoover" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/04/99 11:42AM IN THIS MESSAGE: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo's Glittering Prize Chapter 4a, Article I -- "The economy of Kosovo, shall function in accordance with free market principles." It is crystal clear whose interests are being advanced here: Kosovo has substantial mineral resources, including the richest mines for lead, molybdenum, mercury and other metals in all of Europe. Obviously one cannot leave the control over such resources to an independent Yugoslavia. Kosovo also has the largest lignite field in Europe...Michael Hoover
[PEN-L:6405] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Ciao, Baby
I accept that I mischaracterized Henry's position vis a vis Max. However, Henry certainly characterized one position as being "evil" even if he did not specifically list people who held it, although Max came closer to it than anybody on the list. Not too surprising that he took offense. As for the names issue, I agree that no one should alter somebody else's name for public usage without their genuine consent. Certainly changing someone's name because one does not know how to pronounce it (if it is foreign or unfamiliar) is racist or at least chauvinist. Also, applying a name that implies some negative stereotype is clearly racist. I am not sure that what Max did fit either of those; maybe it did. I am not going to defend what he did, and certainly the second round was highly inappropriate. Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: Henry C.K. Liu [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 1:19 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6402] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Ciao, Baby I really do not wish to spend more energy on this, but Barkley's claim that I called Max evil is not support by fact. I wrote before Max's "joke": "I never once attacked Max personally for taking a position I disagree with, much less accused him of being evil. Read my post. Max was not mentioned. I stand behind every word in my post." Cultural and language imperialism is a serious issue, but more for non Westerners. Recently, I participated in a diversity training seminar in a major New York law firm whose members pride themsleves as ultra liberals who fight for social justice. The question was raised whether it is alright to modify non-Western names of associates as a convenience, such as calling someone with a difficult name Jack or Charlie. The head of the corporate department responded by saying it was ok if no harm was meant by it. The younger memebers thought it was an absoletely incorrect posture. To non-English speakers, Smith is a very difficult name to pronounce. Racism has to be opposed at its bud. It was not just Max's repeated taunting, but when I protested, others on the list suggested that I was hyper-sensitive. That was the last straw. There is no basis to participate in fighting for social justice while showing a total insentivity to its universal meaning. These are my last words on this subject. As I said, innocent people are still getting killed or made to starve to death. Henry "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote: I am one of the many on this list who has yet to figure out what on earth was racist about Max's original play on Henry's name. However, once it was clear that Henry objected for whatever reasons to having his name fooled around with, it was inappropriate for Max to do it some more. Max has withdrawn I believe partly out of exhaustion. After all, with Nathan laying low, Max has been the sole defender of the war in Yugoslavia on this list, or at least the sole open such defender. I think it got to him and I think he resented being called "evil" by Henry. I have encouraged him off list to return after a suitable cooling off period. I don't know if he will or not. I remain opposed to the bombing. But I would remind people on this list that it is unwise to be too self-righteous about all this. We may sneer at all the self-styled progressives who are supporting the bombing. But it is a serious position and they are not all doing it to kiss somebody's derrriere or to win favors or positions in the US Congress, or whatever. There are a lot of people who see the trains and the refugees and think, "Holocaust." That this is not an appropriate analogy is for us to convince them of, not to presume that such an analogy is automatically idiotic or immoral. Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, May 03, 1999 11:40 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6370] Re: Re: Re: Ciao, Baby Max made a joke about Henry's name which Henry interpreted as a racist response and protested. In response, Max came back with an even more obnoxious joke using Henry's name that I for one found obnoxious and, in the context of making fun of ones name after having been asked not to do so, I found intolerable on what is supposed to be a 'socialist' list. Henry interpreted it as racist and having made that point, when Max compounded the offense, I could only conclude that Max was insensitive to the racial offense he was giving. Thus, I hope that Max would withdraw until he calms down and becomes a little more sensitive to others on the list. And I don't mean on the Kosovo situation as I tried to indicate, perhaps not very clearly. But since he is not on the list, I will not try to debate his position now. Paul Phillips, Economics, University of Manitoba I'm all for flogging Max for his horrible position on Kosovo, but what did he write
[PEN-L:6402] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Ciao, Baby
I really do not wish to spend more energy on this, but Barkley's claim that I called Max evil is not support by fact. I wrote before Max's "joke": "I never once attacked Max personally for taking a position I disagree with, much less accused him of being evil. Read my post. Max was not mentioned. I stand behind every word in my post." Cultural and language imperialism is a serious issue, but more for non Westerners. Recently, I participated in a diversity training seminar in a major New York law firm whose members pride themsleves as ultra liberals who fight for social justice. The question was raised whether it is alright to modify non-Western names of associates as a convenience, such as calling someone with a difficult name Jack or Charlie. The head of the corporate department responded by saying it was ok if no harm was meant by it. The younger memebers thought it was an absoletely incorrect posture. To non-English speakers, Smith is a very difficult name to pronounce. Racism has to be opposed at its bud. It was not just Max's repeated taunting, but when I protested, others on the list suggested that I was hyper-sensitive. That was the last straw. There is no basis to participate in fighting for social justice while showing a total insentivity to its universal meaning. These are my last words on this subject. As I said, innocent people are still getting killed or made to starve to death. Henry "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote: I am one of the many on this list who has yet to figure out what on earth was racist about Max's original play on Henry's name. However, once it was clear that Henry objected for whatever reasons to having his name fooled around with, it was inappropriate for Max to do it some more. Max has withdrawn I believe partly out of exhaustion. After all, with Nathan laying low, Max has been the sole defender of the war in Yugoslavia on this list, or at least the sole open such defender. I think it got to him and I think he resented being called "evil" by Henry. I have encouraged him off list to return after a suitable cooling off period. I don't know if he will or not. I remain opposed to the bombing. But I would remind people on this list that it is unwise to be too self-righteous about all this. We may sneer at all the self-styled progressives who are supporting the bombing. But it is a serious position and they are not all doing it to kiss somebody's derrriere or to win favors or positions in the US Congress, or whatever. There are a lot of people who see the trains and the refugees and think, "Holocaust." That this is not an appropriate analogy is for us to convince them of, not to presume that such an analogy is automatically idiotic or immoral. Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, May 03, 1999 11:40 PM Subject: [PEN-L:6370] Re: Re: Re: Ciao, Baby Max made a joke about Henry's name which Henry interpreted as a racist response and protested. In response, Max came back with an even more obnoxious joke using Henry's name that I for one found obnoxious and, in the context of making fun of ones name after having been asked not to do so, I found intolerable on what is supposed to be a 'socialist' list. Henry interpreted it as racist and having made that point, when Max compounded the offense, I could only conclude that Max was insensitive to the racial offense he was giving. Thus, I hope that Max would withdraw until he calms down and becomes a little more sensitive to others on the list. And I don't mean on the Kosovo situation as I tried to indicate, perhaps not very clearly. But since he is not on the list, I will not try to debate his position now. Paul Phillips, Economics, University of Manitoba I'm all for flogging Max for his horrible position on Kosovo, but what did he write that was of a "racist tone"? Bill
[PEN-L:6396] Re: Hedge-Fund Meltdown
But wouldn't that be good from the standpoint of making radical change of the capitalist system more likely ? How do you make an omelette without breaking eggs. ? Charles Brown "Seth Sandronsky" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/04/99 11:17AM Friends, I read the article below with much concern. A second Russian debt default could make the meltdown of the Long-Term Capital Management "hedge fund" look like a walk in the park, no? Monday May 3 1999 HK issues US with hedge-fund warning BARRY PORTER in Manila Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong has told the United States not to put the interests of American hedge funds and other highly leveraged institutions ahead of small open markets such as Hong Kong.
[PEN-L:6395] Re: Re: Why Nato needs to destroy Serbia
For one thing, the bourgeoisie do not do the dying in their wars. Just the internecine, working class mass murder is an enormous plus for interests of the bourgeoisie as far as any war is concerned. Charles Brown Yoshie Furuhashi [EMAIL PROTECTED] 04/30/99 05:01PM Charles to Wojtek: Again I do not think that there is an overall master plan or capitalist conspiracy to take over CEE. I view it as a rather incoherent process of muddling through, with no master plan, no coherent strategy, conflicting interests, great uncertainty, and even greater short-term opportunism. Yea, the bourgeoisie are crazy like a fox. Amazing how they keep coming up winners. Would you describe WWI, WWII and most capitalist war this way or is this war different , some new phenomenon ? How about capitalist economics ? Hasn't capitalist war always been significantly anarchistic like capitalist production ? Charles Brown I take it that Wojtek is an empiricist, not a Hegelian. Yoshie
[PEN-L:6392] Re: Re: questions on modest proposals
also: Prowse, Michael, 1992: "Save Planet Earth--From Economists, _Financial Times_, February 10.
[PEN-L:6386] FWD: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo'sGlittering Prize
IN THIS MESSAGE: Appendix B to Rambouillet Accord proposal; Kosovo's Glittering Prize Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 11:55:56 +0900 From: Hendrik Subject: [NS] Interpreting the Rambouillet Accord proposal Here are some excerpts from the Rambouillet accord proposal interspersed with some comments. (Acknowledgements to Richard Becker of the International Action Center, NY) We have heard much justification why NATO had no choice but to attack Yugoslavia because the Yugoslav government refused to negotiate over the issue of Kosovo. However, the Yugoslav government had indicated its willingness to accept the autonomy part of the Rambouillet proposal - what it rejected was the implied abdication of its national sovereignty and independence. The proposed status of autonomy for Kosovo would have meant that Kosovo would have received its own government, supreme court and security forces. The Kosovo government would have been able to negate laws passed by the federal legislature and to conduct its own foreign policy - both rights that neither the US states nor the states of Germany possess. Let us look at some excerpts of the accord proposal: Chapter 4a, Article I -- "The economy of Kosovo, shall function in accordance with free market principles." It is crystal clear whose interests are being advanced here: Kosovo has substantial mineral resources, including the richest mines for lead, molybdenum, mercury and other metals in all of Europe. Obviously one cannot leave the control over such resources to an independent Yugoslavia. Chapter 5, Article V -- "The CIM [*] shall be the final authority in theater regarding interpretation of the civilian aspects of this Agreement, and the Parties agree to abide by his determinations as binding on all Parties and persons." *Chief of the Implementation Mission Chapter 7, Article XV -- "The KFOR [NATO] commander is the final authority in theater regarding interpretation of this Chapter and his determinations are binding on all Parties and persons." In other words, two foreign commanders would have had the power to overturn elections, shut down organizations and media, and overrule any decisions made by a provincial or the federal governments regarding Kosovo. These are terms of occupation, not those of an agreement acceptable to a soveriegn state. Following is the complete text of Appendix B to the Rambouillet Accord proposal. The "meat" part begins with section 6. You may want to consider in particular the implications of sections 6a and 6b, as well as sections 7 to 11 and section 15. I am sure you will recognise that this accord proposal proves US and NATO diplomacy to be a means to conduct war, not a means to prevent war. Hendrik Appendix B: Status of Multi-National Military Implementation Force 1. For the purposes of this Appendix, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to them: a. "NATO" means the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), its subsidiary bodies, its military Headquarters, the NATO-led KFOR, and any elements/units forming any part of KFOR or supporting KFOR, whether or not they are from a NATO member country and whether or not they are under NATO or national command and control, when acting in furtherance of this Agreement. b. "Authorities in the FRY" means appropriate authorities, whether Federal, Republic, Kosovo or other. c. "NATO personnel" means the military, civilian, and contractor personnel assigned or attached to or employed by NATO, including the military, civilian, and contractor personnel from non-NATO states participating in the Operation, with the exception of personnel locally hired. d. "the Operation" means the support, implementation, preparation, and participation by NATO and NATO personnel in furtherance of this Chapter. e. "Military Headquarters" means any entity, whatever its denomination, consisting of or constituted in part by NATO military personnel established in order to fulfill the Operation. f. "Authorities" means the appropriate responsible individual, agency, or organization of the Parties. g. "Contractor personnel" means the technical experts or functional specialists whose services are required by NATO and who are in the territory of the FRY exclusively to serve NATO either in an advisory capacity in technical matters, or for the setting up, operation, or maintenance of equipment, unless they are: (1) nationals of the FRY; or (2) persons ordinarily resident in the FRY. h. "Official use" means any use of goods purchased, or of the services received and intended for the performance of any function as required by the operation of the Headquarters. i. "Facilities" means all buildings, structures, premises, and land required for conducting the operational, training, and administrative activities by NATO for the Operation as well as for accommodation-of NATO personnel. 2. Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities under this Appendix, all NATO personnel shall
[PEN-L:6384] Imperialist strategyforreconstructingtheBalkans
late response Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 04/29/99 04:45PM Charles: I can't tell if you are opposing the Marxist idea that capitalist wars are integral to the capitalist system; or whether you are saying that this war is an exception. neither. I was opposing crude economic determinism and teleology (i.e., something like profiteering from a Marshall-type plan occurs _because_ it was planned ahead of time by NATO). (( Chas.: I'd say mystified, inability to find ruthless economic motives in capitalists is much more of a problem than seeing economic determinism and teleology, crude or otherwise. The bourgeoisie should not be seen as lacking vulgar and vicious motives and plans. To declare that they would not crudely plan ahead of time to profiteer from this war and others is very misleading. The capitalists promote, demand and require a gigantic , standing military. They don't have to specifically plan to profiteer from the recovery financing of a given war. It just naturally follows. Thus, they require their governments to be militarist in general and to wage war as an ongoing institution. It is quite naive to dismiss the idea that sectors of the bourgeoisie would not plan to make money off of NATO's attack in every which way ahead of time, including the post-war Marshall Plan type plan in Yugoslavia. They may let Clinton pick the particular time and place, but what they demand is a standing institution of war with all the attendant money making opportunities. Otherwise you portray the bourgeoisie as lucky innocent bystanders who reap a windfall. From a theoretical standpoint "economic determinism and teleology" is not an error at this level of analysis. Those are criticisms of a more general level of analysis. A specific event can economically determined and teleological, in the sense that it is directed to a specific goal. ( ((( All wars are different. All have some similar bases in capitalism, i.e., in trying to cope with class antagonisms by external means and as a result of competition amongst capitals. But there are also a lot of other things that change over time -- such as the nature of the hegemonic power, opposition from non-capitalist systems (like the USSR) -- so that each war is different. (( Chas: Yes, all wars are different, but each is not an entirely unique event. Science is an effort to find general patterns that are common to a group of phenomena. The common feature of capitalist wars is that are motivated by profiteering in many ways. This war is not an exception to that general pattern. Like all capitalist wars, it has vulgar economic motives underlying the welter of other surface dimensions. I don't think the Marxist idea is that all the specific consequences of , say, WWI were intended and planned out in detail. The idea is that after it is over, they will work out the details of how to profit off of the destruction. then we agree. gotta go... ((( Peace CB
[PEN-L:6382] Re: questions on modest proposals
Thomas Kruse wrote: Lawrence Summers wrote, as you all know, a little memo on the logic of dumping toxics on poor people. Does anyone have the original citation, or report on the memo (I believe a write-up apperaed in the Economist)? and The Nation. See also excerpts from the memo tacked onto the end of this post. A New Yorker profile of Summers published sometime last year said the memo was actually written by Lant Pritchett, but Summers took the heat for it, since it appeared under his name. Doug Title: Toxic banking. (World Bank's environmental and global policies) (Editorial) Authors: Henwood, Doug Citation:The Nation, March 2, 1992 v254 n8 p257(1) Subjects:Hazardous waste sites_International aspects Developing countries_Finance World Bank_Economic policy Reference #: A11881332 Abstract: The World Bank's chief economist Lawrence Summers believes in dumping toxic waste loads into the lowest wage countries. The bank is lending more money to economically deprived countries, but still retains an enviable surplus. Full Text COPYRIGHT The Nation Company Inc. 1992 "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that." The publication of these words, from a leaked internal memo, cause a rush of bad publicity for their author, World Bank chief economist Lawrence Summers, who now claims he was being ironic and provocative. There were calls for his resignation. But Summers was expressing honestly the logic of his discipline and his employer. Summers -- whose salary is 225 times the per-person income of the bank's Third World clientele -- is a whiz-bang Harvard econocrat, a class that believes religiously that money is the final measure of value. Happiness is a growing G.D.P. Legal issues can be resolved as competing economic claims, and ethical decisions can be translated into dollar terms, with the cheaper alternative always preferable. In his memo, which criticized a draft of the bank's World Development Report, Summers was applying cost-benefit analysis, which measures the value of a human life by the stream of wages remaining to it. Say it will cost Global Megatoxics $1 million to install a state-of-the-art scrubber in its chimney. If Global determines that not spending this sum will shorten the lives of five people by ten years apiece, all that would be lost would be the present value of these fifty years of wages. At a wage of $1,000 a year, the cost of the five lives can be figured at $41,000, thanks to the magic of compound interest; at $30,000 a year, they're worth $1.2 million. As Summers said in his memo, "health-impairing pollution should be done in the country with the lowest cost, which will be the country with the lowest wages." Since the costs of pollution -- always priced in dollars or their equivalent -- rise with development, Summers argued, it makes sense costwise to dump in Africa. If a pollutant is going to cause "prostrate" [sic] cancer, a disease of old age, why not locate it in countries where people aren't likely to live long enough to get it? He concluded this section by saying that disagreement with this logic suggests the belief that things like "intrinsic rights to certain goods, moral reasons, social concerns, lack of adequate markets, etc. could be turned around and used more or less effectively against every Bank proposal for liberalization." Exactly; as they should be. It makes no sense for Summers to resign; he expressed the bank's logic perfectly. It's a bank, and acts like one. It may preside over a steady erosion of Third World incomes relative to First World ones, but it makes big money. Last year, after paying $7 billion in interest and fees to its investors and bankers, it had a $1.2 billion surplus and a rate of return that commercial banks would envy. What's a public institution to do with that kind of surplus? The bank's executive board spends a lot of time working that question over. In 1991 it decided to contribute $267 million to its soft-loan affiliate, which lends to very poor countries at concessional rates, $29 million to the Global Environment Trust Fund and stuff the remaining $904 million into its hoard of "retained earnings"' which now stands at $11.9 billion. According to Unicef, preventing vitamin-A-deficiency blindness would cost $6 million. Preventing "the great majority" of childhood malnutrition deaths would cost $2.5 billion. But adding to the World Bank's surplus is a higher priority. In recent years, the bank has moved away from project-oriented lending-power plants and dams-and toward structural adjustment lending, in which credit is
