The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, September 6th, 2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** THE EVIL EMPIRE OF TNCS 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day 880 million people have no access to health care 1.3 billion people have no access to clean water 2.6 billion people without sanitation 850 million people are illiterate 50% of the world's population survive on 6% of world income the assets of the 3 richest people exceed the GDP of 48 less developed countries By any standards the system is not working. And what is even more alarming, the situation continues to deteriorate. The policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have resulted in unprecedented deindustrialisation, unemployment, poverty, famine, insecurity, death, wars and environmental destruction. by Anna Pha The IMF and WB, controlled by the governments of the richest nations acting on behalf of the largest and most powerful transnational corporations (TNCs), are the most destructive institutions in the world today. It is not surprising that millions of people are taking to the streets and joining protests against these institutions and their partners in crime, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), NAFTA, the EU and other regional bodies. Power and wealth of TNCs The economic rationalist (neoliberal) policies enforced by the WTO, IMF and World Bank have facilitated the rapid growth of TNCs. Heightened global competition has resulted in thousands of mergers and takeovers, and the domination of industries by monopolies. While there are an estimated 60,000 TNCs (excluding financial institutions) with around 500,000 subsidiaries around the world, 15 per cent of their assets are held by the top 100 TNCs. ("World Investment Report 1999" UNCTAD) These TNCs are shaping a new emerging world economy through their domination of trade, internationalisation of production and rapidly growing global investments. Whether it be cars, biscuits, coffee, soft drink, airlines, water, electricity, film, TV, newspapers, steel, construction, legal services, accounting, banking, stockbroking or whatever -- the tendency is for around five to ten TNCs to have a monopoly over that sector. The top 100 corporations hold between them an estimated $4212 billion in assets -- the same amount as the combined GDPs of the 140 lowest income countries. The TNCs exert considerable powers over governments as they protect their interests and have governments do their bidding. Nigeria, for example, has a GDP of $36.4 billion, compared with Shell Oil's assets of $115 billion. No wonder the Nigerian military were at the service of Shell against the Ogoni people whose land and oil Shell took over. Financial conglomerates The most powerful and almighty of all the TNCs are the financial conglomerates. These are the corporations that the IMF took directions from during the financial crisis in Asia. The Chase-Manhattan Bank, for example, is one of the world's top five financial services firms with clients in 180 countries. It profits from corporate lending; housing loans; credit cards; investment management; trading on the currency, futures, debt and other markets; loan syndications; issuing of bonds; consultancies; advice on mergers and acquisitions; and other services for corporations and governments. It can make or break governments and businesses, turf people out of their homes or off their farms. According to its 1999 annual report, the Bank's global services division is the "largest global custodian, with $5.6 trillion in assets under custody worldwide"! The value of assets under its control is 14 times the size of Australia's Gross Domestic Product (the annual total of all income from wages, investments and profits) of around $400 billion. It is even larger than the GDP of Japan -- the second largest economy in the world. And the amount of assets under its control keep growing as do its profits -- an operating profit of $5.4 billion in 1999. Monopolisation The more governments deregulate the financial sector -- float currencies, leave it to the market to determine interest rates, remove restrictions on foreign investments and takeovers, sell off public institutions -- the larger and more powerful these financial conglomerates become. Every takeover or merger means rationalisations and thousands of job losses and attacks on wages and conditions and in many instances an attempt to deunionise workplaces. Media magnates Another area where TNCs exert considerable power, as well as make huge profits, is in the media. Australia has produced two of the world's leading media magnates -- Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch. Packer controls Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd and Consolidated Press Holdings. This empire includes Nine Network, 97 magazines, and interests in Crown Casino, Foxtel, telecommunications and internet services. He is not short of a quid on the tables, with a net personal worth of $8.2 billion (up from $5.2 billion in 1998) according to "Business Review Weekly's "Rich 200 list. He has been accumulating wealth at a vast rate, around $4 million a day over the last 12 months -- enough to more than fund a few hospitals and schools. With his TV network and publications he is in a powerful position to influence public opinion and governments. Needless to say he is no progressive or darling of the workers. Seed monopoly One of the most dangerous areas of monopoly control is the global seed industry. Five companies control 75 per cent of the global commercial vegetable seed market. Farmers around the world are now facing a WTO-enforced monopoly over seeds, with plants included in the GATT agreement on intellectual property rights (TRIPS). These corporations are a law unto themselves. They patent seed varieties and develop hybrid (sterile seeds which will not produce new crops) and other genetically modified seeds that lead to a dependency on other chemical products and prevent or outlaw farmers from collecting and planting seeds. They produce seed varieties to make profits, not with the aim of the world's people having enough to eat or better tasting and more nutritious food. For example, Seminis (a subsidiary of Mexico-based Sava), is the world's largest vegetable seed corporation, and controls 40 per cent of the US vegetable seed market. It has a presence in 120 countries. Seminis has 79 patents issued for genetically engineered seed varieties, and is seeking patents in relation to most common staple vegetable varieties. In June this year, Seminis announced that it would eliminate 2,000 varieties (25% of its product line) of seed as a cost- cutting measure. No consultation. Never mind the poor farmers or starving millions in Africa, Asia or Latin America. Profits are what counts. Never mind the importance of biodiversity, of varieties adapted to regional climates, with resistance to local pests and diseases. The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) reports that of the nearly 5,000 non-hybrid vegetable varieties available in 1981 mail-order catalogues, 88 per cent had been dropped by 1998. Third World guinea pigs Another seed transnational, the UK-based AstraZeneca, has done a deal with the European inventors of a publicly funded, genetically modified, Vitamin-A fortified rice. The "golden rice" (it has a yellowish tinge) will be made freely available to poor Third World farmers. Because of high rice consumption, the consequences could be serious if there have been any changes in the nutrient or toxicant content of the rice. "Asian farmers get (unproven) GM rice and AstraZeneca gets the `gold'", RAFI points out. (http://rafi.org/) Govt support Whether it be the financial institutions, the media, seed corporations, the oil or mining companies, the additional powers and freedoms TNCs gain through the enforcement of IMF and WB conditions and policies, the sovereignty of nation states and powers of elected governments are being eaten away. While governments are withdrawing from many areas, the state still plays an important role in suppressing struggle and resistance to these policies. The state and private police and military are available to protect TNC interests and their powers of intervention are being increased as witnessed in the "shoot to kill" legislation before Parliament. Military repression When political persuasion and economic coercion have failed, there is always the military solution. When government leaders speak of "collective defence and security", they mean the protection of the interests of TNCs and of the capitalist system. They do not mean the security of the people without food, shelter, jobs, health services or drinking water. NATO's new strategic doctrine, adopted in April 1999, extends its range of military actions to preventing conflicts, managing crises and operations in response to crises on a global basis. According to NATO, these crises might take the form of "ethnic and religious disputes", "political disorder", "economic decline", or "violations of human rights" -- practically any excuse will be found for intervention. They are preparing in advance, anticipating that today's struggles against the IMF and WB will continue to grow as people around the world reject and resist the scorched earth policies and demand an end to their suffering and exploitation. NATO will co-operate with the UN when suitable, or act without its consent. NATO carried out an illegal war against Yugoslavia, without approval from the United Nations Organisation. It signals an ever greater militarisation of international relations and the undermining of international law -- what amounts to a political, economic and military dictatorship of the TNCs. There is an alternative We need policies which replace the IMF and WB with bodies which deal with trade, foreign investment, environmental, migration and other international questions under the auspices of a democratised United Nations. At the same time the sovereignty of nation states needs to be preserved, with international agreements and treaties being based on mutual agreement and benefit. The contradictions between the drive for profits and the needs of people and the environment can only be resolved by the public ownership and democratic running of industry and services, including financial services, in the interests of the people. Governments need to resume their powers and controls over key economic matters such as currency, interest rates and investment. Then, big enterprises would become the servants, not masters, of the people. The building of political alliances against the evil empire of the TNCs, with the involvement of trade unions, political parties, environmental and other community organisations as witnessed in Seattle, Melbourne and Prague, is an important step forward in the struggle for a genuine people's alternative. * All dollars are US dollars unless otherwise stated. ************************************************************ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
