The Global Pie Chart exercise is fraught with pitfalls. Implied is the question: what is wealth? Dictionary.com defines wealth in economic terms as
'all things that have a monetary or exchange value'. So it's an aggregate term. Water and oil cannot be by themselves 'all things', although definitely should be factors in measuring wealth. Students who noted this, are on the right track.
So, according to Keynes and his GDP, wealth is quantifiable, and you saw that the most popular measure of wealth is Gross National Product or Gross Domestic Product (see my Political Economy glossary for definitions.)
But...there is emerging a new definition of wealth that is NOT quantifiable. Clean air, clean water, good health, happiness, wellbeing...these are qualitative factors. It is now increasingly understood that these qualitative factors are indicators of economic well being. Health IS wealth (as my grandmother used to say!) For example, in the US, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to die earlier than others who are wealthier. It actually is more complicated than that. You see, there are societies that are poor in terms of currency but also long living. This might be because they have clean air, plenty of foraging and agricultural food, etc, most of which does not have exchange value. A friend of mine lives on an obscure Philippino island relatively untouched by civilization. People live off the land, the economy is barely run on money,there are small marketplaces, they are happy and live about as long as we do in the West.
Feminist economists (see my Pol Econ glossary) critique the GDP/GNP. They tend to look at unpaid services, like child caretaking, and argue that they are invisibilized, but should be part of accounting wealth.
In case you think all this talk is far fetched, be aware that tucked inside the 2010 health bill, on p 562 no less, is a provision requiring Congress to help finance and oversee the creation of a 'key national indicators' system, a sort of report card to show improvement, or not, in areas of health, education and the environment. This is called the State of the US, and will be run by the National Academy of Sciences; indicators will also include crime, energy, infrastructure, housing. What is not clear, is which indicators would enhance the GDP. Should they account for happiness or carbon emissions? Accounting wealth is a philosophical exercise. One economist, Amartya Sen, who teaches at Harvard, has created the Human Development Index; you might want to research his indicators.
The criticism of the GDP is as follows: just taking a national average of the GDP per person gives a skewed picture. For example, just a small minority of extremely rich people, can artificially increase the average GDP per person. So this explains why the US has a very high aggregate GDP, but 40 million Americans live under the poverty line. The US' child mortality rate is the same as Cuba's. Yet the US is ranked as high income country, and Cuba is ranked as a middle income country.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
MADOFF 101
For students of the economy, there are many lessons to be learned from the 2009 Bernie Madoff debacle. Madoff actually ran a bank, masqueraded as an investment institution . He gave 'investors' steady 'returns' at about 5%, but not one trade was made. When the global economy crashed in 2008, 'investors' began pulling their money out, and the pyramid structure fell down. He confessed to his family, and his two sons turned him into the FBI.
We live in a world of cons and Ponzi schemes: your health insurance, Social Security, government bonds, bank accounts, unemployment benefits are Ponzis on a much larger scale than Madoff ‘s empire.
In these ‘legal' Ponzi schemes, younger participants' money is by law donated to older participants. These donations are masqueraded as our ‘taxes', ‘ insurance payments' , and the like. Purportedly adjusted for inflation, instead our returns diminish annually. This is why most of us will receive a pitiful $100 a week social security from the government despite putting in 40 years of taxes into the system. Newer investors face price hikes. It's why health insurance has increased by 20 percent in the last few months in the US.
Investment companies like Goldman Sachs invent financial instruments like ‘ credit default swaps’ to favor certain clients and rip off others. Big finance is big fraud (see this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/18/goldman-sachs-regulators-civil-charges).
Banks are run on a Ponzi scheme too. By law, they only carry 30% of their assets in cash. That's called fractional banking . If you want to liquify your bank assets, the bank releases cash from newer customers' deposits. But if there is a run on the banks, you're out of luck. Banks' government insurance money , estimated at $8 trillion in December of 2008, does not equal the total amount of money in banks.
What else can we learn from Bernie Madoff? Consider this:
Bernie operated on the ‘power of no.' Initially, if you asked to invest with his company, he'd say no, it's closed to you. You didn't have to be fleeced. But investors reacted as if they'd been refused entry into an exclusive golf club , and insisted on being part of the world of Madoff.
So Madoff didn't force investors to enter into his Ponzi scheme. Yet, the great American public has no such choice : it is forced to pay into a national insurance program and an insecure banking system that yields less and less returns for the middle and working classes. Income tax was never constitutionally amended; in other words, it’s imposed illegally.
Bernie knew who his investors were. The list has been made public, and it includes some big names of the great and good. Whereas, the great American public has not a clue whose toxic assets they are paying off in the big trillion dollar bailout. The world public is vulnerable, as President Obama and UK Prime Minister Brown recently pointed out, to shadow banking systems, where there is no monitoring or regulation or transparency.
Madoff admitted his losses . A shadow banking system doesn't have to. The above ground banking system is equally deceptive. When report time comes, hide losses by shuffling them through offshore accounts and other banks. The US government shuffles off losses by going into extraordinary debt.
Madoff didn't have the power to print new money, which the government does when unsustainable financing crashes. Today, we talk in trillions of dollars, unheard of five years ago. More paper money leads to more inflation.
He didn't do what the Federal Reserve did, take money out of circulation by imposing higher interest rates, and then call that a ‘credit crunch.' The Federal Reserve is not a government institution yet is allowed to release or withdraw money supply at will. The US government pays interest to the Federal Reserve to print the dollar. Greenbacks anyone? (government-printed, interest-free dollars).
Madoff didn't apply for corporate welfare, and ask the taxpaying public to buy off his toxic assets like the big corporate boys .
Madoff “only “ defrauded on a reported $50 billion, whereas Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is accused of defrauding Citibank shareholders of more than $122 billion, also described as a Ponzi scheme. Top brass of the US military are being investigated for billions of dollars in ‘missing contracts'.
Madoff holds up a mirror to our economy's shortcomings.
He reminds us once again of the Golden Rule: ‘if it's too good to be true, then it is.”
He reminds us that if you gamble on your wealth, the casino always wins hands down.
Madoff helped to create the largest on-screen stock exchange, NASDAQ, reminding us that today, money is just digits typed on a computer keyboard.
He spilled the beans about the greedy, vicious world of trading and its so-called guardian, the Securities and Exchange Commission. See his priceless ‘confession' on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab1NTIlO-FM&NR=1.
Madoff's demise provides us with a cautionary tale of social responsibility: your money is an extension of yourself. Know where it is going, who and what benefits or is destroyed by your investments.
Madoff was an equal opportunity swindler. Like banks and corporations, it didn't matter to him if his investors owned a sweatshop, sold lethal weapons or ran charities. Should you be concerned who your co-investors are?
One of his ‘victims' was actor John Malkovitch. That's karma for ya, John, for threatening to kill journalist Robert Fisk because you didn't like his reporting on the Middle East. (“I'd like to shoot Fisk , ” Malkovitch told the Cambridge Union in 2002).
On a personal note, I like Bernie because his baseball cap makes him look kinda cute for a ‘father knows best' type of guy. A LOJM (little old jewish man) wearing a bulletproof vest and ankle tag – how gangsta cool is that?
Of course, if Bernie looks charming it's because all conmen are charmers, including heads of state, CEOs , the IMF and anyone else who are now promoting the current ‘global, one world solution' to the crisis.
Why would you trust the people that got us into this mess, to get us out of it?
Finally, before his arrest, Bernie took the time to sign over his houses and jewelry to his wife.
Always thinking of his family.
WHAT A MENSCH!
We live in a world of cons and Ponzi schemes: your health insurance, Social Security, government bonds, bank accounts, unemployment benefits are Ponzis on a much larger scale than Madoff ‘s empire.
In these ‘legal' Ponzi schemes, younger participants' money is by law donated to older participants. These donations are masqueraded as our ‘taxes', ‘ insurance payments' , and the like. Purportedly adjusted for inflation, instead our returns diminish annually. This is why most of us will receive a pitiful $100 a week social security from the government despite putting in 40 years of taxes into the system. Newer investors face price hikes. It's why health insurance has increased by 20 percent in the last few months in the US.
Investment companies like Goldman Sachs invent financial instruments like ‘ credit default swaps’ to favor certain clients and rip off others. Big finance is big fraud (see this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/18/goldman-sachs-regulators-civil-charges).
Banks are run on a Ponzi scheme too. By law, they only carry 30% of their assets in cash. That's called fractional banking . If you want to liquify your bank assets, the bank releases cash from newer customers' deposits. But if there is a run on the banks, you're out of luck. Banks' government insurance money , estimated at $8 trillion in December of 2008, does not equal the total amount of money in banks.
What else can we learn from Bernie Madoff? Consider this:
Bernie operated on the ‘power of no.' Initially, if you asked to invest with his company, he'd say no, it's closed to you. You didn't have to be fleeced. But investors reacted as if they'd been refused entry into an exclusive golf club , and insisted on being part of the world of Madoff.
So Madoff didn't force investors to enter into his Ponzi scheme. Yet, the great American public has no such choice : it is forced to pay into a national insurance program and an insecure banking system that yields less and less returns for the middle and working classes. Income tax was never constitutionally amended; in other words, it’s imposed illegally.
Bernie knew who his investors were. The list has been made public, and it includes some big names of the great and good. Whereas, the great American public has not a clue whose toxic assets they are paying off in the big trillion dollar bailout. The world public is vulnerable, as President Obama and UK Prime Minister Brown recently pointed out, to shadow banking systems, where there is no monitoring or regulation or transparency.
Madoff admitted his losses . A shadow banking system doesn't have to. The above ground banking system is equally deceptive. When report time comes, hide losses by shuffling them through offshore accounts and other banks. The US government shuffles off losses by going into extraordinary debt.
Madoff didn't have the power to print new money, which the government does when unsustainable financing crashes. Today, we talk in trillions of dollars, unheard of five years ago. More paper money leads to more inflation.
He didn't do what the Federal Reserve did, take money out of circulation by imposing higher interest rates, and then call that a ‘credit crunch.' The Federal Reserve is not a government institution yet is allowed to release or withdraw money supply at will. The US government pays interest to the Federal Reserve to print the dollar. Greenbacks anyone? (government-printed, interest-free dollars).
Madoff didn't apply for corporate welfare, and ask the taxpaying public to buy off his toxic assets like the big corporate boys .
Madoff “only “ defrauded on a reported $50 billion, whereas Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is accused of defrauding Citibank shareholders of more than $122 billion, also described as a Ponzi scheme. Top brass of the US military are being investigated for billions of dollars in ‘missing contracts'.
Madoff holds up a mirror to our economy's shortcomings.
He reminds us once again of the Golden Rule: ‘if it's too good to be true, then it is.”
He reminds us that if you gamble on your wealth, the casino always wins hands down.
Madoff helped to create the largest on-screen stock exchange, NASDAQ, reminding us that today, money is just digits typed on a computer keyboard.
He spilled the beans about the greedy, vicious world of trading and its so-called guardian, the Securities and Exchange Commission. See his priceless ‘confession' on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab1NTIlO-FM&NR=1.
Madoff's demise provides us with a cautionary tale of social responsibility: your money is an extension of yourself. Know where it is going, who and what benefits or is destroyed by your investments.
Madoff was an equal opportunity swindler. Like banks and corporations, it didn't matter to him if his investors owned a sweatshop, sold lethal weapons or ran charities. Should you be concerned who your co-investors are?
One of his ‘victims' was actor John Malkovitch. That's karma for ya, John, for threatening to kill journalist Robert Fisk because you didn't like his reporting on the Middle East. (“I'd like to shoot Fisk , ” Malkovitch told the Cambridge Union in 2002).
On a personal note, I like Bernie because his baseball cap makes him look kinda cute for a ‘father knows best' type of guy. A LOJM (little old jewish man) wearing a bulletproof vest and ankle tag – how gangsta cool is that?
Of course, if Bernie looks charming it's because all conmen are charmers, including heads of state, CEOs , the IMF and anyone else who are now promoting the current ‘global, one world solution' to the crisis.
Why would you trust the people that got us into this mess, to get us out of it?
Finally, before his arrest, Bernie took the time to sign over his houses and jewelry to his wife.
Always thinking of his family.
WHAT A MENSCH!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
WHAT IS 'CIVILIZATION'?
Can one refer to an Islamic civilization or a Western civilization? According to some definitions you can, implying a high level of homogeneity. Societies are often defined as having 'low' or 'high' levels of civilization.
And, how would one define ‘a high level of culture’ or, what would be a ‘low level’ ?Or, would you agree with another definition which equates civilization with modernity?
Who is called 'civilized' ? This introduces value judgments bound by political motivations and ideology. For example, the Romans said that the Gauls were barbaric. In fact, historians have discovered the Gauls had advanced cultures. Why then did the Romans call them barbaric and justified their conquest in order to ‘civilize’ them? Because, archeologists now say, the Gauls had hundreds of gold mines, and the Romans wanted the gold for themselves.
And, how would one define ‘a high level of culture’ or, what would be a ‘low level’ ?Or, would you agree with another definition which equates civilization with modernity?
Who is called 'civilized' ? This introduces value judgments bound by political motivations and ideology. For example, the Romans said that the Gauls were barbaric. In fact, historians have discovered the Gauls had advanced cultures. Why then did the Romans call them barbaric and justified their conquest in order to ‘civilize’ them? Because, archeologists now say, the Gauls had hundreds of gold mines, and the Romans wanted the gold for themselves.
Remember the categories, class/ethnicity/gender. It makes the notion of a homogeneous society problematic . For example, most Americans consider their society ‘civilized’ in the sense that there is democracy (political rights) and running water, electricity and food (economic rights) available to all. I live 100 miles from the Navajo Nation, a huge area that encompasses bits of Arizona and New Mexico, but not a nation by any means. It receives charity from the US government and isn’t allowed to raise taxes. 50% of the ‘rez’ (local word for the reservation) live without electricity, they are still burning coal! The water is often polluted from uranium mines. There are no hospitals. Native Americans have the lowest life expectancy than any US demographic.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Airport Scanners and Passive Resistance
Mahatma Gandhi wrote this in his famous "Indian Home Rule" (1909):
"If the Government were to ask us to go about without any clothing, should we do so? If I were a passive resister, I would say to them that I would have nothing to do with their law. But we have so forgotten ourselves and become so compliant that we do not mind any degrading law."
There is no question that airport scanners that undress us and our children, are degrading instruments. Scanners are also carcinogenic. I was pleased that two women refused to go through the scanners at a UK airport yesterday, March 2 2010, and forfeited their tickets.
The chances of being hijacked or being blown up by a terrorist in an airplane are something like a million to one. We are much more likely to be killed in a car accident, or by cancers, and other leading causes of death in the West.
I advocate passive resistance by refusing to fly from airports that degrade my humanity and invade my privacy and that of vulnerable children. If this means no airplane travel, so be it. Our bodies belong to us -- this is a fundamental right called 'habeas corpus'.
"If the Government were to ask us to go about without any clothing, should we do so? If I were a passive resister, I would say to them that I would have nothing to do with their law. But we have so forgotten ourselves and become so compliant that we do not mind any degrading law."
There is no question that airport scanners that undress us and our children, are degrading instruments. Scanners are also carcinogenic. I was pleased that two women refused to go through the scanners at a UK airport yesterday, March 2 2010, and forfeited their tickets.
The chances of being hijacked or being blown up by a terrorist in an airplane are something like a million to one. We are much more likely to be killed in a car accident, or by cancers, and other leading causes of death in the West.
I advocate passive resistance by refusing to fly from airports that degrade my humanity and invade my privacy and that of vulnerable children. If this means no airplane travel, so be it. Our bodies belong to us -- this is a fundamental right called 'habeas corpus'.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Why did NATO but not the UN intervene to save Kosovans in 1999?
The NATO 1999 humanitarian intervention to rescue Muslim Kosovans from Serbian aggression, is controversial in that it did not have the backing of the UN Security Council.
But it can be understood from the perspective of the global balance of power.
Muslim Kosovans were engaged in a battle for independence from socialist Yugoslavia.
According to research done by student Marija Greenlee (Spring 2010), on October 1, 1999, US Congressman Engel made one of the strongest cases linking images of Serbian atrocities on CNN to the need for military action:
“We read about it in the paper today on the front page, that there were several massacres, that bodies were found of innocent civilians, men, women and children, as the Serbian police forces and military units continue their campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo…Mr. Speaker, it is time for action. We need to have immediate NATO air strikes on Serbian positions in Kosovo.” (Bahador 2006).
By why NATO? Why not coordinate with the UN Security Council? This is what the US did in 1990, to remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
Five days after NATO bombed socialist Serbia, accused of atrocities against Muslim Kosovans, the US Congress adopted the SILK ROAD STRATEGY ACT. This was to break Russia’s monopoly over pipeline routes in Central Asia and define American business interests in the region. Bombing and destabilizing Serbia was possibly an undeclared part of a strategy to create a corridor of power for America and her allies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. This explains why Russia and China were not included in the humanitarian intervention to rescue Muslim Kosovans, and NATO was used instead, bypassing potential trouble at the UN Security Council.
In one of my lectures, I state that , “THE TRANS-BALKAN PIPELINE (AMBO) WILL PASS VERY NEAR KOSOVO, PUMPING CASPIAN OIL FROM THE BULGARIAN PORT OF VLORA, FOR TRANSPORTATION TO EUROPE AND THE US”.
Marija Greenlee wrote in her Spring 2010 paper: “This critical oil pipeline [AMBO], currently under construction and set to operate in 2011 will link up pipeline corridors between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea is the hub of the world’s largest unexplored oil reserves. Coincidentally, Camp Bondsteel, America’s largest US military base since Vietnam has been built in Kosovo.” The US took over 1000 acres of farmland in SE Kosovo at Uresevic, near the Macedonian Border, for the construction of Camp Bondsteel, the biggest such project since the war in Vietnam.
Marija also draws our attention to the newly discovered petroleum reserves in neighboring Albania, which is located on the Adriatic Sea.
According to Marija’s research, Kosovo is a place of religious history and national pride for Serbs. In an area that has become known as the Field of Blackbirds, thousands of Serbian “warrior saints” stood their ground in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Polje, only to be slaughtered by the invading Ottoman Turks. And Kosovo is the historical seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Here are some casualty estimates, note (as always in these types of estimates) the discrepancies:
1. Kosovo (1998-99)
o Ethnic cleansing by Yugoslavs, before the war
29 April 1999 AP: 2,000 (in 1998)
Ploughshares 2000: 1-2,000 (1998)
o Ethnic cleansing during the war
18 July 1999 Baltimore Sun (NY Times News Service): 10,000 Albanians killed during 3-month campaign
5 July 1999 AP: 10,000
4 July 1999 Toronto Star: 10,000
9 Nov. 1999 Washington Times: 9,269
Ploughshares 2000: 2,500-10,000
o NATO Bombing (1999)
9 Feb. 2000 Slate, civilian deaths [http://slate.msn.com/code/Explainer/Explainer.asp?Show=2/9/2000&idMessage=4570]
Human Rights Watch: ca. 500; or specifically 488-527 ("confidently")
Serb propaganda: 1,200-5,000 ("stubbornly")
HRW: 500 civ. [http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/02/nato207.htm]
14 June 1999 Time: 5,000 military + 1,200 civilian = 6,200
4 Dec. 2001 WSJ: 500, citing Wm Arkin [http://wsjclassroomedition.com/tj_120401_casu.htm]
5 July 1999 AP: 1,200 civilians, citing Yugoslav state-run media
Ploughshares 2000: 500 civilians
11 July 1999 Washington Post
Official Serbian figures: 576 Serb military "casualties" (probably deaths)
NATO estimates: 5,000 to 10,000 Serb soldiers dead
Author's estimate: 1,600 civilians and 1,000 military "casualties"
Source: Historical Atlas of the 20th Century, http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm, accessed February 7, 2010.
As usual, pictures are worth a thousand words. See where Kosovo is located in the context of proposed pipeline routes.
For a map of proposed pipelines in the region, by US, China, Russia
See: http://leftwrite.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/lenins-epitaph-lessons-from-the-russia-georgia-war/
Compare to a map of Kosovo and the region:
Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/images/kosoregion.gif
References
Bahador, Babak. "The CNN Effect on Western Policy Before the Kosovo Intervention" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association, Le Centre Sheraton Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Mar 17, 2004, http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p72684_index.html
But it can be understood from the perspective of the global balance of power.
Muslim Kosovans were engaged in a battle for independence from socialist Yugoslavia.
According to research done by student Marija Greenlee (Spring 2010), on October 1, 1999, US Congressman Engel made one of the strongest cases linking images of Serbian atrocities on CNN to the need for military action:
“We read about it in the paper today on the front page, that there were several massacres, that bodies were found of innocent civilians, men, women and children, as the Serbian police forces and military units continue their campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo…Mr. Speaker, it is time for action. We need to have immediate NATO air strikes on Serbian positions in Kosovo.” (Bahador 2006).
By why NATO? Why not coordinate with the UN Security Council? This is what the US did in 1990, to remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
Five days after NATO bombed socialist Serbia, accused of atrocities against Muslim Kosovans, the US Congress adopted the SILK ROAD STRATEGY ACT. This was to break Russia’s monopoly over pipeline routes in Central Asia and define American business interests in the region. Bombing and destabilizing Serbia was possibly an undeclared part of a strategy to create a corridor of power for America and her allies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. This explains why Russia and China were not included in the humanitarian intervention to rescue Muslim Kosovans, and NATO was used instead, bypassing potential trouble at the UN Security Council.
In one of my lectures, I state that , “THE TRANS-BALKAN PIPELINE (AMBO) WILL PASS VERY NEAR KOSOVO, PUMPING CASPIAN OIL FROM THE BULGARIAN PORT OF VLORA, FOR TRANSPORTATION TO EUROPE AND THE US”.
Marija Greenlee wrote in her Spring 2010 paper: “This critical oil pipeline [AMBO], currently under construction and set to operate in 2011 will link up pipeline corridors between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea is the hub of the world’s largest unexplored oil reserves. Coincidentally, Camp Bondsteel, America’s largest US military base since Vietnam has been built in Kosovo.” The US took over 1000 acres of farmland in SE Kosovo at Uresevic, near the Macedonian Border, for the construction of Camp Bondsteel, the biggest such project since the war in Vietnam.
Marija also draws our attention to the newly discovered petroleum reserves in neighboring Albania, which is located on the Adriatic Sea.
According to Marija’s research, Kosovo is a place of religious history and national pride for Serbs. In an area that has become known as the Field of Blackbirds, thousands of Serbian “warrior saints” stood their ground in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Polje, only to be slaughtered by the invading Ottoman Turks. And Kosovo is the historical seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Here are some casualty estimates, note (as always in these types of estimates) the discrepancies:
1. Kosovo (1998-99)
o Ethnic cleansing by Yugoslavs, before the war
29 April 1999 AP: 2,000 (in 1998)
Ploughshares 2000: 1-2,000 (1998)
o Ethnic cleansing during the war
18 July 1999 Baltimore Sun (NY Times News Service): 10,000 Albanians killed during 3-month campaign
5 July 1999 AP: 10,000
4 July 1999 Toronto Star: 10,000
9 Nov. 1999 Washington Times: 9,269
Ploughshares 2000: 2,500-10,000
o NATO Bombing (1999)
9 Feb. 2000 Slate, civilian deaths [http://slate.msn.com/code/Explainer/Explainer.asp?Show=2/9/2000&idMessage=4570]
Human Rights Watch: ca. 500; or specifically 488-527 ("confidently")
Serb propaganda: 1,200-5,000 ("stubbornly")
HRW: 500 civ. [http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/02/nato207.htm]
14 June 1999 Time: 5,000 military + 1,200 civilian = 6,200
4 Dec. 2001 WSJ: 500, citing Wm Arkin [http://wsjclassroomedition.com/tj_120401_casu.htm]
5 July 1999 AP: 1,200 civilians, citing Yugoslav state-run media
Ploughshares 2000: 500 civilians
11 July 1999 Washington Post
Official Serbian figures: 576 Serb military "casualties" (probably deaths)
NATO estimates: 5,000 to 10,000 Serb soldiers dead
Author's estimate: 1,600 civilians and 1,000 military "casualties"
Source: Historical Atlas of the 20th Century, http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm, accessed February 7, 2010.
As usual, pictures are worth a thousand words. See where Kosovo is located in the context of proposed pipeline routes.
For a map of proposed pipelines in the region, by US, China, Russia
See: http://leftwrite.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/lenins-epitaph-lessons-from-the-russia-georgia-war/
Compare to a map of Kosovo and the region:
Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/images/kosoregion.gif
References
Bahador, Babak. "The CNN Effect on Western Policy Before the Kosovo Intervention" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association, Le Centre Sheraton Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Mar 17, 2004, http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p72684_index.html
Sunday, January 24, 2010
THE HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE and GLOBAL POWER RIVALRIES
By Philippa
Updated August 2, 2011
What are perspectives from international relations theories that we can apply to the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti?
Haiti is a model of a country which has been impacted by colonialism and postcolonialism. Realist Thomas Weiss writes about Somalia in the 19th century period of colonization: "CONSUMER GOODS WERE INTRODUCED INTO THE LOCAL MARKET, WITH ACCOMPANYING MONETIZATION AND OTHER CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY" (Weiss, 2005, p. 58). This happened to Haiti in the mid 1990s, when the International Monetary Fund loaned money to Haiti with strings: it had to accept low cost food imports, which in turn, led to the collapse of its agricultural economy. Allowing US imports of rice, part of the conditions of Structural Adjustment Loans (SALs) devastated local rice production. As student Robert Pampel (INTL 5400, Summer 2011) points out, an oil embargo imposed by the US and UN on Haiti after the first ouster of President Aristide, caused Haitians to turn to forests for fuel, which eroded the soil and caused flooding. A US-aid program to replace the indigenous Creole pig, considered to be diseased, turned disastrous. Rural farmers fled to the impoverished cities, where housing constructions were not built to be earthquake proof.
As Robert Pampel points out, SAPs do not work in a country that lacks governmental infrastructure: "SAPs were enforced on countries with little consideration for their infrastructure and ability to implement structural adjustments. This is one reason why middle-income developing countries like Brazil and Thailand had success implementing SAPs, while many lower-income developing countries with little to no infrastructure struggled."
NGOs in Haiti are tasked to act as state substitutes, but while some have proved very useful in food distribution, trash goes unpicked up, roads are not repaired, and a disaster response program is not institutionalized.
The liberal view is stated here:" RESCUING OTHERS WILL ALWAYS BE ONEROUS, BUT IF WE DENY THE MORAL DUTY AND LEGAL RIGHT TO DO SO, WE DENY NOT ONLY THE CENTRALITY OF JUSTICE IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS, BUT ALSO THE COMMON HUMANITY THAT BINDS US ALL (Teson in Holzgrefe and Keohane, p. 129). The cry from Haiti has been answered by billions of people around the world, including a massive relief effort led by the US government. There was no forced intervention, no violation of national sovereignty, in the strict legal sense.
But Haiti was already dependent on outside powers, as the realist Weiss points out was the case of Somalia during the 1990s. In the case of Somalia, according to Weiss, "MILITARY, ECONOMIC, AND FOOD AID PERPETUATED A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT WAS NOT SELF-SUSTAINING, NOR DID IT FULFILL THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT (Weiss, 2005, p. 59).
The anti-imperialist Bricmont asks us to imagine "A WORLD IN WHICH CONGO, CUBA, VIETNAM, BRAZIL, CHILE, IRAQ, AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEVELOP WITHOUT CONSTANT INTERFERENCE FROM THE WEST" (Bricmont, 2006, p.38). But now, China and Russia are shaping the economies of the poorer countries around the world. Here is a review of how I see Great Power rivalries in the Caribbean:
Before the Haitian earthquake struck, global power tensions in this part of the world had been escalating.
The western hemisphere (slice the earth in half length-ways and Haiti and the Americas are on the western side) is dubbed the US’s backyard. But N American policymakers fear their traditional influence is waning. US foreign policymakers are concerned with drug and terrorist sanctions in the area, as well as strategic resources – such as oil.
US oil imports from the Caribbean account for 15% of total oil imports to the US.
Russia and China have both recently staked a claim in the Caribbean.
In July 2009, Russia and Cuba signed a deal to jointly explore crude oil reserves off the Cuban coast. A meeting in Moscow in January 2009 renewed the pact, which had collapsed after the Cold War. While no mention was made of a military alliance, agreements were signed to cooperate in agriculture, manufacturing, science and tourism. In December 2009, a contingent of Russia’s North Sea Fleet docked in Havana after conducting exercises with Venezuela’s navy.
In September 2009, China sent Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Wu Banggou to the Bahamas with 150 Chinese officials and business leaders. A number of economic deals were signed, including a multimillion dollar loan to help build a highway to Nassau’s international airport. This marked another step in the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and the Bahamas since1997.
Iran is another player. In 2008, St Vincent and the Grenadines established diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and secured a commitment to assist in the construction of the US$200 million international airport. On January 21, 2010, the President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, arrived in Tehran to renew ties with the Islamic world.
Half a year earlier, on May 1, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid bare US concerns, saying that “the Obama Administration is working to improve deteriorating US relations with a number of Latin American nations to counter growing Iranian, Chinese and Russian influence in the Western Hemisphere” (Associated Press, May 1, 2009). The Obama presidency however has welcomed China's bid to become an observer at the Organization of American States and a donor member of the Inter-American Development Bank. This is in line with a long term US policy of both collaborating with, and remaining wary of , ‘competitor peer’ major powers.
At a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization the following month, Brazil, Russia, India and China - or BRIC as the fast-growing countries are collectively coined - held their first summit. The BRIC leaders called for a ‘multipolar world order’, which in diplomatic language constitutes a challenge to US global dominance.
US’ wariness of BRIC is illustrated by policies on the military front. Washington is building its potential for nuclear and non-nuclear strikes in Latin America and the Caribbean. The US Southern Command’s 4th Fleet was recently reconstituted and patrols up and down the Latin American coastline. Part of its mission is humanitarian – dealing with hurricanes, for example. The other part of the mission has to do with national strategy. Forty percent of US trade and fifty percent of US oil imports come from this area.
Latin America leaders, however, are turning down requests for a US armed presence. For example, President Rafael Correa has asked US troops to leave their base in the port of Manta in Ecuador.
One principal reason for resistance against US military presence is the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (also known as the Treaty of Tlatelolco) which came into force in 1969. It obligates Latin American parties not to acquire or possess nuclear weapons, nor to permit the storage or deployment of nuclear weapons on their territories by other countries.
Back in Haiti, the people still urgently need help; the death toll was past 300,000.
Let us hope Haiti’s needs inspire global cooperation, not competition.
References:
Bricmont, Jean, Humanitarian Imperialism, Using Human Rights to Sell War, New York: Monthly Review Press, 2006.
Teson, Ferdinando in Holzgrefe, JL Ed and Keohane, Robert, Humanitarian Intervention, Ethical, Legal and Political Dilemmas, Cambridge University Press, 2003
Weiss, Thomas G, Military-Civilian Interactions, Humanitarian Crisis and the Responsibility to Protect, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Updated August 2, 2011
What are perspectives from international relations theories that we can apply to the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti?
Haiti is a model of a country which has been impacted by colonialism and postcolonialism. Realist Thomas Weiss writes about Somalia in the 19th century period of colonization: "CONSUMER GOODS WERE INTRODUCED INTO THE LOCAL MARKET, WITH ACCOMPANYING MONETIZATION AND OTHER CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY" (Weiss, 2005, p. 58). This happened to Haiti in the mid 1990s, when the International Monetary Fund loaned money to Haiti with strings: it had to accept low cost food imports, which in turn, led to the collapse of its agricultural economy. Allowing US imports of rice, part of the conditions of Structural Adjustment Loans (SALs) devastated local rice production. As student Robert Pampel (INTL 5400, Summer 2011) points out, an oil embargo imposed by the US and UN on Haiti after the first ouster of President Aristide, caused Haitians to turn to forests for fuel, which eroded the soil and caused flooding. A US-aid program to replace the indigenous Creole pig, considered to be diseased, turned disastrous. Rural farmers fled to the impoverished cities, where housing constructions were not built to be earthquake proof.
As Robert Pampel points out, SAPs do not work in a country that lacks governmental infrastructure: "SAPs were enforced on countries with little consideration for their infrastructure and ability to implement structural adjustments. This is one reason why middle-income developing countries like Brazil and Thailand had success implementing SAPs, while many lower-income developing countries with little to no infrastructure struggled."
NGOs in Haiti are tasked to act as state substitutes, but while some have proved very useful in food distribution, trash goes unpicked up, roads are not repaired, and a disaster response program is not institutionalized.
The liberal view is stated here:" RESCUING OTHERS WILL ALWAYS BE ONEROUS, BUT IF WE DENY THE MORAL DUTY AND LEGAL RIGHT TO DO SO, WE DENY NOT ONLY THE CENTRALITY OF JUSTICE IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS, BUT ALSO THE COMMON HUMANITY THAT BINDS US ALL (Teson in Holzgrefe and Keohane, p. 129). The cry from Haiti has been answered by billions of people around the world, including a massive relief effort led by the US government. There was no forced intervention, no violation of national sovereignty, in the strict legal sense.
But Haiti was already dependent on outside powers, as the realist Weiss points out was the case of Somalia during the 1990s. In the case of Somalia, according to Weiss, "MILITARY, ECONOMIC, AND FOOD AID PERPETUATED A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT WAS NOT SELF-SUSTAINING, NOR DID IT FULFILL THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT (Weiss, 2005, p. 59).
The anti-imperialist Bricmont asks us to imagine "A WORLD IN WHICH CONGO, CUBA, VIETNAM, BRAZIL, CHILE, IRAQ, AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEVELOP WITHOUT CONSTANT INTERFERENCE FROM THE WEST" (Bricmont, 2006, p.38). But now, China and Russia are shaping the economies of the poorer countries around the world. Here is a review of how I see Great Power rivalries in the Caribbean:
Before the Haitian earthquake struck, global power tensions in this part of the world had been escalating.
The western hemisphere (slice the earth in half length-ways and Haiti and the Americas are on the western side) is dubbed the US’s backyard. But N American policymakers fear their traditional influence is waning. US foreign policymakers are concerned with drug and terrorist sanctions in the area, as well as strategic resources – such as oil.
US oil imports from the Caribbean account for 15% of total oil imports to the US.
Russia and China have both recently staked a claim in the Caribbean.
In July 2009, Russia and Cuba signed a deal to jointly explore crude oil reserves off the Cuban coast. A meeting in Moscow in January 2009 renewed the pact, which had collapsed after the Cold War. While no mention was made of a military alliance, agreements were signed to cooperate in agriculture, manufacturing, science and tourism. In December 2009, a contingent of Russia’s North Sea Fleet docked in Havana after conducting exercises with Venezuela’s navy.
In September 2009, China sent Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Wu Banggou to the Bahamas with 150 Chinese officials and business leaders. A number of economic deals were signed, including a multimillion dollar loan to help build a highway to Nassau’s international airport. This marked another step in the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and the Bahamas since1997.
Iran is another player. In 2008, St Vincent and the Grenadines established diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and secured a commitment to assist in the construction of the US$200 million international airport. On January 21, 2010, the President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, arrived in Tehran to renew ties with the Islamic world.
Half a year earlier, on May 1, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid bare US concerns, saying that “the Obama Administration is working to improve deteriorating US relations with a number of Latin American nations to counter growing Iranian, Chinese and Russian influence in the Western Hemisphere” (Associated Press, May 1, 2009). The Obama presidency however has welcomed China's bid to become an observer at the Organization of American States and a donor member of the Inter-American Development Bank. This is in line with a long term US policy of both collaborating with, and remaining wary of , ‘competitor peer’ major powers.
At a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization the following month, Brazil, Russia, India and China - or BRIC as the fast-growing countries are collectively coined - held their first summit. The BRIC leaders called for a ‘multipolar world order’, which in diplomatic language constitutes a challenge to US global dominance.
US’ wariness of BRIC is illustrated by policies on the military front. Washington is building its potential for nuclear and non-nuclear strikes in Latin America and the Caribbean. The US Southern Command’s 4th Fleet was recently reconstituted and patrols up and down the Latin American coastline. Part of its mission is humanitarian – dealing with hurricanes, for example. The other part of the mission has to do with national strategy. Forty percent of US trade and fifty percent of US oil imports come from this area.
Latin America leaders, however, are turning down requests for a US armed presence. For example, President Rafael Correa has asked US troops to leave their base in the port of Manta in Ecuador.
One principal reason for resistance against US military presence is the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (also known as the Treaty of Tlatelolco) which came into force in 1969. It obligates Latin American parties not to acquire or possess nuclear weapons, nor to permit the storage or deployment of nuclear weapons on their territories by other countries.
Back in Haiti, the people still urgently need help; the death toll was past 300,000.
Let us hope Haiti’s needs inspire global cooperation, not competition.
References:
Bricmont, Jean, Humanitarian Imperialism, Using Human Rights to Sell War, New York: Monthly Review Press, 2006.
Teson, Ferdinando in Holzgrefe, JL Ed and Keohane, Robert, Humanitarian Intervention, Ethical, Legal and Political Dilemmas, Cambridge University Press, 2003
Weiss, Thomas G, Military-Civilian Interactions, Humanitarian Crisis and the Responsibility to Protect, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Legitimizing Usury, the Rise of Capitalism and Sharia Banking
LEGITIMIZING USURY AND THE RISE OF CAPITALISM
In the New Testament, Jesus chased the money lenders out of the temple. Shylock, a money lender in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice was reviled by his fellow citizens. Anti-semitism arose probably as the result of laws that only allowed Jews to be moneylenders in Europe. "Miser", "hoarding wealth" and other terms denoted the negative meaning of capital accumulation.
Today, of course, the accumulation of vast riches is applauded, as can be seen by the 'stardom' of such businessmen as Donald Trump. The legitimizing of usury in Europe by Christian religious leaders helped to develop the economic model of capitalism. How? Without bank loans, there can be no investment. Without interest on debt, there can be no bank loans. Bank loans and debt are crucial to continuing investments. Also, the stocks and shares developed in the 17th Century had one very important component: the forgiveness of debts made by investors. Yes, that’s right. Although we hold poor countries to the fire for debt repayment, if you invest in a company and it fails, you are not liable for debt. This frees capital to invest elsewhere.
Today, many capitalist countries are in fact debtor nations. I like to say we live in ‘debtism’ not capitalism because capital=profit minus debt.
I recommend the book The Web of Debt.
A student wrote on the topic of Sharia banking for her final paper in a previous semester. Here is an excerpt. Capital letters indicate referenced information (not blogged here.)
Marie-Josee Herard
December 19, 2009
The Qur’an FORBIDS THE CHARGING OF INTEREST IN EXCHANGE FOR A LOAN, OR “RIBA” . The reason for this, according to the Qur’an, is BECAUSE IT HARMS THE HUMANE AIMS OF ISLAM TOWARDS MERCY, SOLIDARITY AND COOPERATION .
This is a founding principle that has shaped Islamic banking. The first ever Islamic savings bank was modeled on “profit sharing” which WAS STARTED IN THE EGYPTIAN TOWN OF MIT GHAMR IN 1963 . The Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna’s goal was TO PENETRATE THE WESTERN FINANCE SYSTEM, CORRUPTING IT FROM WITHIN IN HOPES OF CREATING A PARALLEL SYSTEM TO RE-ESTABLISH A GLOBAL ISLAMIC EMPIRE GOVERNED BY ISLAMIC LAW (SHARIA).
Islamic banking policy states that money should be used productively and investment activities should be dealt with in partnerships so that risks and rewards are shared by creditor and debtor alike. Also, according to sharia, excess capital (i.e. profits) ought to be put back into the community in the form of zakat (alms). This includes stocks, real estate investments, insurances, and currency swaps that are sharia-compliant (called sukuks). There are limits, though; SHARIA LAW PROHIBIT INVESTING IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES OR PRODUCTS, INCLUDING ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, PORK, AND PORNOGRAPHY. THE QUR’AN ALSO FORBIDS USURY (as aforementioned), SO FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS ARE STRUCTURED TO RELY ON INCOME IN THE FORM OF RENTS OR PROFITS FROM THE LOAN, TECHNICALLY NOT INTEREST. SUKUKS … ARE A TYPE OF ISLAMIC BOND BACKED BY OWNERSHIP OF A TANGIBLE ASSET THAT PRODUCES A FINANCIAL RESULT. Another popular instrument is the murabaha, ESSENTIALLY COST-PLUS FINANCING, WHICH INVOLVES THE SALE AND REPURCHASE OF A COMMODITY TO FUND A LOAN . Scholars must review banking products and cases to make sure that they adhere to the Qur’an. BUT DEFINITIONS OF WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE CAN VARY GREATLY, NOT ONLY FROM REGION TO REGION BUT FROM BANK TO BANK… AS EACH BANK HAS ITS OWN BOARD OF SCHOLARS .
After initial success in the late 1970s and 1980s, which was largely fueled by oil revenues, Islamic banking suffered serious setbacks. There were failures in Islamic banking integration in such countries as Egypt, Iran, Sudan, and Pakistan, and several banks went bankrupt after having over-leveraged their funds, which coincidentally violated the sharia tenet of avoiding excessive risk-taking. So new products were developed and banks branched out; that’s when sukuks came into the picture, among others. But since then, some have estimated that the SECTOR HAS EXPANDED AT A BRISK PACE OF BETWEEN 15% AND 25% ANNUALLY IN THE PAST DECADE… in fact, THERE ARE CURRENTLY (as of 2006) 250 ISLAMIC MUTUAL FUNDS WITH $300BN WORTH OF ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND 300 IFIs HOLDING OVER $250BN DEPOSITS…FURTHERMORE, $200BN IN ASSETS ARE MANAGED BY DEDICATED MUSLIM “WINDOWS” OR SUBSIDIARIES OF CONVENTIONAL BANKS .
In the New Testament, Jesus chased the money lenders out of the temple. Shylock, a money lender in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice was reviled by his fellow citizens. Anti-semitism arose probably as the result of laws that only allowed Jews to be moneylenders in Europe. "Miser", "hoarding wealth" and other terms denoted the negative meaning of capital accumulation.
Today, of course, the accumulation of vast riches is applauded, as can be seen by the 'stardom' of such businessmen as Donald Trump. The legitimizing of usury in Europe by Christian religious leaders helped to develop the economic model of capitalism. How? Without bank loans, there can be no investment. Without interest on debt, there can be no bank loans. Bank loans and debt are crucial to continuing investments. Also, the stocks and shares developed in the 17th Century had one very important component: the forgiveness of debts made by investors. Yes, that’s right. Although we hold poor countries to the fire for debt repayment, if you invest in a company and it fails, you are not liable for debt. This frees capital to invest elsewhere.
Today, many capitalist countries are in fact debtor nations. I like to say we live in ‘debtism’ not capitalism because capital=profit minus debt.
I recommend the book The Web of Debt.
A student wrote on the topic of Sharia banking for her final paper in a previous semester. Here is an excerpt. Capital letters indicate referenced information (not blogged here.)
Marie-Josee Herard
December 19, 2009
The Qur’an FORBIDS THE CHARGING OF INTEREST IN EXCHANGE FOR A LOAN, OR “RIBA” . The reason for this, according to the Qur’an, is BECAUSE IT HARMS THE HUMANE AIMS OF ISLAM TOWARDS MERCY, SOLIDARITY AND COOPERATION .
This is a founding principle that has shaped Islamic banking. The first ever Islamic savings bank was modeled on “profit sharing” which WAS STARTED IN THE EGYPTIAN TOWN OF MIT GHAMR IN 1963 . The Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna’s goal was TO PENETRATE THE WESTERN FINANCE SYSTEM, CORRUPTING IT FROM WITHIN IN HOPES OF CREATING A PARALLEL SYSTEM TO RE-ESTABLISH A GLOBAL ISLAMIC EMPIRE GOVERNED BY ISLAMIC LAW (SHARIA).
Islamic banking policy states that money should be used productively and investment activities should be dealt with in partnerships so that risks and rewards are shared by creditor and debtor alike. Also, according to sharia, excess capital (i.e. profits) ought to be put back into the community in the form of zakat (alms). This includes stocks, real estate investments, insurances, and currency swaps that are sharia-compliant (called sukuks). There are limits, though; SHARIA LAW PROHIBIT INVESTING IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES OR PRODUCTS, INCLUDING ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, PORK, AND PORNOGRAPHY. THE QUR’AN ALSO FORBIDS USURY (as aforementioned), SO FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS ARE STRUCTURED TO RELY ON INCOME IN THE FORM OF RENTS OR PROFITS FROM THE LOAN, TECHNICALLY NOT INTEREST. SUKUKS … ARE A TYPE OF ISLAMIC BOND BACKED BY OWNERSHIP OF A TANGIBLE ASSET THAT PRODUCES A FINANCIAL RESULT. Another popular instrument is the murabaha, ESSENTIALLY COST-PLUS FINANCING, WHICH INVOLVES THE SALE AND REPURCHASE OF A COMMODITY TO FUND A LOAN . Scholars must review banking products and cases to make sure that they adhere to the Qur’an. BUT DEFINITIONS OF WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE CAN VARY GREATLY, NOT ONLY FROM REGION TO REGION BUT FROM BANK TO BANK… AS EACH BANK HAS ITS OWN BOARD OF SCHOLARS .
After initial success in the late 1970s and 1980s, which was largely fueled by oil revenues, Islamic banking suffered serious setbacks. There were failures in Islamic banking integration in such countries as Egypt, Iran, Sudan, and Pakistan, and several banks went bankrupt after having over-leveraged their funds, which coincidentally violated the sharia tenet of avoiding excessive risk-taking. So new products were developed and banks branched out; that’s when sukuks came into the picture, among others. But since then, some have estimated that the SECTOR HAS EXPANDED AT A BRISK PACE OF BETWEEN 15% AND 25% ANNUALLY IN THE PAST DECADE… in fact, THERE ARE CURRENTLY (as of 2006) 250 ISLAMIC MUTUAL FUNDS WITH $300BN WORTH OF ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND 300 IFIs HOLDING OVER $250BN DEPOSITS…FURTHERMORE, $200BN IN ASSETS ARE MANAGED BY DEDICATED MUSLIM “WINDOWS” OR SUBSIDIARIES OF CONVENTIONAL BANKS .
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