Developing problem for the US

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Developing problem for the US

(Friday 07 November 2008)

RICHARD STONE






RICHARD STONE detects growing fear at the US establishment's heart.

WORLD BANK president Robert Zoellick is a worried man.
Earlier this year, he warned that 33 countries in the developing world were at risk of "social upheaval" after food prices had soared 83 per cent over a three-year period.
Zoellick is fully aware of the consequences of poverty. And some of the poorest countries in the world are now deemed on the brink of violent disorder.
The global financial crisis presents Washington and the Pentagon with a further serious problem.
The economies of advanced industrial countries have slowed since the 1970s.
Business classes have increasingly looked towards developing countries for a better return on their investments.
The post-cold war "new world order" presented a chance to fling capital to the four corners of the globe in an attempt to maximise returns.
From his position at the pinnacle of the World Bank, Zoellick is vital to the equation of US domination.
Using the international financial institutions under their control, US administrations have forced directives for deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation onto governments across the developing world.
Governments eager to attract foreign investment for economic development programmes have been coerced or coaxed into compliance.
Under the banner of free trade, advanced industrial countries embarked on agreements whose aim was to retain their position at the centre of the global economy.
Such deals have rarely brought genuine economic development for developing countries. Dynamic economic sectors exist within oceans of poverty, marginalisation and social decimation.
The proportion of people living on the equivalent of $2 or less a day has doubled in the past three decades to almost half the world's population. A third of the global population do not have access to clean drinking water. A sixth go hungry every day.
Now, the ongoing global financial turmoil threatens to have a particularly devastating impact on developing countries.
Private capital flows to developing countries are expected to plummet by 30 per cent this year, according to reports.
Zoellick shed a few crocodile tears as he spoke recently of "the poorest and most vulnerable groups risk the most serious damage. One hundred million people have already been driven into poverty this year and that number will grow."
But what the US administration and its cronies really fear is the spread of the "Latin America effect" throughout developing countries.
Following decades of enforced exploitation, poverty and military interference at the hands of the US and its allies, several countries in Latin America now have popular, progressive governments.
When the people of Paraguay, an essential US strategic regional partner, elect a popular centre-left president, the Pentagon knows that it has a serious problem.
When the Asian Development Bank in the Philippines states that, for every 10 per cent increase in food prices, a further 2.3 million more people fall into poverty, Washington must fear for its defence and security strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.
The US is fully aware that Filipinos falling into poverty and destitution are unlikely to accept their plight gracefully, particularly since a third of the population already live on the equivalent of 78 cents a day.
The growth of parasitic forms of capitalism driven by financial repackaging and speculation rather than productive activity now threatens the financial stability of the entire global economy.
By 2006, the total value of world financial assets rose to the equivalent of 350 per cent of global gross domestic product.
Advanced countries came under fire at a recent summit between leaders from India, South Africa and Brazil.
They spoke of "growing resentment" that a crisis created by the rich was being felt by the poor.
"We are the victims of a crisis generated by the rich countries," stated Brazilian President Lula da Silva.
"It is unacceptable that a group of speculators turn the world into a gigantic casino and tell us how we should run our governments."
He spoke for many across the developing world.
A recent editorial in the US Herald Tribune fully recognised the problem.
"As the world's richest nations spent trillions of dollars to rescue their own financial systems, they also had to be prepared to provide billions of dollars to poorer countries that did not cause the crisis but nevertheless were its victims. The developing world has been caught up big time in the global credit squeeze'."
The worries of the US imperial planners are real. They fear that the rise of popular anti-imperialist governments across the developing world could have a lasting impact on their supremacy.
It is no surprise, then, that the Bush administration has called world leaders together for an urgent summit next week on the basis of "your attendance is required."

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[ZingPao]

We were told in the US that food prices were up because of the high cost of fuel. Fuel prices are now very low, but food prices are still high. We are now told that prices tend to be "sticky". The prices stick where they were. Apparently, food prices are "sticky", but fuel is not??????