WHAT MATTERS -1 --1 September 2001 Five Items: - *A Yes Men WTO stunt - *Norway’s gold loans -*How Malaysia has protected its currency -*What you are not hearing about from Macedonia -*US Air Superiority _________________________ Dear list members, The new year has started at the adult education residential college Folkhogskola Vardingeby, so a good time for a change of name, from Monetary Studies Programme to What Matters, Educational, to reflect the broader outlook in my talks and mailings. See the signature below for details. And more later about the What Matters Educational website that is being constructed. I have been away from the computer for about a week and there has been the usual pile up of e-mails, from which I have put together this miscellany: 1. A WTO ‘Member’ Wows the Experts 2. Norway’s Gold Has Been Lent to the Bank Of England, at a 20% Discount 3. How Malaysia Got Away With Heresy 4. Twenty Neglected Feature Stories re Macedonia 5. U.S. Air Superiority to be Tested – against which adversaries? I have also received several e-mails related to Russia’s gold moves against the dollar, and will e-mail a summation soon. In friendship, Boudewijn Wegerif What Matters, Educational Folkhogskola Vardingeby ** _________________________ 1. A WTO ‘MEMBER’ WOWS THE EXPERTS, As He Rubbishes The Abolition of Slavery and Mahatma Ghandi, And Waves a Three-Foot Phallus at Them My thanks to Michael Hudson -- Hudsonmi@aol.com - for introducing me to the Yes Men at www.theyesmen.org . The Yes Men are a genderless, loose-knit association of some three hundred impostors worldwide; and one of their members, Hank Hardy Unruh, has scored big as a supposed WTO executive talking to 150 experts at the ‘Textiles of the Future’ conference in Tampere, Finland. The audience, mostly PhDs and the like, applauded vigorously, in agreement, when Hank argued that the U.S. Civil War (in which slavery became illegal) was a useless waste of time and resources, because slavery (imported labor) would have eventually been replaced by the much cheaper system of remote labor – as in sweatshops today. Hank then talked about how India had made a big mistake by following Gandhi and his notion of self-sufficiency, since it resulted in a legacy of protectionist tariffs. If India had just let free trade run its course, he argued, freedom from Britain would have followed naturally. In the final part of his talk, Hank's business suit was ripped off to reveal a golden leotard with a three-foot phallus. The purpose of the ‘Management Leisure Suit’, Hank explained, was to allow managers, no matter where they were, to control their remote workforces in the developing world. Using a video interface at the end of the phallus, the manager can see the workers and give them electric shocks when they don't work fast enough. Not a single person objected to Hank's crude and dangerous talk – not because they are stupid (most had Ph.Ds or the like) but simply because Hank was presented as being from the WTO. The comment at the Yes Men website: “If it's so easy to say such crudely crazy things to a group of Ph.D.s, imagine how easy it is for the WTO or other profit-oriented entities, with much more care and tact, to say what they want to less educated audiences.” Oh yes!? Although their name contains the word ‘Men’, it doesn't describe who the Yes Men are, it describes what they do: which is, in their words, to use any means necessary to agree their way into the fortified compounds of commerce, ask questions, and then smuggle out the stories of their undercover escapades to provide a public glimpse at the behind-the-scenes world of business. The World Trade Organization has said it ‘deplores’ them. _________________________ 2. NORWAY’S GOLD HAS BEEN LENT TO THE BANK OF ENGLAND, AT A 20% DISCOUNT David Walker – shipdiving@aol.com - writes in an article on The Gentle Art of Conspiracy posted at the Kiki Table– www.lemetropolecafe.com - on 18 August 2001: “In the effort to solve this mysterious gold market situation, I have taken upon myself to pour through Treasury files, FOMC transcripts and central bank annual reports. Last night I just happened to be visiting with the folks at the Norges Bank, the central bank of Norway. I discovered two things. One was that the entire 33.5 tons of gold bar reserves have been placed in the BOE [Bank of England] for the purpose of loaning to various institutions. The other fact is that they value their gold at ‘fair value’. “Here are notations from the annual report: ‘Norges Bank values gold and securities at fair value. This is in line with changes in Norwegian accounting legislation and accounting practices in other central banks.’ Note 3. ‘Gold reserves are marked at fair value, which is estimated at 20 per cent below market value as gold is traded in an illiquid market.’ _________________________ 3. HOW MALAYSIA GOT AWAY WITH HERESY An article by Margaret Legum to the above title has been posted at http://mail.unwembi.co.za/mailman/listinfo/sane-views and sent to SANE list members. Here is a 700-word summary of the 1,800 word original:. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamed drew the ire of the IMF and ridicule of other Asian states upon himself when he let it be known on 1 September 1998 that Malaysia’s currency, the ringgit, was to be protected from international currency speculation. Margaret Legum writes: “Dr Mahathir announced that the ringgit (Malaysia's currency) would no longer circulate outside the country - any then in banks abroad would have one month to get home, after which they would be worthless. The government would fix the exchange rate - later set at 3.8 ringgit to one US dollar. He also restricted the repatriation of profits made by foreigners from trading shares. Non-residents would have restricted access to the ringgit. Investments abroad by residents for non-trade purposes would require permission. In other words he put out of bounds speculation in the value of the Malaysian currency. He also reinforced measures to expand the economy by low interest rates, increased government expenditure and help for the banks. This went against IMF prescriptions, yet it worked, and even drew this reluctant acknowledgement from the IMF in a report published in the Autumn of 2000: "The Malaysian economy has recovered from the 'sharp decline' of 1998, 'which had had a more severe impact on economic activity than expected' Domestic demand had fallen by 26%. Real GDP growth is now over 5.5%, the manufacturing sector growth is 13%. Capacity utilisation in many industries has reached pre-crisis levels. Inflation is below 2%. 'Directors broadly agreed that the regime of capital controls - which was intended by the authorities to be temporary - had produced more positive results than many observers had initially expected'. Foreign inward investment has resumed 'aided by the upgrading of Malaysia's ratings and the reinclusion of Malaysia in the Morgan Stanley Capital Index at end-May..The Kuala Lumpur Stock Composite Index recovered by 39% during 1999, and rose further by 10% this year, while most neighbouring countries' indices fell." Malaysia has fully regained the confidence of investors. The major lesson of this story, writes Margaret Legum, is that: “People who want to invest capital on the ground - as opposed to speculatively - are suited by a stable currency and stable government policies. Malaysia's recovery has been led by its domestic investors - they make up some 97% of new investment - and they are pulling in international capital in their wake. There was never any evidence that economic growth was a product of foreign investment – foreign capital goes where the economy is already working and the prospects of profit are good. The measures taken by the Malaysian authorities provided that environment while discouraging speculative capital. That is the best of both worlds.” This is not quite the way the IMF sees it. Along with its commendations it “encourages the government to be more transparent about the 'potential liabilities of the public sector' and to give 'explicit recognition' to the 'role of privatized infrastructure projects'. It wants a removal of the ceiling on interest rates and 'greater flexibility' in managing exchange rates to facilitate their 'liberalisation' ”The IMF it seems has learnt nothing,” writes Legum. “By contrast, Malaysia's experience shows: * Obedience to IMF prescriptions does not work in promoting growth in developing economies. A government can swallow its hard medicine to the last drop., and continue to sink. Trevor Manual, our own [South Africa’s] Finance Minister, has cause to complain that he has done the bidding of the international financial institutions to the letter, and still failed to attract the capital and restore the rand as they promised. * It is possible for a government acting on its own to defy the Washington Consensus over prudent management of its economy without collapsing. By so doing it can win their respect, even if reluctant. * Fixed exchange rates can constitute an incentive to investors who consider a fixed rate reduces risk and make planning easier. * A national economy can be grown from within, both in terms of its economic base and in terms of its capital growth. _________________________ 4. TWENTY NEGLECTED FEATURE ARTICLES RE. MACEDONIA List member Rob Matheus – anarob99@hotmail.com - sent me Press Info 124 by Jan Oberg, a director of TFF, the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, at Lund here in Sweden. You can read Oberg’s full list of potential stories about Macadonia at www.transnational.org - dateline, 28 August. Here are just six of the twenty possible feature articles: ¤ Tell the story of Americans working with KLA/NLA [The Albanian ‘rebels’ in BBC parlance, as distinct from the Palestinian ‘terrorist’ who throw stones – BW] and investigate why NATO, in contravention of its mandate in Macedonia, evacuated KLA/NLA soldiers with American advisers and equipment out of Aracinovo ¤ Reveal which governments, agencies, mercenary companies and arms dealers have supplied KLA/NLA with weapons since 1993 ¤ Relate the kind of misinformation and propaganda that the press itself is the object of, by NATO and others. For example, why are Macedonians suddenly called ‘Slavs’ or ‘Slav Macedonians’, something they have never been called before? Or why are Macedonians frequently called ‘nationalists’ while you never hear that word about the Albanians carrying guns? ¤ Ask whether EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, the S-G of NATO at the time when it bombed Yugoslavia, and NATO S-G Lord Robertson, then British secretary of defence, are personally responsible for the de-stabilisation of Macedonia ¤ Tell the story of why one of the best missions in the history of the United Nations, UNPREDEP, was forced out of Macedonia in 1999 to allow NATO to (mis)use the country for its own ‘peaceful’ aims. ¤ Redress the fact that the UN's Mr. Haekkerup in Pristina, the highest authority in Kosovo, has not been asked why 46,000 NATO/KFOR soldiers in Kosovo did not actually disarm the KLA in spite of the fact that it was stated officially in autumn 1999 that it was disarmed and declared illegal. _________________________ 5. U.S. AIR SUPERIORITY TO BE TESTED That is the headline to today’s Intelligence Briefing from the high level US strategy group Stratfor – www.stratfor.com - dateline 31 August. The briefing reads: “U.S. fighter pilots maintain air dominance wherever they fly today, but some adversaries' plans for new fighters and the age of the Pentagon's fighter fleet concerns U.S. strategists. How long can the U.S. maintain its edge in the air?” Which adversaries, one wonders? _________________________ ** Boudewijn Wegerif What Matters, Educational Folkhogskola Vardingeby 150 21 Molnbo, Sweden Tel: +46.552.10327, till end September; thereafter +46.552.21112 What Matters, Educational is a Folkhogskola Vardingeby project initiated and managed by Boudewijn Wegerif. Through a WHAT MATTERS mailing list, information is spread about what is happening in the world today, and how things could be, given effective monetary reform and a schooling at all levels for “Love’s Revolution”. The aim in Love’s Revolution is to free the self and the world from debt/guilt oppression and money making for its own sake. Folkhogskola Vardingeby is an Adult Education Residential College south of Stockholm – www.vardinge.fhsk.se. Boudewijn also gives regular talks and workshops on ‘Money and Love’ and is consulting editor of monetary reform publications sponsored by the members’ owned, interest-free bank JAK - www.jak.se .