Progressives of the World Unite!

[The Templar]

Thabo Mbeki has an interesting editorial in the Guardian.

The interesting question for market fundamentalists is how the market is going to do jack squat for the poor "unbankable" citizens of the world.

[Kidlicious]

The problem of "unbankable" citizens is affecting the developed world as well. Unbankable citizens have no economic value. They can't be exploited. Today the results of this crisis mostly show up in extreme cases in Africa, but the results will be apparent in developed nations soon.

[Al B. Sure!]

Progressives?

you know what, i'm going to stop calling myself a conservative (especially as I got no love for the status quo), and now style myself a "Progressive"

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
Progressives?

you know what, i'm going to stop calling myself a conservative (especially as I got no love for the status quo), and now style myself a "Progressive"

So are you now a progressive fascist?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Then maybe whoever is responsible for those "unbankable" citizens ought to concern themselves with either (a) birth rates, or (b) education and creation of "bankable" skills.

But why worry about that, when you can set yourself up in power to rob from the rich, skim off the top due to all that hard work you do on behalf of "the party" and then give a leftover pittance to the poor.

[Al B. Sure!]

well fascism is not the status quo so i couldn't possibly be a conservative fascist... the term progressive fits better...

but why i'm supposed to unite with templar and kidicious, i dont know...

[Al B. Sure!]

i never understood something... isn't an infussion of capital into these countries enough to get things going? i mean bring in businesses (which can be taxed reasonably), jobs, etc. (which give an income, even if it is meager) and these will beget more businesses and jobs (and that tax money can go towards education) and so on...

seems so simple and logical. unfortunately, the IMF, in its attempt to secure lendees that will pay them back, forces countries to cut tariffs, not provide better infrastructure for local (non-export) industries, etc. and this all only results in the destruction of any hope of internal business growth in these countries... no funds or loans to improve infrastructure nor the tariffs to compete with cheap foreign goods. so the infusion of capital does not work... globalization and foreign businesses establishing themselves in the third world though would be a different story entirely and would more likely lead to success for third world countries if not for petty dictators and what not who love to portray themselves as the stalwart defenders of the third world against american corporate imperialism

[Sikander]

I don't have the "courage" to give Mbeki a big blank government check. Sorry.

[HershOstropoler]

Mbeki's article could come right out of the pomo generator.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
i never understood something... isn't an infussion of capital into these countries enough to get things going? i mean bring in businesses (which can be taxed reasonably), jobs, etc. (which give an income, even if it is meager) and these will beget more businesses and jobs (and that tax money can go towards education) and so on...

In theory, at least, if you lost a diamond ring down a toilet hooked up to a septic tank, you could take a bunch of hundred dollar bills, throw them down the toilet too, and eventually the septic tank would overflow, and maybe the ring would get floated back up. In theory, anyway.

What would you do with, say, a billion dollars in Burkina Faso?

[Al B. Sure!]

MtG:

improve infrastructure to make businesses more profitable, establish businesses which will be taxed (and this tax will pay for education to allow citizens to have better skills) and will provide jobs for the citizens some of whom may establish businesses themselves and all that...

you open up a factory in a city and you now have several hundred employed workers who need housing, food, and consumer products so several businesses open up to provide these goods and services and the workers of these in turn require more goods and so on... same concept can be applied to the third world

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
Then maybe whoever is responsible for those "unbankable" citizens ought to concern themselves with either (a) birth rates, or (b) education and creation of "bankable" skills.

But why worry about that, when you can set yourself up in power to rob from the rich, skim off the top due to all that hard work you do on behalf of "the party" and then give a leftover pittance to the poor.

So why is it that, in the last 20 years, in the United States, the rich have been getting richer while the poor have been getting poorer?

BTW, do you think Milken and Kravis deserve all their $?

[Saras]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


So why is it that, in the last 20 years, in the United States, the rich have been getting richer while the poor have been getting poorer?

BTW, do you think Milken and Kravis deserve all their $?

The poor have not been getting poorer. Thay have been getting rich less fast. Read your stats right.

And Milken... Milken paid a lot of fines for his crimes. IIRC, they were more than what he made while engaging in illegal activity. Otherwise, he created a whole new asset class and a whole new way to finance new businesses.

Kravis make billions for his investors - pension funds, life insurers etc. If they agree to pay him what they paid him, the point is moot.

[Berzerker]

Then maybe whoever is responsible for those "unbankable" citizens ought to concern themselves with either (a) birth rates, or (b) education and creation of "bankable" skills.

But why worry about that, when you can set yourself up in power to rob from the rich, skim off the top due to all that hard work you do on behalf of "the party" and then give a leftover pittance to the poor.

But going to the polls to vote for progressive politicans is hard work.

[Sandman]

Expecting Third World villagers to have low birth rates is like expecting Westerners to forgo economic growth. Not going to happen.