[A-List] Populism or Neoliberalism?

["Yoshie Furuhashi" <critical.montages@xxxxxxxxx>]

In today's global capitalism, the range of economic choices (available
outside the richest capitalist countries) that people have accepted
seems to be between a populist economy like Iran's and Venezuela's and
a neoliberal one like Brazil's and Turkey's* (Russia's falls into the
middle between them), unless the country has a special relation with
the USA of the sort that East Asian countries such as China have
(export to the USA, profit, save, and lend a lot of saving to the USA
so the cycle can continue, while undervaluing the currency).

Expropriating all the expropriators is not on the agenda even in the
land of Socialism of the 21st Century, and the way it's going, the
Bolivarian Revolution won't nationalize the means of production as
much as Iran's Islamic Revolution did.

<http://www.aporrea.org/ideologia/n98430.html>
Giordani: No hay contradicción entre sector privado y socialismo venezolano
Por: Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN)
Fecha de publicación: 23/07/07

Caracas, 23 Jul. ABN (Juan José Espinoza).- " No existe contradicción
alguna entre la empresa privada y el socialismo venezolano", sostuvo
el ministro del Poder Popular para la Planificación y Desarrollo,
Jorge Giordani.

<http://www.aporrea.org/ideologia/n98401.html>
PSUV no será marxista-leninista porque "es una tesis dogmática no
acorde con la realidad de hoy", afirma Chávez
Por: Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN)
Fecha de publicación: 22/07/07

<http://www.aporrea.org/ideologia/n98394.html>
Chávez reitera que no es marxista: Soy socialista, bolivariano y revolucionario
Por: Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN)
Fecha de publicación: 22/07/07

*  <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/89c76900-3947-11dc-ab48-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F89c76900-3947-11dc-ab48-0000779fd2ac%2Cdwp_uuid%3De8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html>

Financial Times - July 23, 2007

LEX
Turkish elections

The victory of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Sunday's
parliamentary elections got a cheery welcome from Turkey's financial
markets. With good reason.

The AKP has presided over impressive economic gains in Turkey since
2002. The economy has grown about 7 per cent a year on average, and
the budget deficit has been reduced from nearly 15 per cent of gross
domestic product to just 0.7 per cent of GDP last year. Backed by an
IMF programme, inflation has fallen from more than 70 to less than 10
per cent. Meanwhile, the domestic stock market has quintupled in
value. Even if serious economic concerns remain – the yawning current
account deficit, for one – investors should be pleased that Turkey
will remain under the same management.

The AKP is likely to use its strengthened electoral mandate – it won
nearly 47 per cent of the vote – to pursue reform. Pension legislation
will be revived and more big-ticket privatisations, including the
country's highways, are on the cards.

Investors may also be encouraged that the AKP does not have the
two-thirds majority necessary to change the constitution, although it
could perhaps garner it with the help of independent members of
parliament. It may again choose to put forward Abdullah Gul for the
presidency, the candidate who caused the military so much disquiet, or
may choose to build consensus around a more widely acceptable
candidate. What seems clear is that the army, seeing the level of
popular support the AKP has just received, will be less enthusiastic
about confronting it.

Assuming that the presidential elections do happen smoothly, domestic
interest rates of 17.5 per cent will fall. That is one reason bank
shares leapt on Monday. And declining political risk should allow
investors to focus, once again, on Turkey's attractive economic
fundamentals.
--
Yoshie