Re: Creating People-Centred Economics

["Patrick Bond" <pbond@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Henry, as comrades may know, this occurred in March 1999.
(There's a forthcoming Zed Press book with some of the papers.)

As a loyal friend and admirer of the sponsors (and attendee), I would
say with all honesty, however, that the socialist/marxist content was
virtually nil (notwithstanding the potential implied in the final
tagline). Attempts to get deeper into the meaning of "people-centred"
foundered because so many international NGOs still have
small-is-beautiful or Adam-Smith-utopic notions of "SMMEs,"
microcredit and the like. The plenary got bogged down in debating how
(not whether) to reform the IMF, in spite of host Walden Bello's
excellent opening statement that the gathering should be a site for
the IMF's decommissioning (again, I'd blame it on articulate
inside-Beltway and London NGO bureaucrats who simply want any
opportunity, and "mandate," to get closer to the Fund).

My own conclusion is that these kinds of global gatherings have in
future got to a) root themselves much more explicitly in concrete
grassroots/shopfloor anti-neoliberal struggles (though FOCUS did
indeed bring in the Thai Forum of the Poor); and b) establish far
more coherence (and yes, quality control) in terms of who comes, in
order to really move this debate, and agenda, forward.

I'm sure there'll also be good debates amongst socialists/marxists
about the whole idea of "national economic sovereignty." I think we
can go a long way with it, helping each working class deal with its
own bourgeoisie, while weakening the global bourgeoisie and its
agents...

> Date:          Fri, 4 Feb 2000 17:05:25 -0500
> Reply-to:      Discussions on the Socialist Register and its articles
>                <SOCIALIST-REGISTER@xxxxxxxx>
> From:          "AIxO1â HenryC.K.Liu
>                1ù¤l¥ú" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject:       Creating People-Centred Economics
> To:            SOCIALIST-REGISTER@xxxxxxxx

> Welcome to FOCUS on the Global South
>    Economic Sovereignty in a Globalising World: Creating People-Centred
> Economics for the 21st Century
>
> Why We Are Having This Conference
>
> While financial analysts assess the global financial crisis in terms of
> stock market indexes and currency values,
> the real impact is being borne by the millions of people who are being
> pushed further into poverty as we
> approach the new millenium. Generations will inherit a debt not of their
> making, and as the human costs of the
> crisis continue to mount, speculators and currency traders escape
> virtually unscathed.
>
> Uncontrolled speculative investment and currency trading have a
> devastating effect on economic stability and
> long-term development. The crisis has shown that national economies no
> longer have control over vital aspects
> of economic policy, and that they too are subject to the whims of the
> market.
>
> The inability of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to
> respond to the crisis with appropriate policies
> has called into question their capacity to understand and react to the
> needs of people in a rapidly changing global
> economy. A growing number of critics are now calling for a thorough
> review of these institutions' policies and
> decision making processes.
>
> The dire human consequences of this demand our attention. It is
> imperative that international economic relations
> be reviewed and reshaped to control speculation, regulate financial
> markets and reduce inequalities between
> nations, while promoting economic democracy and fostering sustainable
> development.
>
> All these measures and reforms should aim to give local communities,
> national governments and regional
> groupings the chance to pursue economic policies which meet the needs of
> people, instead of the markets.
> http://focusweb.org/conference/
Patrick Bond
email:  pbond@xxxxxxxxxx * phone:  2711-614-8088
home:  51 Somerset Road, Kensington 2094 South Africa
work:  University of the Witwatersrand
Graduate School of Public and Development Management
PO Box 601, Wits 2050, South Africa
email:  bondp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
phone:  2711-488-5917 * fax:  2711-484-2729