Re: debating the World Bank

["Patrick Bond" <pbond@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From:          Chris Brady <chris_brady@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Mine's critique of Doug Henwood's Nation piece gave the impression
> that he favored the fired reformers at the World Bank at the
> conclusion of his report. To give him his due however, Henwood had
> earlier mentioned that these  "Two forced departures from the World
> Bank have made the limits of reform irrefutably clear."

Yeah, Doug's absolutely 100% cool on this, no question about it. I
know he's putting to bed a book for Verso so we haven't seen his
latest LBO. But he did request a few obscure folk like me to address
this theme for the September issue: After the Bank and IMF are Gone?

There are enough clowns out there like Bill Jordan of the ICFTU
and the SA government who are, this weekend, pushing jejune, utopian
reformism, that we needn't look for enemies within...

(On the other hand, Doug spent last night talking to the wankers at
Rethinking Marxism as the plenary speaker when Mike Davis
dropped, so he does need his left flank!)

> MIDRAND, South Africa, Sept 20 (AFP) - The International
> Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) called Wednesday on South
> Africa's largest trade union federation to put pressure on the
> Pretoria government to push for more reforms in the IMF and World
> Bank. South African Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel will chair the
> annual meeting starting Thursday of the International Monetary Fund
> (IMF) and the World Bank in Prague. "A strong argument for real
> reform coming from South Africa will make a difference at that
> meeting," ICFTU General Secretary Bill Jordan said in an address to
> the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) conference, on
> the third day of its triennial conference.