[PEN-L:6757] Re: Competitiveness -Reply

[Patrick Bond <PATRICK@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug, do you have any of those debt ratios at the global scale? I recall
the Bank for International Settlements did several major papers on this
during the late 1980s, showing dramatically rising consumer, corporate
and government debt burdens. Same story here in South Africa.

By the way, global debt policeman Michel Camdessus had a rude
welcome here, with disruptions at the airport yesterday and
demonstrations at parliament in Cape Town planned today. The three
trade union federations decided last night to boycott anything to do with
him (a closed-door bull session was on the cards). And the finance
minister -- the former socialist community organiser Trevor Manuel (who
chaired several sessions at the IMF-Bank Annual Meeting a couple of
weeks ago) -- couldn't have been pleased about the linkage of structural
adjustment policies to his own home-grown version. Camdessus is
meant to see Archbishop Tutu today, and the SA Students' Congress
has just demanded that Tutu -- who is chair of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission -- schedule a public appointment for
Camdessus to make a full confession. And the demand by the
fast-growing Campaign Against Neoliberalism in SA for a public debate
with Camdessus and Manuel was turned down, undermining the p.r.
component of the visit.

We're still trying to figure out whether Manuel needed Camdessus more
to convince local bond traders that neoliberalism is now cemented here,
or vice versa so that Camdessus can get some good vibes from rubbing
shoulders with the ANC's ex-radicals.