[PEN-L:8299] Re: Re: Peter Dorman's letter appeared in the NY Times today

[Peter Dorman <dormanp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, and I'm peeved.  The last sentence was the important one, making
the main political point (about democracy) and needling the Times for
the implicit bias in their coverage.  *They never received my permission
to print this revised version.*

Peter

Arun Chandra wrote:
>
> it's a good letter, but the Times left out the last paragraph.
>
> arun chandra
>
> On Thu, 24 Jun 1999, Louis Proyect wrote:
>
> > To the Editor:
> >
> > In your report on the Cologne G8 meeting, you refer in general terms to
> > the "democratic and economic reforms" Balkan governments must agree to
> > in order to receive economic assistance from the US and the European
> > Union.  This aid is desperately needed to repair the damage caused by
> > years of conflict in the region and months of NATO bombing.
> >
> > The full condition for this aid, however, went unmentioned.  At this
> > meeting the G8 reaffirmed the June 10 G7 stipulation that Balkan
> > governments adopt "market economies based on sound macro policies,
> > markets open to greatly expanded foreign trade and private sector
> > investment, effective and transparent customs and commercial/regulatory
> > regimes, developing strong capital markets and diversified ownership,
> > including privatisation..."  This doctrinaire formula would be
> > presumptuous anywhere, but it is especially so in a region whose last 40
> > years of economic development has been based on market socialism and an
> > element of worker management.
> >
> > Apparently we have strayed so far from the view that a nation's economic
> > institutions should be democratically chosen by its people that it is no
> > longer news when this principle is overruled.
> >
> > Peter Dorman
> >
> > Louis Proyect
> >
> > (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
> >
> >