[PEN-L:9475] speaking of Utopia

[Jim Devine <jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In the current issue of CHALLENGE, Kevin Stiroh, and economist at the NY
Fed, writes that

"Increasing globalization, deregulation, and computerization are all in
some sense transitional processes; that is, if they continue, the world
eventually will be a single market with completely free trade, perfect
competition, and a computer for every worker who needs one." (July-August,
p. 92)

I know that the NY Fed is not responsible for Stiroh's views, but do they
endorse this utopian viewpoint?

In an earlier message, Eugene Coyle mentions : >horrible crimes committed
by the ideologs at home, e. g. crimes in Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, El
Salvador ($1 million a day for the military for years), Guatamala, and,
yes, the good old U.S.A. Or are these not crimes but the free market at
work, having nothing to do with the US government? Or maybe that savior of
policy, a "market failure"? <

Brad seems to miss the point of this when bringing forth his own (valid)
criticism of the Suharto bloodbath.

He seems to forget that Eugene was _not_ blaming Brad, but instead the
"free-market" ideologues pushing the expansion of capitalism for that
bloodbath (just the way the Stalinist revolution should be blamed for
USSR's blood-baths in the 1930s, I would add). He was pointing to the
connection between _capitalist_ utopianism and disaster -- and arguing that
Brad should pay attention to this connection rather than only telling us
about the connection between bureaucratic socialisms and disasters.

He was not blaming Brad for ignoring the bloodbath, but instead pointing
out to Brad that he (Brad) had missed the connection between the US push to
have loyal capitalist countries in the third world and the Suharto
bloodbath. The CIA was instrumental in overthrowing Sukarno and the
resulting slaughter of suspected communists. I didn't see any reference to
the CIA in the part of Brad's ms. that he posted on pen-l.

The "Berkeley mafia" (which is what folks from the UC-Berkeley economics
department were called, I believe) were brought in to advise Suharto, just
as "Los Chicago Boys" advised General Pinochet after 1973. But we can't
blame Brad for that. After all, my own connection with the UC-B econ.
department (1974-80) is closer in time to the Suharto coup than his.

Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx &
http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html