Re: dollarization

["Alan G. Isaac" <aisaac@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 21 Apr 2001, Henry C.K. Liu wrote:
> So are you saying dollarization is a good idea?

No.  As I said before, whether dollarization is a good idea or not
will depend on country-specific circumstances.  I have given you some
specific examples where it seems not to have played out badly, and I
have mentioned some of the difficulties in assessing this.  I also
suggested one other country (Argentina) where dollarization might
prove better than the existing arrangements.  You are invited to
discuss those examples, rather than just grunting your displeasure at
them.

> Alan wrote: "Some of us just noted, to the dismay of the politically
> correct, that it need not always be a bad idea."
> Your implication is that to be politically correct is to be wrong most of the
> time.  It may be so in your political circles.

You misunderstand.  The implication is that holding an idea *because*
it is ``politically correct'' is immoral.  We should hold ideas
because they stand up to our critical scrutiny, and for no other
reasons.  (For example, your claims that ``freedom'' and ``democracy''
are Western Notions irrelevant to the Asian Experience does not hold
up to critical scrutiny, even though they are politically correct in
your circles.  Therefore out of intellectual integrity, you should
abandon those claims.)

Recall that the context of my comment was a collection of
ill-considered attacks on dollarization posted to pkt.  And do not
forget that attacking the ``politically correct'' for holding trendy
left ideas originated on the left, even if the telling phrase was
seized with glee (and much abused) by the right.

Alan