Re: Krugman on the Deflation quagmire

["Ian Murray" <seamus2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "pdavidso" <pdavidso@xxxxxxx>



> Keynes wrote that
> when monetary policy alone cannot induce the private sector to spend,
there is
> a need for what Keynes called the  "socialization of investment",
meaning not
> that the State should own the means of production but rather the
government
> should use all sort of "devices by which public authority will cooperate
with
> private initiatives" to increase the productive facilities that are the
> backbone of our economy - even if this means running perpetual deficit
capital
> account spending.

===================

To be redundant; investment is always already a social process. The
question is the level of democratically accountable control and the
distribution of rents.






> The US government sees as the only solution for growing the floundering
Iraqi
> economy the "socialization of investment" where the government contracts
with
> private enterprises (Bechtel and Haliburton and their subcontractors) to
build
> up the Iraqi infrastructure and oil production facilities.  Why is not
> desirable to have a similar government investment spending policy (even
if it
> means deficit spending) to promote the improvement of the infrastructure
and
> other productive facilities in the United States?
>
> Paul

====================

What is going on is rent-seeking, patronage politics piggy-backing on an
illegal [in terms of international law] imperial adventure that has
brought nothing but suffering to the Iraqi people; a horrific undermining
of democratic institutions. Why would you want the same people/political
parties who've engaged in such Machiavellian behavior [see below] to deal
with the fiscal crisis, labor market recession etc.?


Ian

[Federal Register: May 28, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 102)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 31929-31932]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28my03-98]


[[Page 31929]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part VIII





The President





-----------------------------------------------------------------------



Executive Order 13303--Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and
Certain Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest


                        Presidential Documents




___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 31931]]

                Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003


                Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and
                Certain Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest

                By the authority vested in me as President by the
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of
                America, including the International Emergency Economic
                Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)
                (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601
                et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations Participation
                Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section
                301 of title 3, United States Code,

                I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of
                America, find that the threat of attachment or other
                judicial process against the Development Fund for Iraq,
                Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests
                therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any financial
                instruments of any nature whatsoever arising from or
                related to the sale or marketing thereof, and interests
                therein, obstructs the orderly reconstruction of Iraq,
                the restoration and maintenance of peace and security
                in the country, and the development of political,
                administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq. This
                situation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary
                threat to the national security and foreign policy of
                the United States and I hereby declare a national
                emergency to deal with that threat.

                I hereby order:

                Section 1. Unless licensed or otherwise authorized
                pursuant to this order, any attachment, judgment,
                decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial
                process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and
                void, with respect to the following:

                    (a) the Development Fund for Iraq, and
                    (b) all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and
                interests therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any
                financial instruments of any nature whatsoever arising
                from or related to the sale or marketing thereof, and
                interests therein, in which any foreign country or a
                national thereof has any interest, that are in the
                United States, that hereafter come within the United
                States, or that are or hereafter come within the
                possession or control of United States persons.

                Sec. 2. (a) As of the effective date of this order,
                Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990, Executive
                Order 12724 of August 9, 1990, and Executive Order
                13290 of March 20, 2003, shall not apply to the
                property and interests in property described in section
                1 of this order.

                    (b) Nothing in this order is intended to affect the
                continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations,
                orders, licenses or other forms of administrative
                action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore
                or hereafter under Executive Orders 12722, 12724, or
                13290, or under the authority of IEEPA or the UNPA,
                except as hereafter terminated, modified, or suspended
                by the issuing Federal agency and except as provided in
                section 2(a) of this order.

                Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:

                    (a) The term ``person'' means an individual or
                entity;
                    (b) The term ``entity'' means a partnership,
                association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group,
                subgroup, or other organization;
                    (c) The term ``United States person'' means any
                United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity
                organized under the laws of the United

[[Page 31932]]

                States or any jurisdiction within the United States
                (including foreign branches), or any person in the
                United States;
                    (d) The term ``Iraqi petroleum and petroleum
                products'' means any petroleum, petroleum products, or
                natural gas originating in Iraq, including any Iraqi-
                origin oil inventories, wherever located; and
                    (e) The term ``Development Fund for Iraq'' means
                the fund established on or about May 22, 2003, on the
                books of the Central Bank of Iraq, by the Administrator
                of the Coalition Provisional Authority responsible for
                the temporary governance of Iraq and all accounts held
                for the fund or for the Central Bank of Iraq in the
                name of the fund.

                Sec. 4. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury, in
                consultation with the Secretary of State and the
                Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such
                actions, including the promulgation of rules and
                regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the
                President by IEEPA and the UNPA as may be necessary to
                carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of
                the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to
                other officers and agencies of the United States
                Government. All agencies of the United States
                Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate
                measures within their statutory authority to carry out
                the provisions of this order.

                    (b) Nothing contained in this order shall relieve a
                person from any requirement to obtain a license or
                other authorization in compliance with applicable laws
                and regulations.

                Sec. 5. This order is not intended to, and does not,
                create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or
                procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party
                against the United States, its departments, agencies,
                entities, officers, employees, or agents, or any other
                person.

                Sec. 6. This order shall be transmitted to the Congress
                and published in the Federal Register.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    May 22, 2003.

[FR Doc. 03-13412
Filed 5-23-03; 11:28 am]

Billing code 3195-01-P