subing, Economist, Time

[Henry C.K. Liu]

The Economist is somewhat more intellectual Time, which is not saying very
much.  The real different is that the Economist takes the European view which
advocates globally coordinated monetary policies to combat economic crises
through reflation.  The Europeans are only about 6 months ahead of
Greenspan/Rubin/Summers who are generally 18 months behind events. G/R/S,
though intellectually honest, are prisoners of their free market ideology and
must wait for solid data before yielding any policy postures.  Solid datas are
generally available 6 months after events and it takes another 6 months for
intellectual arguments and another 6 months to make sure that the data were not
just temporary flutes.  By the G/R/S are always solving dated problems, kicking
dead horses around, delaying pre-emptive measures.
The current position of G/R/S is that while free market globalization is not
perfect, all other alternatives are worse, paraphrasing Churchill on democracy.

The Europeans are not buying becasue they are beginning to see themselves as
being next in line as victims.
Much valuable time has been wasted since July, 1997.  Severe structural damage
has already been done to the global economic system by the G/R/S dictated IMF
conditionalities.
So in that sense G/R/S are correct about there is no alternative (TINA) that
would be superior, at least for Americans.
The time to kick start economies by easing individual monetary policies have
long past and at any rate would not work without US support.
The damage has been so severe that by now reflation is just deflation by a
different means.  In other words, either asset deflation or currency
devluation, with no real aggregate benefit to the economy.  But it has crucial
difference to domestic politics in each nation as to who will have to pay more,
subject to varying policitcal philosophy on government intervention and
responsibility.  That has been the Japanese dilemma
The only people who still hold enough power and resources to save the world
economy from a total collaspe are G/R/S, and they won't budge until the DJIA
falls to 6000, or even then.
The only hope is the global labor to unite and reserve the international
division of labor of the past 2 decades that has caused all this problem.
Just been watching George Will's interview of John Sweeny who states that
labor's 2000 campaign strategy is to encourage the rank and file to vote labor
issue candidates regardless of party affiliation.  That is good news.
It is the working people of the world against the investment bankers of the
world.

Henry

pms wrote:


> >Most economists believe that a repeat of the 1930s is unlikely, if only
> >because people ought to have learned from their mistakes. Yet central
> >banks failed to foresee either the 1930s depression or the great inflation
> >of the 1970s. A big concern for the world economy may now be that central
> >bankers, having successfully scotched that inflation, will prove too slow
> >to come to grips with the prospect of deflation.
> >
> >
> This is what I like about The Economist, and BW.  They will tell it like it
> is, instead of ideological posturing all the time, because in that famous
> long run, it's good for Capitalism.
>
> It is the absence of anything like the above in the Time article about
> Allie, Bobby, and Larry, that makes them anything but heroes.
>
> ATTEMPTED HUMOR ALERT.
>
> I was just playing, about the subscriber thing.  Tass is the Tasmanian
> Devil.  Dougdaddy's judgements are most excellent.