IMF: US tool

Sam Pawlett epawlett at uniserve.com
Thu Jan 7 00:35:49 PST 1999


Dornbusch was the one who went gung-ho in his defense of Salinas and the model in Mexico. He really had to eat his words on that one. I believe he is married to Eliana Cardoso who wrote not a bad macro intro to LatAm( though she critizises Allende for trying to redistribute income.) She was married to F.H. Cardoso, dependancy theorist and now president of Brazil. From _Triumph of the Market_ by Ed Herman: " MIT economist Rudiger Dornbusch even sets up Mexico as a model for other countries to emulate, for its "recognizing the need to make peace with the world capital market," its "accountability of officials, continuity, competance and courage," which "goes far beyond rooting out corruption," "jail sentences for tax fraud becoming part of the culture," and "an incomes policy package used to make the transition to moderate inflation." Does it take "courage" to accomodate to the world capital market and enlist U.S. and IFI support and protection, or would this be the mark of an opportunistic politician? Not a word from Dornbusch about Salinas's populist promises of 1988, election rigging, human rights abuses, or the trend of income distribution under the courageous leader. The "mask of democracy" satisfies Dornbusch. His remarks on the accountability of officials and new tax integrity are completely off the wall. He advances crude and dishonest apologetics for a profoundly undemocratic system." p57.

Sam Pawlett



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