The way forward
Dion Giles
especially interesting:
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"Second, the pain at the periphery, in Asia, Russia and elsewhere, has now
become so intense that individual countries have begun to opt out of the
global capitalist system. First Indonesia, then Russia, suffered a pretty
complete breakdown. What happened in Malaysia and in Hong Kong is in some
ways even more ominous. The collapse in Indonesia and Russia was
unintended, but Malaysia shut itself off from international capital
markets deliberately. Its action has brought temporary relief to the
Malaysian economy and allowed its rulers to maintain themselves in power
but, by reinforcing a general flight of capital from the periphery, it has
put additional pressure on those countries that are trying to keep their
markets open.
"If the capital flight makes Malaysia look good in comparison with its
neighbours, the policy may easily find imitators."
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This does not of course excuse the travesty of justice in the Anwar
"trial". Anwar is Washington's man in KL, but the only principled
response to his urgings is to debate him in public. Trouble is, in the
sorts of countries which have never held a dinkum election in their lives
honest debate is not an option that recommends itself to government.
But elsewhere the article states that in Japan, which does conduct honest
elections, the mood is swinging the same way with increrasing numbers
cottoning on to the novel idea that the loyalty of of governments is
supposed to be to their own people, not to foreign corporations.
As Soros fears, Malaysia may have started a rush to opt out. Shouldn't
other countries join the rush *before* the grabbers get a chance to
devastate their economies as they have devastated the economies of Asia?
At least it's worth a place on the political agenda.
Dion Giles
Fremantle, Western Australia
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