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Posted on 6-1-2003
Trickle
Drown
By Alan Marston
Reeling from economic downturn and consequent political danger
US President
Bush could propose as much as $US600 billion in tax cuts, new
spending
measures and other money creation. High on the list for artificial
resusitation by dollars are US state governments wrestling with
huge budget
shortfalls.
In all probability the money creation will go ahead in substance,
the only
real debate will be about who gets it and how much. That's far
from an
academic question of course, always is, however the bigger picture
of the
affects of creating an additional 0.6 trillion US dollars and
pumping it
into the `global economy' will be lost in the scramble.
So what is the bigger picture? First a weakening of the value
of the $US
and all the consequent effects on investment return, global
distribution of
economic power and political flow-on thereafter. Second the
relative power
of the monetary rich and the rest and hence the stability of
business as
usual political-economy - in short, class-war tension goes up
along with
that of all the other wars on the horizon. Third, Tensions between
the USA
and other economic zones will be escalated in proportion to
the me-first
economic policies that raise the hypocracy levels of the IMF,
World Bank,
WTO lectures on fiscal prudence to an unsustainable height -
in short,
creating money in gobs while insisting nobody else should do
it.
Forewarned is forearmed. The $US and any economy that rests
on it may well
be saved by printing money, but unless you're a member of the
billionairs
club that does not spell personal salvation, it spells increased
prices,
increased unemployment, decreased wages, decreased spending
power,
increased insecurity.
Like most wars, the economic war demands massive monetary injections,
and
like most wars, a few profit while most count themselves lucky
to get out
with their lives, let alone their livelihoods. Supporting war
isn't an
intelligent thing to do, supporting an economic system that
stands or falls
on war is even dumber.
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