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41551 Reform of IMF (was the global melodrama) -- rank: 1000

Carrol Cox wrote: >Doug Henwood wrote: > >"This is all surreally hypothetical, but I'll play a little longer. " > >I think the really interesting question here is "What is the attraction >for so many (and not just liberal economists but those who call >themselves Marxists) of the "surreally hypothetical"? I'm not opposed to >hypothetical questions as such -- in fact it seems to me that certain >categories of hypothetical questions lie at the he ...

Document Size:	6380
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Aug 20 12:58:59 PDT 1998

41552 U.S. Bombing Afghanistan, Sudan -- rank: 1000

Max Sawicky wrote: >We're at war with Afghanistan and Sudan. >The U.S. is bombing what it says are >terrorist bases, as we speak. There's nothing like one of these moments to experience the U.S. media at is most appalling. Andrea Mitchell (Mrs Alan Greenspan) shares a little secret with us - her intelligence sources say that large quantities of poison gas precursors were in the bombed camps. Mitchell did at least say that the "terrorists" had Stinger missiles left over from wh ...

Document Size:	5453
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Aug 20 12:21:37 PDT 1998

41553 Reform of IMF (was the global melodrama) -- rank: 1000

Brad De Long wrote: >If the boards of the G-10 central banks all woke up tomorrow and decided >that this was the day they were going to impose a Tobin tax, they probably >could do it. But it's my judgment that the process of trying to assemble >the coalition would generate a few holdouts who would think that pulling a >lot of business away from New York would be very much worthwhile... This is all surreally hypothetical, but I'll play a little longer. So who holds out? The Luxembo ...

Document Size:	5391
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Aug 20 12:06:37 PDT 1998

41554 Reform of IMF (was the global melodrama) -- rank: 1000

Brad De Long wrote: >Treasuries and Central Banks fear that even talking about a Tobin tax is >instant death for their international finance industries--that all >transactions will move to Bermuda or the Caymans if they even start >discussions... > >Yet another example of the race to the bottom produced by divided >sovereignty and jurisdiction... They say that, but is it really true? If the G-10 central banks wanted to enforce a Tobin tax, couldn't they? An IMF report on the ...

Document Size:	5509
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Aug 20 10:10:14 PDT 1998

41555 Fictitious forms of capital? (fwd) -- rank: 1000

hoov wrote: >> And what is fictitious capital? >> best, rakesh > >apologies if above was answered, I don't recall seeing any responses... > >Marx's notion is derived from loaned-money capital...see chapter >XXV of Capital Vol. 3...Michael Hoover I can't believe Rakesh doesn't know the answer to this, so I'm wondering what he's really after. But fictitious capital is any capitalized future income stream (as opposed to "real" capital, which earns a profit throu ...

Document Size:	5274
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Aug 20 09:10:50 PDT 1998

41556 Wall Street rip-off -- rank: 1000

Les Schaffer wrote: >Was just browsing amazon.com and noted this piece of trash on the >front page: > >Guerrilla Investing : Winning Strategies for Beating the Wall >Street Professionals > >http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1563524678/1450-3462320-121104 > >Doug: please note design of front cover.... ahem..... Pretty egregious, no? I'm trying to get Verso to file a publicity-enhancing lawsuit! Doug

Document Size:	4961
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Aug 20 08:52:26 PDT 1998

41557 Temping -- rank: 1000

This temp thread makes me think that it's politically wrong to name temp and part-time work as problems in themselves, rather than focusing on insecurity, low pay, and lack of benefits in general. And since there seem to be more than a few temporary and part-time workers who are not entirely unhappy with their work situation, denouncing their kind of employment as a general could alienate lots of people. Life is no picnic for lots of "full-time" workers, either. The BLS's new displaced ...

Document Size:	5336
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Aug 20 08:13:42 PDT 1998

41558 scanners -- rank: 1000

michael at ecst.csuchico.edu wrote: >What sort of sanners do you recommend? I just got a Microtek V600 for a Macintosh, $140 with NYC tax. Comes with "limited" OCR software, which really is kind of limited, so I fell for the upgrade. It's pretty damn wonderful. Windows scanners are cheaper no doubt. Doug

Document Size:	4637
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Aug 19 16:11:19 PDT 1998

41559 Temping -- rank: 1000

James Baird wrote: >I just saw a movie, "Clockwatchers" this weekend, about the temp scene - >not a great movie, but some funny bits. It's interesting how differnet >sectors in the economy think different - I work as a "contractor" in >computer networking (I start at Schwab in downtown SF next week), which >means basically that I get paid an hourly rate, no benefits, etc. The >funny thing is, the places I work, the "perms" are jelous of the " ...

Document Size:	5440
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Aug 19 15:47:15 PDT 1998

41560 clean & sober living -- rank: 1000

alec ramsdell wrote: >Look out! I'm on a rant roll. > >I've been living at a clean & sober living house for the past 4 mos >(tight housing market in SF). The organization is called TLC. Ahw. > >This is how tender and loving they are: > >Rent is prohibitively expensive, only available to those within a >certain income bracket. The Pres came by to sit in on our house meeting >the other night. I missed the meeting, but at one point, addressing >other house- ...

Document Size:	6024
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Aug 19 15:32:14 PDT 1998

41561 Saudi Arabia goes anti-American -- rank: 1000

In his column in this week's New York Press, Alexander Cockburn quotes Robert Fiske in the August 9 issue of the Independent: <quote> The key to the identity and motives of the men who bombed the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on Friday lies deep within the nation that the Americans regard as their principal ally. In the Arab Gulf - Saudi Arabia," Fiske wrote. "The growing fury of thousands of Saudis-including, some say, members of the Royal Family - [is aimed] at A ...

Document Size:	8088
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Aug 19 07:17:16 PDT 1998

41562 the global melodrama -- rank: 1000

Brad De Long wrote: >The *slow* deflations were accompanied by strong real growth. The *fast* >deflations (1873-75 in the U.S., 1893-96 in the U.S.) were not very >pleasant... Not pleasant, but there was growth. According to Maddison's stats, which are all I have (and are in PPP dollars, but which seem to correlate highly with domestic stats when they overlap), U.S. growth in those years was: 1873 +4.8% 1874 -0.5% 1875 +5.1% 1893 -4.8% 1894 -2.9% 1895 +12.1% 1896 -2.0% Doug

Document Size:	4876
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 18 15:36:14 PDT 1998

41563 the global melodrama -- rank: 1000

Brad De Long wrote: >>>... So I'm wondering if the world's central bankers really *want* this >>deflation to run its course.< >> >>they did in 1930. >> > >Stan Fischer is a lot smarter than Montagu Norman... but Lauch Faircloth is >not. So if Stanley Fischer is so smart, why did the IMF respond to Asian deflation with austerity packages, and to Russian collapse with austerity packages? Why is Russia committed to running a budget surplus now? More broa ...

Document Size:	5188
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 18 08:57:08 PDT 1998

41564 California -- rank: 1000

alec ramsdell wrote: >However, as my friend noted out, what's up with the bio blurb: Mike >Davis was a truckdriver and meat-packer(?) and now teaches Urban Theory. >Surely he got some higher education in between. Why the academic >self-loathing :-)? There's no shame. And, relevant to a recent thread here, a member of the CPUSA for some time, I think. Doug

Document Size:	4670
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 18 08:34:24 PDT 1998

41565 the global melodrama -- rank: 1000

Mark Jones wrote: >Maybe they're just tired men running from capital to capital to put out fires, >sensing defeat and getting reconciled to the worst. If you really have such a >conspiracy theory, than as my friend Jim Hillier told me yesterday, remember >that the 1930s did not end until 1945. A price deflation will have quite >predictable consequences, won't it? We have a pretty small sample on which to base projections, don't we? The deflations of the late 19th century, which we ...

Document Size:	5057
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 18 08:15:55 PDT 1998