30th November 1999
The World Economic Forum meeting in Singapore in the second week of October was notable for two things: the growing friction between the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; and the good results obtained in Malaysia as a result of Dr Mahathir's rejection of IMF restrictions.
The World Bank's senior vice-president, Joseph Stiglitz, hit the IMF hard. The Australian, (October 20, 1999) reported as follows:
"The divide between the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund widened yesterday after … Joseph Stiglitz urged East Asian leaders to shrug off "the Washington consensus" and praised Malaysia for doing so…..
Mr Stiglitz said the region had not been well served by outside advice it received during the crisis. The region's leaders had also not stood up strongly enough for their own interests.
"Many within the region know that the policies pursued entailed excessively contractionary macro-policy but their voices were not heard," he said …..
He pointed to Malaysia's unorthodox recovery strategy in the 12 months since it ditched IMF advice, pegged the ringgit, imposed capital controls and went for growth.
Malaysia "deliberately tried to keep interest rates low. It imposed certain kinds of capital controls and yet its recovery is among the fastest of the countries in the region," he said……
Mr Stiglitz said Malaysia's capital controls, strongly criticised by the IMF and much of the rest of the America-led Western policy establishment, had clearly worked to stabilise speculative money flows - as Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said they would …."
Dr Mahathir himself did not let the opportunity to savage the IMF slip. The Australian (22/10/99) described his speech thus:
"It was sardonic, eloquent, triumphal and bitter all at once ….. It was a silky savaging of the economic new world order and its cheerleaders in the Western media and academies and rollicking good fun if you didn't happen to be a paid-up member of the above ….
Dr Mahathir has something to crow about. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange is 145 points higher that a year ago Foreign currency reserves are 60 per cent higher. Foreign investment is rolling in - not in the form of takeovers, but in new ventures or minority partnerships. Malaysia's foreign debt is about $14 billion, compared to Australia's almost a quarter-of-a- trillion dollars!
It is a matter for reflection that, had Malaysia signed the Multilateral Agreement on Investments - as the Howard Government wanted to do until held up by a mass of protests - it would have been penalised by the WTO. Oh! For a Mahathir to replace Alexander Eiderdown and IMF sycophant Peter Costello in Australia!
ANWAR IBRAHIM TRIAL CONTINUES:
The trial of Dr Mahathir's former Deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, on charges of corruption and sodomy drags on in Kuala Lumpur. We are in no position to comment on the charges. But Anwar was definitely an IMF man, and stood in the way of Mahathir's pro-Malaysia policies.
An intriguing letter appeared in The New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur 3/11/99) about a body known as The Asia Pacific Policy Centre (APPC) under the patronage of Anwar Ibrahim:
" ….The APPC was established in 1993 and seeks closer ties between business and political leaders in the United States and their counterparts in Asia and the Pacific.
It aims to establish an engaged and creative US role in the region, encompassing commercial, economic, political and security issues
Since its establishment the APPC has held four Pacific Dialogues from 1994-1998, all of which were held in Malaysia.
A fifth was also to be held in Malaysia last December, but was called off following the sacking of former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The dialogues were the result of the importance and complexity of economic, regional security, political and cultural issues, which prompted debate regarding the role of the US in the region.
The APPC was under the patronage of Anwar and its staff members are (Douglas H.) Paal (President), David G. Brown (Senior Associate), Seth R. Sulkin, (Adjunct Fellow), James C. Clad (Adjunct Fellow), and James Kuhn (Programme Director).
Its trustees are Brent Scowcroft, (Former National Security Adviser to President George Bush and retired Lt. Gen. Of the US airforce), Robert Orr (former US Ambassador to Singapore and former Governor of Indiana), Frank Carlucci (former Secretary of Defence and former National Security Adviser to President Ronald Reagan), Paal (former Senior Director for Asian Affairs, National Security Council); and David McCurdy (former chairman, Democratic Leadership Council and former member, US Congress)…..
"…His position as patron would have put Anwar un touch with a lot of big political names within the US and this would have come in very handy if Anwar ever needed support, be it moral or financial, from the US …."
Which may explain why US vice-President Al Gore, at the last APEC meeting in Kuala Lumpur at the time of the Commonwealth Games, called for a revolution in Malaysia and the installation of Ibrahim as Prime Minister.
Frank Carlucci is a member of David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission. Several other staff members are also members of the Council on Foreign Relations.
(Jeremy Lee has just returned from a speaking engagement in Kuala Lumpur)
CHEQUES AND PLASTIC:
3.2 million cheques worth more than $12 billion are issued every 24 hours in Australia. The number of cheques has fallen by 17 per cent, according to the Australian Payments Clearing Council's annual report, just issued. The APCC's chief executive, Peter Smith, said that although there was no evidence, the decline was probably due to the increase in plastic cards and EFTPOS.
The decline was, however, countered by the situation at Bendigo Bank, whose customers increased the number of cheques by 25 per cent, while electronic transfers increased by 32 per cent.
If they're looking for an explanation for this trend, why not examine the continuing closure of bank branches? Bendigo's expansion into local community banking has at least preserved freedom of choice over methods of payment for its customers.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTRES FILLING UP:
The composition of the 352 illegal immigrants detained in Australia's north-west at the beginning of the month was significant: 299 from Iraq, 46 from Afghanistan, four Iranians, two Algerians and one Palestinian. This was the biggest number ever detained, and illustrates the breadth and sophistication of the 'people-smuggling' racket.
With the Port Headland Detention Centre full and overcrowded, a new detention centre is to be opened at the old Woomera rocket range. It's sheer madness. Any boats detected should immediately be towed back to their last port of departure, the illegals put ashore, and the boats then sunk. The bill should be deducted from the foreign aid Australia provides for Asian neighbors.
This article appeared in the Australian League of Rights magazine