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It is difficult to remain calm in the face of such egregious behavior...and
I may fail to be so.

The World Bank and the IMF have struck again. They have created another
situation in which the miserably poor will have living costs raised to
impossible levels, for which the two nefarious institutions will LEND them
money to alleviate their suffering. Then, the same people will be required
to repay the loans. When will this madness end??

Quotes from "New leader aims to break Romania of Authoritarianism", Colin
Woodard, SF Chronicle, 2-24-97, p A10

"...The 'shock therapy' package, announced last week, will reduce state
subsidies, deregulate food and energy prices, close unprofitable state-owned
enterprises and privatize 3,600 other state companies by year's end.
Economists predict that energy and food prices will jump three to four times
relative to salaries - a frightening prospect for ordinary families already
pushed to the edge. Immediately after the package's announcement, gasoline
and diesel prices, which had already doubled in early January, rose again by
some 50 percent, the price of rail tickets by 80 percent, telecommunications
by 100 percent and electricity by up to 500 percent....The International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank - the behind the scenes architects of the
plan - have agreed to loan $400 million to compensate those most affected by
the measures. But, with millions of families already reduced to a diet of
cabbage and potatoes this winter, the possibility of social disorder looms
large....."

This country borders on the former Yugoslavia. What is the agenda here?? It
is hard to believe that it is simply stupidity.

An obviously better plan is so self-evident: introduce change slowly and
make the monetary assistance grants.

I wish I had some answers that would explain this next disaster.

My apologies for losing my detachment.




Mike P. McKeever

Assistant Professor, Economics and Business
Acting Director, Graduate School of Business Administration
Armstrong University, Berkeley, CA

(Any opinions expressed herein do not represent the views of the University.)

Founder: The McKEEVER INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC POLICY ANALYSIS (MIEPA)
         2719 Acton, Berkeley, CA 94702  USA
         Telephone 510-486-0275
         email: [log in to unmask]
         URL: http://www.mkeever.com/ (Note: there is no 'c' in mkeever. This is a
free site)

Author/Publisher: "CONCEPTUAL ECONOMICS" Copyright 1996; to receive a copy
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to:[log in to unmask]

Thought for the day: "Relax....it's easier than you think." John. B.
Dunford, Ph. D.


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