In public debate, the economic root causes for the impoverishment of North African countries and the resulting revolts are barely discussed.
We talked to Canadian economist Michel Chossudovsky, head of the Centre for Research on Globalization, Samir Amin of the Third World Forum and Mamdouh Habashi from the International Forum for Alternatives about the role of the International Monetary Fund, the demands of the protest movements and the influence of the U.S.
We also asked M. Chossudovsky about the possible motives behind the military intervention in Libya.
This is the first part of "The New Scramble for Africa". The complete broadcast is avalable at http://www.kontext-tv.de/node/79
Includes 3 chapters by Michel Chossudovsky!
Professor Joseph Stiglitz, former Chief Economist of the World Bank, and former Chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, goes public over the World Bank’s, “Four Step Strategy,” which is designed to enslave nations to the bankers. I summarise this below,
1.
Privatisation. This is actually where national leaders are offered 10% commissions to their secret Swiss bank accounts in exchange for them trimming a few billion dollars off the sale price of national assets. Bribery and corruption, pure and simple.
2.
Capital Market Liberalization. This is the repealing any laws that taxes money going over its borders. Stiglitz calls this the, “hot money,” cycle. Initially cash comes in from abroad to speculate in real estate and currency, then when the economy in that country starts to look promising, this outside wealth is pulled straight out again, causing the economy to collapse. The nation then requires International Monetary Fund (IMF) help and the IMF provides it under the pretext that they raise interest rates anywhere from 30% to 80%. This happened in Indonesia and Brazil, also in other Asian and Latin American nations. These higher interest rates consequently impoverish a country, demolishing property values, savaging industrial production and draining national treasuries.
3.
Market Based Pricing. This is where the prices of food, water and domestic gas are raised which predictably leads to social unrest in the respective nation, now more commonly referred to as, “IMF Riots.” These riots cause the flight of capital and government bankruptcies. This benefits the foreign corporations as the nations remaining assets can be purchased at rock bottom prices.
4.
Free Trade. This is where international corporations burst into Asia, Latin America and Africa, whilst at the same time Europe and America barricade their own markets against third world agriculture. They also impose extortionate tariffs which these countries have to pay for branded pharmaceuticals, causing soaring rates in death and disease.
There are a lot of losers in this system, but one winner - the Jewish owned and operated banking system. In fact the IMF and World Bank have made the sale of electricity, water, telephone and gas systems a condition of loans to every developing nation. This is estimated at 4 trillion dollars of publicly owned assets.