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Re: Controlling our Global Financial Institutions
Alanna HARTZOK
Wednesday, 15 January 2003 23:52:25
(n.f. this is a late message coming from last month)
Rob,
Regarding the article you forwarded from Doug Everingham concerning the IMF demands for water privatization in Nicaragua, note that the IMF is only * forcing countries to privatize water * as a condition for their loans. We need to be getting clear on how we can promote sustainable development * without * the shark loans from the decidedly undemocratic IMF.
My colleagues in Nicaragua are working to shift public finance off of the people and onto the land and natural resources in order to promote what is so greatly needed there and throughout the world - land reform. This is a key to decentralizing economic power. I think a world parliament has to enable this kind of power shift - away from elite control of the land and resources of the planet and towards fair and equal rights to the earth.
When people have access to the source of wealth there is much less need to borrow. They can generate their own capitalization. Currently structured, IMF/WB loans usually finance large scale development projects which benefit the wealthy, while the people as a whole end up paying off the loans. The large scale projects are also the most environmentally destructive ones, whereas smaller scale projects are more people and earth friendly.
It seems to me that an essential task of a world parliament would be to assist in the restructuring of local to global public finance along these lines - (1) untax labor (2) collect and distribute resource rents. A world parliament would further both political and economic democracy.
WP21 Alliance Forum on a World Parliament for the 21st Century
E-mail : world-parl@forums.alliance21.org
Fax 1 717 264 5036
Information, inscriptions, désinscriptions: germa@alliance21.org
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