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wow...,
2004-03-24 12:50:26
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note to self...,
2004-03-29 11:13:58
"Agricultural policies all over the world can be the life or death of our farmers. Do they get a vote in your polities?":
gee, I wonder. Let's read today's news:
Parliamentary Secretary for Food and Agriculture Rajab Ali Baloch told the National Assembly on Thursday that the general sales tax on the agriculture inputs could not be withdrawn because of the IMF conditions which Pakistan was obliged to follow under the poverty reduction growth facility
The government in consultation with the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formulated programmes to deal with the structural problems. Several Structural Adjustment Loans (SAL) were obtained for specific sector policies and measures introduced to address the following: Stimulate increased agricultural production and diversification for export as well as food sufficiency
the Philippine government had generally taken the position of deepening and sustaining the trade liberalization program initiated by the IMF-World Bank group in the early 1980s under their 'structural adjustment program,' or SAP. ... Under the 'superliberalization' EO 334 issued in January 2001 by President Joseph Estrada, Philippine MFN tariffs are supposed to go down to a uniform 0 to 5 percent range by 2004 as envisioned by the neoliberal economic technocrats under the various administrations, from Marcos to the present. ... With virtually every Philippine agricultural crop -- from corn to vegetables -- now at low tariffs and being wiped out under a one-sided liberalization program, what will remain of Philippine agriculture five years from now? A vast agricultural wasteland?
How can we trust a Government that has made majority of our industries collapse and even those in operation operate below capacity. A government that has withdrawn the subsidy given to farmers in forms of agricultural imputs, fertilizer, e.t.c. Leaving the farmers at the mercy of black marketers, all in the name of pleasing their international friends- the world bank, IMF.
Etc. It doesn't have to be that way, but that's the way it is.
I don't know about theworldvotes.org, but it hardly seems like something to get self-righteous and huffy about when the USG is still funding favored parties in foreign elections on a regular basis through the NED. Maybe they shouldn't want to vote here: they should just be fundng our elections instead, call it a "promotion of democracy" or some such. Plant some military installations here and there to foster human engagement. Maybe invent some loony pyramid scheme to lock us into and call it "development aid". Works well enough for us.
:: posted by buermann @ 2004-03-26 13:15:36 CST |
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