Quando a Justica Nao Tarda!

Director do IMF e candidato a Presidencia Francesa, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, detido sob acusacao de ataque sexual a uma empregada de hotel...
Faz lembrar esta outra estoria do antigo presidente do Banco Mundial, Paul Wolfowitz, que por causa dos seus 'sexual shenanigans' no local de trabalho se viu forcado a resignar ao posto...

Caso para se dizer: nas instituicoes de Bretton Woods o sexo comanda a vida!... Ou nao fossem elas dominadas ('dominantes') pelo p(h)oder e pelo dinheiro!...
So' que, felizmente para os "valores e principios" nesta era de aparente total desregramento, no mundo que eles habitam (ao contrario do que se passa aqui , ou do que se passou pass(ou)a aqui e aqui) a justica pode ate' falhar... mas nao tarda!

Director do IMF e candidato a Presidencia Francesa, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, detido sob acusacao de ataque sexual a uma empregada de hotel...
Faz lembrar esta outra estoria do antigo presidente do Banco Mundial, Paul Wolfowitz, que por causa dos seus 'sexual shenanigans' no local de trabalho se viu forcado a resignar ao posto...

Caso para se dizer: nas instituicoes de Bretton Woods o sexo comanda a vida!... Ou nao fossem elas dominadas ('dominantes') pelo p(h)oder e pelo dinheiro!...
So' que, felizmente para os "valores e principios" nesta era de aparente total desregramento, no mundo que eles habitam (ao contrario do que se passa aqui , ou do que se passou pass(ou)a aqui e aqui) a justica pode ate' falhar... mas nao tarda!

O FIM DA ECONOMIA DE CASINO COMO FIM DAS IDEOLOGIAS...

Ja’ aqui toquei ao de leve na forma como alguns veem a actual crise economica global como “o fim da economia de casino”. Tambem ja’ aqui tinha feito uma breve alusao ao “ideologos de todo o mundo uni-vos!” como um possivel slogan a ser adoptado na nova “era Obama” que ai vem...

Mas em nenhuma dessas ocasioes me passou pela cabeca algo como isto:
O governador do Banco Central do Zimbabwe (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe – RBZ), Gideon Gono, acaba de lancar um livro entitulado “A Economia de Casino do Zimbabwe: Medidas Extraordinarias para Desafios Extraordinarios”.

Segundo ele, “no meu humilde livro, nao lido tanto com a minha historia pessoal, mas tento principalmente lancar luz sobre as profundas questoes filosoficas que marcaram a orientacao e a conduta do RBZ sob a minha supervisao nos ultimos cinco anos. Assim que arregacei as mangas para comecar a trabalhar a 1 de Dezembro de 2003, fui confrontado pela crua realidade da nossa economia degenerando-se literalmente numa economia de casino, devido a ganancia individual e, em alguns casos, colectiva, indisciplina, corrupcao, fraude e uma geral falta de unidade de objectivos entre os stakeholders.”

Nao se poderia aplicar essa descricao a Wall Street dos ultimos anos? Veja-se, em particular, como a crise ali e' atribuida as facilidades de acesso ao credito habitacional concedidas, durante as administracoes Carter e Clinton, a comunidade negra na America e as analogias entre essa analise e a questao da redistribuicao da terra na base da crise no Zimbabwe... Nao poderia esse livro ter sido escrito por Alan Greenspan ou, talvez mais apropriadamente, por Ben Bernanke? Nao sera’ a possibilidade de pronunciar Gono, Greenspan e Bernanke (e, ja’ agora, Melo e Cockburn) numa mesma frase, o prenuncio do “fim das ideologias”?

Mas o fantastico desta historia nao termina ai. Diz Gono, recentemente reconduzido por Mugabe na governacao do RBZ, que George Bush e Condoleezza Rice lhe ofereceram um posto de chefia no Banco Mundial, tendo o board deste reunido tres vezes para o convencer a aceita-lo, mas... ele regeitou a oferta.

[Leia mais aqui]

Ja’ aqui toquei ao de leve na forma como alguns veem a actual crise economica global como “o fim da economia de casino”. Tambem ja’ aqui tinha feito uma breve alusao ao “ideologos de todo o mundo uni-vos!” como um possivel slogan a ser adoptado na nova “era Obama” que ai vem...

Mas em nenhuma dessas ocasioes me passou pela cabeca algo como isto:
O governador do Banco Central do Zimbabwe (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe – RBZ), Gideon Gono, acaba de lancar um livro entitulado “A Economia de Casino do Zimbabwe: Medidas Extraordinarias para Desafios Extraordinarios”.

Segundo ele, “no meu humilde livro, nao lido tanto com a minha historia pessoal, mas tento principalmente lancar luz sobre as profundas questoes filosoficas que marcaram a orientacao e a conduta do RBZ sob a minha supervisao nos ultimos cinco anos. Assim que arregacei as mangas para comecar a trabalhar a 1 de Dezembro de 2003, fui confrontado pela crua realidade da nossa economia degenerando-se literalmente numa economia de casino, devido a ganancia individual e, em alguns casos, colectiva, indisciplina, corrupcao, fraude e uma geral falta de unidade de objectivos entre os stakeholders.”

Nao se poderia aplicar essa descricao a Wall Street dos ultimos anos? Veja-se, em particular, como a crise ali e' atribuida as facilidades de acesso ao credito habitacional concedidas, durante as administracoes Carter e Clinton, a comunidade negra na America e as analogias entre essa analise e a questao da redistribuicao da terra na base da crise no Zimbabwe... Nao poderia esse livro ter sido escrito por Alan Greenspan ou, talvez mais apropriadamente, por Ben Bernanke? Nao sera’ a possibilidade de pronunciar Gono, Greenspan e Bernanke (e, ja’ agora, Melo e Cockburn) numa mesma frase, o prenuncio do “fim das ideologias”?

Mas o fantastico desta historia nao termina ai. Diz Gono, recentemente reconduzido por Mugabe na governacao do RBZ, que George Bush e Condoleezza Rice lhe ofereceram um posto de chefia no Banco Mundial, tendo o board deste reunido tres vezes para o convencer a aceita-lo, mas... ele regeitou a oferta.

[Leia mais aqui]

AFRICA: ENCOURAGING PROSPECTS

The World Bank has just released its 2007 Africa Development Indicators (ADI) Report, which appears to be the most encouraging for the continent’s prospects over the last decade. The report is based on more than a thousand indicators covering economic, human and private-sector development, governance, environment, and aid. According to the Bank, “many African economies appear to be growing at the fast and steady rates needed to put a dent in the region’s high poverty rate and attract global investment.”
“Over the past decade, Africa has recorded an average growth rate of 5.4 percent which is at par with the rest of the world,” said Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region. “The ability to support, sustain, and in fact diversify the sources of these growth indicators would be critical not only to Africa’s capacity to meet the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals on poverty, health and other issues], but also to becoming an exciting investment destination for global capital."
While ADI 2007 reported significant long-term gains for Sub-Saharan economies, it warned that the region remains volatile – a condition that has dampened investment. A revenue bonanza linked to skyrocketing oil prices has helped Africa’s seven biggest oil economies, which are home to 27.7 percent of the continent’s population. Rising prices of precious metals and other commodities have also benefited many other resource-rich African countries. But a group of 18 resource-poor countries – home to 35.6 percent of Africa’s population – have done as well as some oil-rich countries, if not better, sustaining growth of more than 4 percent over the last decade. Only politically turbulent Zimbabwe among Africa’s 17 slowest-growing economies posted negative growth.
The slowest-growing economies – home to 36.7 percent of the region’s population – are getting more fundamentals right, ADI 2007 found. These include better macro-economic management, greater investments in human resource development, and improvements in institutions and in the performance of the public sector. Past pessimism about Africa’s ability to grow and compete with the rest of the world “does not arise from the failures of Africa enterprise and workers. Rather, it arises from the fact that the continent faces an infrastructure gap and a level of indirect costs that are anywhere from two to three times as high as those in competing economies in Asia”, said the Bank’s Chief Economist John Page.
The indirect costs of exporting from Africa (18 to 35 percnt of total costs) are exorbitant compared to exporting from China (8 percent of total costs). Despite these obstacles, African exports expanded by over 11 percentage points on average between 2003 and 2006, according to ADI 2007. Finding an appropriate balance between investments in human capital and investments in physical capital will help sustain steady progress towards the MDGs and closing Africa’s infrastructure needs, the report said. The infrastructure gap is estimated at $22 billion a year or 5 percent of the region’s GDP. Besides infrastructure, accelerating and sustaining growth requires improving Africa’s investment climate, spurring innovation, and building institutional capacity to govern well, the report states.

[Find more details HERE]

The World Bank has just released its 2007 Africa Development Indicators (ADI) Report, which appears to be the most encouraging for the continent’s prospects over the last decade. The report is based on more than a thousand indicators covering economic, human and private-sector development, governance, environment, and aid. According to the Bank, “many African economies appear to be growing at the fast and steady rates needed to put a dent in the region’s high poverty rate and attract global investment.”
“Over the past decade, Africa has recorded an average growth rate of 5.4 percent which is at par with the rest of the world,” said Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region. “The ability to support, sustain, and in fact diversify the sources of these growth indicators would be critical not only to Africa’s capacity to meet the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals on poverty, health and other issues], but also to becoming an exciting investment destination for global capital."
While ADI 2007 reported significant long-term gains for Sub-Saharan economies, it warned that the region remains volatile – a condition that has dampened investment. A revenue bonanza linked to skyrocketing oil prices has helped Africa’s seven biggest oil economies, which are home to 27.7 percent of the continent’s population. Rising prices of precious metals and other commodities have also benefited many other resource-rich African countries. But a group of 18 resource-poor countries – home to 35.6 percent of Africa’s population – have done as well as some oil-rich countries, if not better, sustaining growth of more than 4 percent over the last decade. Only politically turbulent Zimbabwe among Africa’s 17 slowest-growing economies posted negative growth.
The slowest-growing economies – home to 36.7 percent of the region’s population – are getting more fundamentals right, ADI 2007 found. These include better macro-economic management, greater investments in human resource development, and improvements in institutions and in the performance of the public sector. Past pessimism about Africa’s ability to grow and compete with the rest of the world “does not arise from the failures of Africa enterprise and workers. Rather, it arises from the fact that the continent faces an infrastructure gap and a level of indirect costs that are anywhere from two to three times as high as those in competing economies in Asia”, said the Bank’s Chief Economist John Page.
The indirect costs of exporting from Africa (18 to 35 percnt of total costs) are exorbitant compared to exporting from China (8 percent of total costs). Despite these obstacles, African exports expanded by over 11 percentage points on average between 2003 and 2006, according to ADI 2007. Finding an appropriate balance between investments in human capital and investments in physical capital will help sustain steady progress towards the MDGs and closing Africa’s infrastructure needs, the report said. The infrastructure gap is estimated at $22 billion a year or 5 percent of the region’s GDP. Besides infrastructure, accelerating and sustaining growth requires improving Africa’s investment climate, spurring innovation, and building institutional capacity to govern well, the report states.

[Find more details HERE]

WOLFOWITZ GOING... GONE!

The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, is to resign the post by the end of June, it just emerged, over the scandal surrounding a pay rise and promotion of Shaha Riza, an officer of the Bank who happens to be also his girlfriend.

I just think that this is a fair outcome for an issue that invokes all over the command: "practice what you preach"! There are, however, other views according to which this was a manufactured event, specially on the part of Europeans opposed to the war in Iraq, of which he was one of the main architects, meant to tarnish the White House, where Wolfowitz counted until now with the stern support of George Bush.

Some of the same views argue that the same treatment should have been dispensed to Kofi Anan over his son's involvement in the "Oil for Food" scandal... Yet other commentators utter that it's unjust that the image of Riza is being drawn through the mud like this, when she is "a very honest woman who campaigns for women's rights in North Africa and the Middle East and a substantial professional" who was working in the World Bank long before Wolfowitz assumed the post.

What do you think?

(Read more about this issue here - in Portuguese)

The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, is to resign the post by the end of June, it just emerged, over the scandal surrounding a pay rise and promotion of Shaha Riza, an officer of the Bank who happens to be also his girlfriend.

I just think that this is a fair outcome for an issue that invokes all over the command: "practice what you preach"! There are, however, other views according to which this was a manufactured event, specially on the part of Europeans opposed to the war in Iraq, of which he was one of the main architects, meant to tarnish the White House, where Wolfowitz counted until now with the stern support of George Bush.

Some of the same views argue that the same treatment should have been dispensed to Kofi Anan over his son's involvement in the "Oil for Food" scandal... Yet other commentators utter that it's unjust that the image of Riza is being drawn through the mud like this, when she is "a very honest woman who campaigns for women's rights in North Africa and the Middle East and a substantial professional" who was working in the World Bank long before Wolfowitz assumed the post.

What do you think?

(Read more about this issue here - in Portuguese)