Oh, subsi-die-s
First world is killing the third

The fluctuation of coffee or cereal prices might destroy the economy of any third world country, but unfair agriculture support systems and subsidy mechanisms in the first world are not only making the first world agriculture unfairly profitable, but are also destroying the subsistence economy in developing countries. UNDP reports that in the developing world, more than 67% of people below the poverty line are from rural areas, and are mostly small farmers dependent on agriculture. Subsidies and support structures in the first world amounting to $350 billion a year come in the form of high import tariff and distorted pricing for boosting exports. Import tariff s at times rise to more than 100%, while even budget transfers have raised incomes making agriculture more profitable. The hypocrisy is more than apparent as similar attempts by developing countries is inevitably scoffed at. The beneficiaries of these large scale dole-outs are inevitably the large scale farmers and corporate agribusiness lobbies. Statistically, agricultural support as a value to protection was 56% for Japan, while it was 18% and 33% for US and EU respectively.

In EU, more than 75% of Common Agriculture Program support goes to the biggest 10% of subsidy recipients, while in the US, of the 40% of farmers that got any kind of subsidy, the richest 5% got a whopping 50%, amounting to $470,000 each. Compare that to the miniscule $1 billion that the developed world ‘lavishes’ on developing countries for ostensibly improving their agricultural structures. Researches suggest that annually, developing countries lose about $24 billion due to the protectionism in the first world. And for every penny that’s lost due to unfair agricultural practices, there is also a matching loss in purchasing power and investment in developing countries. For example, subsidised sugar from EU is reported to have reduced world prices by 33%, which resulted in direct foreign exchange and livelihood losses in many efficient sugar producers like Brazil, South Africa and Thailand, where more than 60 million people survive below $2 a day. This stupefying exhibition of double standards by western powers has been intriguing and dehumanising. Protectionism can’t be looked down in one form and supported in other.

Al-Money!
Economics of fumdamentalism

In the riverine landscape of Bangladesh, Islamic fundamentalism is steadily and diligently turning the society and politics of the country into a marshy quagmire. Unable to capture power through the democratic process, the “humanist face” of Islam is being morphed to make way for a new political & profit making Islam. Given the limited electoral base that leading Islamic parties like the Jamat-e-Islami and Islamic Oikya Jote enjoy (they won a pitiable number of 18 and 2 seats respectively in the 2001 election), their moves have surreptitiously shifted to the flourishing finances of terrorism and fundamentalism. The plaint government, which easily bends to their beats, has been more than accommodating to their calls. Given the important geo-strategic location that Bangladesh enjoys vis-à-vis its porous borders with India, as well as its proximity to South East Asian countries, these institutionalised frameworks can dangerously work towards making it an exporter of terrorism in the region.

Having an economics of their own, the fundamentalist operatives have created a state within a state and an economy within an economy. Ranging from micro to macro level, this ‘efficient enterprise’ has spread its tentacles beyond the mosques and madarssas, to innumerable establishments like financial institutions, local level NGOs, news media and country level trading enterprises. These fundamentalist outfits are estimated to rake in an annual profit of $200 million; and 10% of the same is estimated to be spent on training and salaries of about 500,000 cadres. The booming sector averages a growth of 9% now, as compared to a 5% growth registered in the national economy. In a country which has high inequality and 45% population living below the poverty line, this extreme version of religion falsely aims at uniting people, warning them about invisible enemies. Those enemies, in the case of Bangladesh, happen to be, one, their minority community, and two, the giant neighbour next door – India. The product of this economy is indeed lethal.

Neo-colonialism by the West
World Bank President is an American... And IMF’s? A European!

In a world that supposedly turned “democratic” after World War II, and more so after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the governing of the World Bank has been an exact anti-thesis. Supposed to aid economic equality in the global arena, in reality, their management has ensured that the Bank remains the West’s foreign policy arm. The Bank’s board (of Executive Directors), which takes all policy decisions, gets nominated by member countries. Here the votes are, mind it, not equal, but determined in proportion of the level of financial contributions by member countries. Ergo, US has about 17% of the vote, while the other 7 highly industrialised countries make up for 45% of the votes. These voting percentages are critical, as they have a tremendous impact on the economy of the third world, which practically has no say in the Bank. If an equitable world is ever to emerge, structural adjustments in the World Bank’s governance are imperative.

Puerile Israel
Bleeding the Palestinians through a thousand cuts...

In the ensuing battle zone of West Asia, the dilapidated economy and gradual emasculation of the Palestinian State by the strong arm tactics of Israel are least discussed and oft en ignored. Imposition of curfews and closures in the whole of West Bank and Gaza Strip has had the most crippling effects on the Palestinian economy. It is estimated that on each day of closure, the Palestinian economy loses about $8.45 million, totaling up to $336 million in the last year alone. This estimate does not include the loss to the physical infrastructure and human lives. Unemployment in Palestine is slated to increase from 23% in 2005 to 39% in 2006. Also, the UN estimates poverty will shoot up from 44% in 2005 to 67% in 2006. Even support funds from Israel (in the form of tax receipts), US, UN, EU and Russia were cutoff after Hamas emerged victorious in the 2006 elections. The Palestinian authorities are now facing a cash deficit totaling $1 billion a year, which has forced it to postpone all salary payments to its employees. The world has to lift this blockade; Palestine is no Iraq, and Hamas no Saddam Hussein...

Now, even them
China suffers income inequality

The ‘long march’ of the famed Chinese resurgence as the economic super power seems to have failed to bridge the big divide in China. The China Development Report, brought out by UNDP, contends that inequalities have sharpened over the economic reform period post- 1979. Intra-rural, intra-urban and rural urban inequalities have witnessed a rise in the 1990s. The most glaring disparity relates to the sharp increase of the ratio of urban-rural per capita income, which increased from 1.86 to 3.11 between 1985 and 2002. It can be contended that given the amenities currently provided to urban Chinese, like subsidies for housing, rent, medical care and education, even these figures are grossly underestimated, because, if these subsidies are removed, then the same ratio would climb by around 400%, making the inequality the highest in the world. A similar report commissioned by the OECD also contends that China faces an acute form of inter-regional disparity. Even the ratio of per capita income of eastern to central states has gone up from 1.42 in 1997 to 1.52 in 2003. The real challenge for planners is to spread the riches from coastal regions to the hinterland of China. The Chinese system stands to face grave danger if these concerns are not addressed at the earliest.