‘Words and more words’ and 'meetings and more meetings', with little hope that we are keen and able to change the direction of our economic lives. This is what I get from reading the initial reporting of the recent G20 gathering. The fundamental commitment of these “in-the-box” mainly male leaders is the myopic vision of ensuring growth at all cost, kick-starting the stalled economic engine, getting it to pick up speed, hoping that with some tinkering it will perhaps change directions. Under the spell of economic and political magicians, we the plebiscite seem to be duped into believing that things have been corrected (it may be that we want it that way) but the reality may be that we are all chained to a system that will return us to the kind of economics that got us into this place in the first instance. We have perfected the art of blowing bubbles to the extent that that it has become first nature. To rephrase Decartes: "There are bubbles, therefore we are".
Urvashi Butalia writing in the New Internationalist [December 2008, p.25-29] makes a case for a number of changes in the light of the capitalist agenda and scandalous demise of the Banking and Financial institutions. The article entitled “Clean Start: Creating a Fair Economy” suggests the following and will not be what the G20 saviours may want to hear:
“Exit free trade; enter free Trade”; “Out with Western domination and ‘the gloabalization consenus’; in with a multipolar world and greater social equality”; Slash military budgets; increase social and environmental spending”;“Learn from the global South about how to create and finance housing”;“Bring an end to speculation; nationalize public services; subsidize agriculture; mobilize civil society”;“Introduce a New Green Deal to kick-start the economy; create employment and tackle climate change”; “Push for international taxation; direct the lending of nationalized banks; a massive public spending plan”;“Deglobalise; strengthen regional South-South relations; put Greenspan et al on trial;“Don’t cut aid, focus on people.”
Professor Muhammad Yunus (2006 Nobel Peace prizewinner in his Romanes lecture 2009 (Oxford) also calls for a re-examination. He notes the following flaws about the banking system: "It's converting the marketplace into a gambling casino. It's no longer business; it's outright gambling, excessive greed, irresponsible capitalism." He suggests that the question is not whether people are credit-worthy but whether "banks are people worthy".
While the foregoing will be a huge pill for the G20 gatekeepers to swallow there are insights here that point towards an opportunity for transforming our economic lives – to kick the habit of bubble blowing. Instead, what we see and sense is the nationalisation of bad assets – not the rethinking of the way we do banking (centrally or locally). Where is the change and rethinking in terms of how our Central Banks operate? Transparency is still talked about: how about opening all the books of banks online with independent groups monitoring? And what about cutting costs in the area of military spending? It is not insignificant that one of the areas that showed growth during this period has been and is the arms industry! It would be interesting to see who has profited the most during this period.
From a perspective faith and theology, there is no economic blueprint to be offered however hard and long we search scriptures, except for guidelines and values (different insights into organising our lives) that put people first in any rethinking of our economic system and policies. These guidelines underscore that the economic life of a society and world will still benefit from moral and spiritual anchors.
© copyright Jagessar March 15, 2009
