[asia-apec 582] Re: intl sign-on against the IMF expansion

[George Aditjondro]

Robert;

Pls put my name and position on this letter. Meanwhile, what about my check
and also about MM running my Habibie story, or not? I'm still waiting for
your answer.  Thanks,


George J. Aditjondro
Lecturer in Sociology of Corruption
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia

>Below is a letter being circulated by Walden Bello and a variety of
>individuals and organizations urging the U.S. Congress to deny funds for
>IMF expansion. We are seeking signatures for the letter from groups and
>individuals both outside of and inside the United States. Please send
>endorsement information to Robert Naiman of the Preamble Center
><naimanr at preamble.org>.
>
>Robert Weissman
>Essential Information			|   Internet:	rob at essential.org
>
>---------
>
>To: Members of the United States Congress
>
>Re: Why we Oppose the IMF Quota Increase
>
>The undersigned organizations and individuals from around the world are
>opposed to any increase in the size, power, or funding of the International
>Monetary Fund [IMF], and in particular are opposed to any increase in the
>quota of member countries. The disastrous impact of IMF-imposed policies on
>workers rights, environmental protection, and economic growth and
>development; the crushing debt repayment burden of poor countries as a
>result of IMF policies; and the continuing secrecy of IMF operations
>provide ample justification for denying increased funding to the IMF.
>
>Economic Growth and Development: The IMFs overwhelming preference for high
>interest rates and fiscal austerity, even in the absence of any economic
>justification, has caused unnecessary recessions, reduced growth, hindered
>economic development, and increased poverty throughout the world. There is
>now a consensus among economists that the IMFs recent intervention in the
>Asian financial crisis actually worsened its impact. Many believe that the
>Fund bears the primary responsibility for turning the financial crisis into
>a major regional depression, with tens of millions of people being thrown
>into poverty and no end in sight.
>
>Labor: IMF policies undermine the livelihood of working families. IMF
>policies have mandated mass layoffs and changes in labor law to facilitate
>or encourage mass layoffs, as happened recently in South Korea. IMF
>policies regularly force countries to lower wages, or  often undermine
>efforts by governments to raise wages-- as, for example, in Haiti in recent
>years.
>
>Environment: IMF policies encourage and frequently require the lowering of
>environmental standards and the reckless exploitation of natural resources
>in debtor countries. The export of natural resources to earn hard currency
>to pay foreign debts under IMF mandates damages the environment while
>providing no benefit to poor and working people in debtor countries.
>
>Debt: IMF and World Bank policies have forced poor countries to make
>foreign debt service a higher priority than basic human needs. The World
>Bank claims that it is "sustainable" for countries like Mozambique to pay a
>quarter of their export earnings on debt service. Yet after World War II,
>Germany was not required to pay more than 3.5% of its export earnings on
>debt service. Poor countries today need a ceiling on debt service similar
>to the one Germany had. According to UN statistics, if Mozambique were
>allowed to spend half of the money on health care and education which it is
>now spending on debt service, it would save the lives of 100,000 children
>per year.
>
>Openness of IMF operations: IMF policies which affect the lives of a
>billion people are negotiated in secret, with key conditions not released
>to the public. The people who bear the burden of these policies often do
>not even have access to the agreements which have been negotiated.
>
>The policies of the IMF have undermined the ability of developing countries
>to provide for the needs of their own peoples. Such an institution should
>not be expanded.
>
>Thank you for your consideration of our concerns.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Initiators:
>
>Walden Bello, Co-director, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok; Professor of
>	Sociology and Public Administration, University of the Philippines
>Carlos Heredia, Congressman, Mexico
>Dennis Brutus, Jubilee 2000 Africa
>Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of
>	Technology
>
>Organizations-International
>
>Third World Network, Africa Regional Secretariat
>Public Interest Research Group, India
>Center for Orang Asli Concerns, Malaysia
>DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era) Secretariat, Fiji
>Asociacisn Ecologista Costarricense-Friends of the Earth, Costa Rica
>Coordination gegen BAYER-Gefahren (Coalition Against BAYER-Dangers),
>	Duesseldorf, Germany
>Both ENDS, Amsterdam,The Netherlands
>Rettet den Regenwald e. V., (Rainforest Rescue) Hamburg, Germany
>Indigenous Peoples4 Biodiversity Network, Cusco, Peru
>
>Organizations -US
>
>Friends of the Earth
>50 Years Is Enough Network
>Institute for Food and Development Policy -- Food First
>FoodFirst Information and Action Network -- USA
>Development Group for Alternative Policies
>International Labor Rights Fund
>Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
>Interhemispheric Resource Center
>Resource Center of The Americas
>Overseas Development Network
>Campaign for Labor Rights
>California Fair Trade Campaign
>Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition
>United Church of Christ Network for Environmental and Economic
>
>	Responsibility
>Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community - (UUJEC),
>	Pittsburgh, PA
>Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, IN
>Alliance for Justice Network, Medical Mission Sisters, USA
>Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America
>Campaign for Food Safety (formerly the Pure Food Campaign)
>Pesticide Action Network North America
>Arizona Toxics Information, Bisbee, Arizona
>Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, Pittsboro, NC
>Native Forest Council
>National Forest Trust
>Essential Action
>WorldWise
>Preamble Center for Public Policy
>International Society for Gandhian Studies
>Alternatives In Action!, Atlanta, Georgia
>Rainforest Relief, Brooklyn, New York
>Federal Land Action Group, New York, New York
>
>Individuals-International
>
>Patrick Bond, Senior Lecturer in Economic Policy, University of the
>	Witwatersrand Graduate 	School of Public and Development
>	Management, Johannesburg, South Africa
>Francisco Martmnez, Instituto De Promocion Para El Desarrollo Rural, A.C.,
>	(Institute for the Promotion of Rural Development) Mixico
>Herbert Mujica Rojas, journalist, Peru
>Dr. Maxwell Mwase, School of Veterinary Medicine, Lusaka, Zambia
>Susi Newborn, Vice Chair, Greenpeace New Zealand
>Paul Phillips, Professor of Economics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,
>	Manitoba, Canada
>Marie-Josee Massicotte, York University, Toronto, Canada
>Ute Sprenger, Publicist/Consultant,  Berlin, Germany
>Peter R Wills, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, University of
>	Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
>Anita Idel , Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kritische Tiermedizin, Barsbek, Germany
>Stephen Morey, Department of Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne,
>	Australia
>Mike Zmolek, Dept. of Political Science, York University, Toronto
>Gregory Schwartz, Dept. of Political Science, York University, Toronto,
>	Canada
>Floyd Rudmin, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Tromso, Norway
>
>Individuals-US
>
>Romesh Diwan, Professor of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
>	Troy, NY
>Michael Perelman, Professor of Economics, California State University,
>
>	Chico, California
>David Ranney, Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, University of
>	Illinois, Chicago
>Dr. Kimberly Grimes, Director, Made By Hand International Cooperative;
>
>	Anthropologist, University of Delaware
>David V. Carruthers, Department of Political Science, San Diego State
>	University
>Ellen R. Shaffer, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins
>	University