SolidarityEconomy.net

by Jerry Harris, SolidarityEconomy.net

. Media competition from al-Jazeera
Al-Jazeera will start broadcasting in English having concluded a string of 87 cable and satellite distribution deals. Al Jazeera has been actively recruiting Arab journalists laid-off by the BBC and says its aim is to provide global news from a developing world perspective without “western-centric” baggage. Beaming out of Qatar, the world’s richest nation in per capita terms.

. Foreign Banks in China
There have been a lot of foreign banks eager to enter China. But even with 70 foreign banks from 20 countries setting up 238 operating branches they still account for only 0.55 percent of China’s local-currency loans.
(FT, 11/16/06, p. 1. “China paves way for foreign banks to offer more services.” Mure Dickie and Sundeep Tucker.

. US vs. European style capitalism
Perhaps former French prime minister Edouard Dalladur said it best: “What is the market? It is the law of the jungle, the law of nature. And what is civilization? It is the struggle against nature.” Even after years of neo-liberal cuts Europe still maintains a much larger social economy than the US. Judging by gross pay both Europe and the US have about 17 percent of their populations under the poverty line. But government benefits reduce household poverty in Europe by 50%, while benefits in the US reduce only 25% of household poverty. This gives the US the highest poverty rate among rich countries. For example, when unemployment hits a married couple with two children and one breadwinner they can expect a reduction of 59% of their income in the US. The same couple in France would see a reduction of 30%. All this impacts people’s view of globalization. Those in countries with greater social wages tend to fear globalization less, and those suffering more tend to seek safety in protectionism.

. From the files
Looking back to November 2003 Morgan Stanley published a report on Turkey entitled “Another Reason to be Bullish” citing that since 2001 real wages dropped 25 percent, while productivity rose by 26 percent. This produced a drop in unit labor cost of 37 percent greatly enhancing Turkish competitiveness. Yet the same article three paragraphs on notes that; “Turkish businesses are struggling to survive a shrinkage of domestic sales… increasing pressure on their profit margins.” Adds Mehmet Sami, an investment firm executive, “This is one of the few occasions where corporations are not able to sell goods at home.” Typical of neo-liberal dogma, while celebrating low-wages they ignore the inability of workers to consume the products they produce. The collapsing internal market means a greater reliance on exports so typical of Low Road globalization.
(FT, 11/17/03. “Regional trade missions pay off,” Leyla Boulton)