Economist Pimps
There are three kinds of economists:
The first are those who deserve respect. They are just a few; Adam Smith is one of them.
The second type - the clowns - are grossly incompetent but don't know it.
The third class are the pimps. They are the ones selling their soul.
This article is about the pimps who have helped to create the "Washington consensus", the "new world order", and the neoliberal way of creating corporate supra-national power. The neoliberal world programs have been an economic disaster wherever they have been followed.
To be continued ....
Economists like to say: "Trust me, I am an economist". There are two reactions to this: If he is a clown, laugh. If he is a pimp, run.
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During a stopover in Singapore in early 2006 I decided to stop doing this blog. Here is why:
The Singaporeans were preparing for a week-long “international conference” of the Worldbank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Both those outfits are extensions of the US Treasury. And all three of them are located in Washington D.C. where they deal with each other on a daily basis, because they are essentially one and the same (American) organisation. Why would they have to go to Singapore for an “international conference" rather than talking to each other in Washington ? You guessed it – they wanted to go on a junket.
The “Strait Times” wrote proudly of the millions of Dollars about to be injected into the local economy by “the 10,000 economists and their 6,000 partners” descending on the city state. Hotels were booked out, restaurants stocked up on gourmet food and champaign, brothels hired additional prostitutes to cope with the expected demand. One of the items on the conference agenda was “Coping with Hunger in the Developing World”.
This has happened to me many times before: Reality overtaking my most gruesome and most cynical observations. This one however was the last straw. Why bother writing a blog when life is so much more ...lets say.... graphic.
So I stopped this blog. In hindsight I am wondering why anyone bothers to do a blog anyway.
Can you tell me ?
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PS: Even economists can contribute something – like - improving the World , even if only ceteris paribus.
The first are those who deserve respect. They are just a few; Adam Smith is one of them.
The second type - the clowns - are grossly incompetent but don't know it.
The third class are the pimps. They are the ones selling their soul.
This article is about the pimps who have helped to create the "Washington consensus", the "new world order", and the neoliberal way of creating corporate supra-national power. The neoliberal world programs have been an economic disaster wherever they have been followed.
To be continued ....
Economists like to say: "Trust me, I am an economist". There are two reactions to this: If he is a clown, laugh. If he is a pimp, run.
----------------------------------
During a stopover in Singapore in early 2006 I decided to stop doing this blog. Here is why:
The Singaporeans were preparing for a week-long “international conference” of the Worldbank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Both those outfits are extensions of the US Treasury. And all three of them are located in Washington D.C. where they deal with each other on a daily basis, because they are essentially one and the same (American) organisation. Why would they have to go to Singapore for an “international conference" rather than talking to each other in Washington ? You guessed it – they wanted to go on a junket.
The “Strait Times” wrote proudly of the millions of Dollars about to be injected into the local economy by “the 10,000 economists and their 6,000 partners” descending on the city state. Hotels were booked out, restaurants stocked up on gourmet food and champaign, brothels hired additional prostitutes to cope with the expected demand. One of the items on the conference agenda was “Coping with Hunger in the Developing World”.
This has happened to me many times before: Reality overtaking my most gruesome and most cynical observations. This one however was the last straw. Why bother writing a blog when life is so much more ...lets say.... graphic.
So I stopped this blog. In hindsight I am wondering why anyone bothers to do a blog anyway.
Can you tell me ?
-------------------------------------
PS: Even economists can contribute something – like - improving the World , even if only ceteris paribus.
Labels: economists
posted by Rolf Brandt | 20:24
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