House of Paine

the STIG COLLECTION # I

  HERES  OUR MAN STIG  

ON THIRD RAIL 
 HOPES

and

market mad 
DANGERS


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 The century just ended 
was rough on simplistic ideologies
 both of left and right

< ROUGH ON  WHO?
THE" SIMPLETONS "
THAT ENDED THE CENTURY
HOLDIN' ALL THE SPOILS? >

 Socialism had its day in court
 and was found wanting
The Great Communist 
experiment  is  over


< NOTICE THE LOVELY TURN  HERE
IN THE GREAT SCIENTIFIC  TRADITION OF
"WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF EVIDENT" >

<  
BUT THEN ....

'CAUSE HE'S ALWAYS
 ALWAYS
JUST A NICE GUY 
CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

A NICE GUY 
WITH NOTHING BUT 
A WELL TENDED 
PERSONAL MORALITY
 TO PROTECT HIM 
 HE STRIKES TO HIS RIGHT AS WELL>

The ideology of the right
 as represented by 
the Washington Consensus 
of neo-liberal, market fundamentalism

< NOTICE NOT CAPITALISM 
ONLY A NEXTREME HIGH TAR AND NICOTEEN
UNFILTERED BRAND OFCAPITALISM
HE CALLS 
NEO LIBERAL MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM
NO CONFLATION HERE>

 wasn’t much more successful
 even if its failures often go unacknowledged

< WASN'T MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL?
  WHO WON THE KOLD WAR BUB ?

AND WHATS THIS STUFF
 MEAN 

" FAILURES OFTEN  GO  UNACKNOWLEDGED"

UNACKNOWLEDGED BY WHO 
THE BIG KAP MEDIA?>

 The last half-century 
has shown
 that while development is possible
 it is not inevitable

 < AMEN BROTHER 
 AND IT'S LUCKY FOR YOU 
THATS THE WAY IT IS 
OR YOU'D  A TAKEN
 A HANDSOME SIZE 
 PAY CUT BY NOW  >

 Countries most successful at it 
– those of East Asia – 
followed policies
 markedly different 
from the Washington Consensus

< WHY BECAUSE THEY WERE
 TOO SMART TO BE DUPES
OR TOO STRONG TO BE FORCED
GOD STIG RIGHT HERE YOU'RE 
A WHISKER AWAY FROM 
SEEING ALL THE WAY INTO 
IMPERIALISM'S INNER CHAMBER >

 Before the financial crisis of 1997
 East Asia experienced three decades
 not only of unprecedented growth
 but also of unprecedented reductions in poverty

 Out of these successes
 arose a new view

 a “Third Way” 

between socialism
 and 
market fundamentalism


 < A NEW VIEW?
 SHIT ITS BEEN  CALLED 
SOCIAL MARKETEERING IN EUROPE 
SINCE EISENHOWER SHOOK ZUKOVS DUKE 
WHICH CAN ONLY BE CALLED A THIRD WAY 
IF  YOU ADMIT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY THAT "WORKS"
ON EITHER SIDE  >

 Ironically, America,
 long a zealous advocate
 of market fundamentalism
 developed according to
 its own “Third Way.”

  

 US industry grew behind tariff walls

 From the first telegraph line
 between Washington and Baltimore
 constructed by the Federal government in 1842
 to the modern internet

 from agricultural extension services 
in the 19th century
 to military related research
 in the 20th 

<  UNCLE FUNDED 
 R AND D 
    IS A REAL
 BIG HOBBY HORSE FOR STIG > 

 new industries were promoted
 through a quiet
 market-oriented
 industrial policy

< JESUS THE RAILROAD RIPS WERE QUIET? >



 There is, of course, no single “Third Way”
 applicable to all countries and situations

 <  HERE COMES THIRD WAY WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS>

 but a multiplicity adapted to each country’s
 social, political, and economic circumstances


 Nonetheless, these “third ways” share much: 

< OKAY NOW WE GET SOME MEAT>


• They take a balanced approach to government and markets
 recognizing that both are important and complementary
 Alone, either can get into trouble

  < GOLDEN RULE AT  PLAY HERE
IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION
WE THE CORPORATIONS ...>

 Market failures 
are a fact of life
 but so are 
government failures

< NICELY EVEN HANDED STIG >


< SO WHAT THEN?
DO WE HAVE SOME UNSUPERVISED PLAY
 AND SOME SUPERVISED PLAY?>

< "  NOW REMEMBER
 YOU TOWER BOYS AGREED 
WE WE'EN'T    HAVING 
             ANY UNSUPERVISED ROUGH STUFF "
 IF YOU PERSIST WE'LL HAVE TO CALL IN
 A STATE OFFICIAL   ...>

 Neo-liberal ideologies assume
 perfect markets,
perfect information
 and a host of other things
 which even the best performing
 market economies cannot satisfy

  < AGAIN AMEN BROTHER>


 • While neo-liberals worry about 
excessive government
 weak government impedes growth
 because weak states
 cannot provide law and order
 cannot enforce contracts
 and cannot ensure 
a safe  sound banking system

< IN OTHER WORDS
ARE YOU SAYING
SOME THING LIKE:
 GROWTH IS directly RELATED 
TO THE potential economic reach and  
POWER OF THE STATE?>

 It was, after all, too little regulation 
– the capital and financial market liberalization
 foisted on East Asia by the IMF and US Treasury 
– that led to financial crisis in 1997

< WHAT ABOUT THE s&l scandal?
right here in river city>

 The question should not have been 
about how to deregulate quickly
 but about how to develop 
the right regulatory framework. 

< not if your an overseas pirate lookin for boodle>


• Recognizing these limits

< limits of what the power of 
            the people over corporate wildmen>

 public policy should work to improve
 both markets and government

  < stig you just said zero 
  what the fuck:
"  government should "...
shoulda woulda coulda 
  bleet bleet bleet 
what type of homilitic shit is this 
you sheep faced nicey you 
christ talk about shouldas
well  i shoulda
 worked  harder
 save more 
and 
done more  for others 
and 
ice cream tastes very good on a hot day  too >


 One exciting experience of my time
 in the Clinton White House
 was helping spearhead Vice-President Gore’s
 “Reinventing Government” initiative
 where techniques and policies
 were developed to enhance 
the efficiency, efficacy, and responsiveness
 of government agencies
 Today, in virtually all dimensions
 – from responsiveness to telephone inquiries 
to the costs of transactions –
 the US social security administration
 beats almost every private insurance company

  < now there is a story worth telling >


 • Equality matters
 – and should be an explicit policy goal
 Older theories taught trickle down economics
 that the best way
 to help the poor is
 “to grow the economy”

 Growth required inequality
 it was said
 because the rich would save more
 and do a better job of investing

  < do a better job then  who
 the multitude directly 
 or the multitude
thru their democratically controled state  ? >

 In fact the poor may not benefit from growth
 – or they may have to wait too long –


< why ? how?
just the poor 
could it be a nations majority that don't benefit 
are they hurt instead
are you saying
more foreign trade and foreign investment
is  just possibly or 
are you saying something stronger 
are you saying 
its most  likely
 to hurt 
a  nation's  majority

which is it stig
don't wait for the translation into greek equations
 answer from the gut 
the policy implications are hugely different
if its one way or the other 
iso say which it is  
if likely say its likely
why the pussy foot stig?>

 unless growth is accompanied by
 anti-poverty policies

< protect first  these poor souls
they are indeed  the least among you >

 Long-term growth 
in East Asia has demonstrated
 that egalitarian policies aid growth

< so equality varies directly with growth rates 
the more equality the more growth ?>


 Indonesia exposes 
the danger of ignoring these concerns
 IMF inspired policies in Indonesia
 led to a massive depression
 then to the elimination 
of food and fuel subsidies
 at the very moment
 when unemployment was soaring 
and 
real wages plummeting
 The riots that ensued were predictable
 – and predicted

< notice no sharp contrast 
here with red china
and stig knows the facts>

 Compassion apart
 it was bad economic policy
 Recovery from the resulting devastation
 capital flight, and erosion of confidence 
will take years

< aah yes but ain't the pickings now sweetly dollar cheap >


 Economics can never be separated
 from social and political concerns

< what?
can't be seperated  in the mind or in fact or at one's hassard  which ?>

 These “Third Way” precepts
 may seem elementary common sense

< no they seem like  sunday supplement mush >


 Common sense 
however
 is often absent in policymaking

< yes but not klass sense>

 While economic theory
 and 
the evidence underlying these precepts
 developed over the last quarter century

< this is a plug for his raft of scientific brake thrus>

 they remain disputed

< yes klass struggle will insure that stig >


 It may no longer be
 “politically correct” to ignore the poor
< here we go pretending his soft heart has a hard head on top of it >

 and
 few nowadays openly advocate
 trickle down economics
< here comes the deep nugget worth the trip!>

 But don’t be fooled! 
The same people who promoted
 the Washington Consensus
 now bring “The Washington Consensus Plus”

< he should add and call it macaroni >

 paying lip service to education
 especially of girls
< best barb of the piece>

 The same people
 who advocated “trickle down”
 now say
 “Growth is necessary and almost sufficient for poverty reduction.” 

< from is to almost is ..not much of a retreat>

Behind the new rhetoric
 lurk the same old 
neo-liberal policies 
of unthinking
 liberalization and privatization

< of course cause thats what makes em money >

 Liberalization and privatization
 done the right way
 as part of the Third Way
 can help the poor
< oh god "done the right way "
 thus is the pandoras box  opened >


 Done mechanically
 by ideology
< by profit max nit wit 
covered by free free free  holy water>

 they increase poverty and inequality
 and stymie growth

< ya but check out our winnings >

 Has privatization delivered growth
 in Russia
 for example?
  < right on  stiggy baby
                                   go for it > 

 A few oligarchs garnered billions
 but they did so by stripping assets
 rather than creating wealth

< aah yes easier to loot then make >

 Russia’s capital market liberalization 
led to vast capital flight

< no it was a cover for flight >

there was no net  inflow of investment

 While the state gave away 
the nation’s jewels
 it couldn’t pay pensioners 
their miserly allowances
< couldn't or simply didn't >


 As pushed by IMF
 “structural adjustment programs”
 liberalization was supposed to
 move workers from low to high productivity jobs
 In all too many countries
 however
 it moved them from low 
to zero productivity jobs
 – unemployment

  < ouch a try at a mortal  jest 
and 
what a sad little thing it is 
spare yourself the swilly shame stig 
no more 
 flashing your   teeth
teeth far far better for 
 grazing and grinding 
  then  ripping open the throats of would be  prey  >

 This is a recipe
 not for growth
 but for increasing poverty
  < good show old wool >

 How could it have been otherwise
 when IMF policies
 led to interest rates of 10%, 20% or higher
 – rates at which job creation
 would be stymied
 under the best of business environments
 let alone those prevailing in developing countries

<  big tent shylockery is
 often  the first rip and  always the last >
 

The problems of Britain’s rail privatization
 and California’s electricity deregulation 
have stripped bare
 the dangers of neo-liberal policies
 even in the best of circumstances


, so what does this tell you stig?>

 The time is ripe for a new Third Way consensus

 beyond the neo-liberal Washington pensée unique
  < pensee unique please stig don't try to dance here
let alone a  a minuet >

 a balanced view of markets and government

 a refusal to confuse means
 (like privatization and liberalization)
 with ends


 and a broader conception of those ends
  < like what ? >

 – not higher GDP
  < what  ! no gdp max  such heresy >

 not increased income for the few

    < the  bells are ringing for me and my stig>


 but the creation 
of democratic equitable and sustained growth.

 < john phillips sousa himself 
couldn't end things
 on a higher or louder or more empty note>
 
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