Now We Know the Real Reasons For the Credit “Crisis”

Safe Haven
06.04.2008
Clif Droke

I’ve
purposely kept my comments concerning the credit crisis at a minimum
since it began dominating the daily news headline. My reasoning for
this is because I knew the crisis was overblown and overstated in the
press and that there had to be a very good reason for it. The only
problem is I didn’t know exactly what the reason was.

Time tells all, however, and I knew that sooner or later the truth must out!

One thing experience has taught is that every notable market crash,
panic, bear market or financial crisis is the result of careful
planning and forethought by the monetary authorities. With trillions of
dollars at stake, nothing happens without their tacit or explicit
approval and there is simply no such thing as a crisis that happens by
“coincidence.” For happenstance to be allowed to run its course in with
trillions in derivates out there would be certain death for the
financial system. As the economist Dr. Stuart Crane was fond of saying,
“Things [in the monetary world] don’t just happen to happen. They
happen because they were planned to happen.”

Another thing Dr. Crane used to say was that you can always tell the
underlying reason for any crisis by waiting to see what the results of
that crisis are. In the final analysis, the results, as he pointed out,
are in what the crisis fomenters expected to yield as the fruit of
their labors. And it’s no coincidence that in every case, a financial
crisis always yields the following results:

1.) Greater consolidation within the banking and financial industry
with the smaller players being merged into the bigger players, or else
swept away;
2.) Greater regulator powers for the monetary authorities.

There has never been an exception to this outcome in the history of… financial crises.

Well, lo and behold, the results of this latest financial crisis are
starting to become apparent. The following news article was published
over the weekend and it points very conclusively to one of the main
reasons for the late crisis. I quote the following article in part:

Treasury Dept. Seeks New U.S. Power to Keep Markets Stable

By Edmund L. Andrews

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department will propose on Monday that
Congress give the Federal Reserve broad authority to oversee financial
market stability, in effect allowing it to send SWAT teams into any
corner of the industry or any institution that might pose a risk to the
overall system.

The proposal is part of a sweeping blueprint to overhaul the
country’s hodge-podge of regulatory agencies, which many specialists
say failed to recognize rampant excesses in mortgage lending until
after they triggered what is now the worst financial calamity in
decades.

According to a summary provided by the administration, the plan
would consolidate what is now an alphabet soup of banking and
securities regulators into a trio of overseers responsible for
everything from banks and brokerage firms to hedge funds and private
equity firms.

While the plan could expose Wall Street investment banks and hedge
funds to greater scrutiny, it avoids a call for tighter regulation. The
plan would not rein in practices that have been implicated in the
housing and mortgage meltdown, like packaging risky subprime loans into
securities carrying AAA ratings.

The Fed would also be given some authority over Wall Street firms
but only when an investment bank’s practices posed a threat to the
financial system over all.”

I nearly fell over when I saw the following paragraph in this news article:

“Under the proposal, the S.E.C. would merge with the
Commodity Futures Trading Commssion, which regulates exchange-traded
futures for oil, grains, currencies and the like.”

The SEC merging with the CFTC??? So much could be said about this
but I’ll hold off on commenting until more details become available.

Consider the insights provided many years ago by Dr. Crane on how the Fed creates financial crises:

“In March 1929 there was a little meeting in New York.
After that meeting, Bernard Baruch sells out [of stocks], the
Rockefellers sell out, the Kennedys sell out, all of the big bankers
sell out. The big people were out [of the stock market] by August. Then
the Federal Reserve cut the money supply four times in a month. There
were four drastic reductions in the money supply.

“Then one day in October the banks called all of their loans on all
of their margins at the same minute. Every bank in the money desk – and
these were call loans, callable on demand. People had their stock on
margin, borrowing 90%. Now they went to the banks and the banks weren’t
lending, they were calling. They run to the market and everyone’s
trying to sell. The banks had shut the money off. The call desks were
closed. The money desk shut down….and all these people were running
around trying to sell because they had to sell 10% down and they were
wiped out. All of the people who weren’t on the inside were gone.”

Some things never change, it would seem.

Full article

Now We Know the Real Reasons For the Credit “Crisis”

Safe Haven
06.04.2008
Clif Droke

I’ve
purposely kept my comments concerning the credit crisis at a minimum
since it began dominating the daily news headline. My reasoning for
this is because I knew the crisis was overblown and overstated in the
press and that there had to be a very good reason for it. The only
problem is I didn’t know exactly what the reason was.

Time tells all, however, and I knew that sooner or later the truth must out!

One thing experience has taught is that every notable market crash,
panic, bear market or financial crisis is the result of careful
planning and forethought by the monetary authorities. With trillions of
dollars at stake, nothing happens without their tacit or explicit
approval and there is simply no such thing as a crisis that happens by
“coincidence.” For happenstance to be allowed to run its course in with
trillions in derivates out there would be certain death for the
financial system. As the economist Dr. Stuart Crane was fond of saying,
“Things [in the monetary world] don’t just happen to happen. They
happen because they were planned to happen.”

Another thing Dr. Crane used to say was that you can always tell the
underlying reason for any crisis by waiting to see what the results of
that crisis are. In the final analysis, the results, as he pointed out,
are in what the crisis fomenters expected to yield as the fruit of
their labors. And it’s no coincidence that in every case, a financial
crisis always yields the following results:

1.) Greater consolidation within the banking and financial industry
with the smaller players being merged into the bigger players, or else
swept away;
2.) Greater regulator powers for the monetary authorities.

There has never been an exception to this outcome in the history of… financial crises.

Well, lo and behold, the results of this latest financial crisis are
starting to become apparent. The following news article was published
over the weekend and it points very conclusively to one of the main
reasons for the late crisis. I quote the following article in part:

Treasury Dept. Seeks New U.S. Power to Keep Markets Stable

By Edmund L. Andrews

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department will propose on Monday that
Congress give the Federal Reserve broad authority to oversee financial
market stability, in effect allowing it to send SWAT teams into any
corner of the industry or any institution that might pose a risk to the
overall system.

The proposal is part of a sweeping blueprint to overhaul the
country’s hodge-podge of regulatory agencies, which many specialists
say failed to recognize rampant excesses in mortgage lending until
after they triggered what is now the worst financial calamity in
decades.

According to a summary provided by the administration, the plan
would consolidate what is now an alphabet soup of banking and
securities regulators into a trio of overseers responsible for
everything from banks and brokerage firms to hedge funds and private
equity firms.

While the plan could expose Wall Street investment banks and hedge
funds to greater scrutiny, it avoids a call for tighter regulation. The
plan would not rein in practices that have been implicated in the
housing and mortgage meltdown, like packaging risky subprime loans into
securities carrying AAA ratings.

The Fed would also be given some authority over Wall Street firms
but only when an investment bank’s practices posed a threat to the
financial system over all.”

I nearly fell over when I saw the following paragraph in this news article:

“Under the proposal, the S.E.C. would merge with the
Commodity Futures Trading Commssion, which regulates exchange-traded
futures for oil, grains, currencies and the like.”

The SEC merging with the CFTC??? So much could be said about this
but I’ll hold off on commenting until more details become available.

Consider the insights provided many years ago by Dr. Crane on how the Fed creates financial crises:

“In March 1929 there was a little meeting in New York.
After that meeting, Bernard Baruch sells out [of stocks], the
Rockefellers sell out, the Kennedys sell out, all of the big bankers
sell out. The big people were out [of the stock market] by August. Then
the Federal Reserve cut the money supply four times in a month. There
were four drastic reductions in the money supply.

“Then one day in October the banks called all of their loans on all
of their margins at the same minute. Every bank in the money desk – and
these were call loans, callable on demand. People had their stock on
margin, borrowing 90%. Now they went to the banks and the banks weren’t
lending, they were calling. They run to the market and everyone’s
trying to sell. The banks had shut the money off. The call desks were
closed. The money desk shut down….and all these people were running
around trying to sell because they had to sell 10% down and they were
wiped out. All of the people who weren’t on the inside were gone.”

Some things never change, it would seem.

Full article

Reshaping the International Order – Part 2 – Reshaping the International Financial Order *

Knowledge Driven Revolution
14.04.2008
Brent Jessop

“Among the instruments of implementation at the
international level, I attach the highest priority to the introduction
of international taxation and the establishment of an international
central bank.” – Mahbub ul Haq, Director of Policy Planning World Bank
(1970-1982) and RIO Member (p321)

The Club of Rome is a premiere think tank composed of approximately
100 members including leading scientists, philosophers, political
advisors, former politicians and many other influential bureaucrats and
technocrats. This series of articles describes the major conclusions of
the 1976 book Rio: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome
[1] coordinated by Nobel Laureate Jan Tinbergen. The RIO report
“addresses the following question: what new international order should
be recommended to the world’s statesmen and social groups so as to
meet, to the extent practically and realistically possible, the urgent
needs of today’s population and the probable needs of future
generations?”

Part 1
of this series gives an overview of the proposed new international
order described by the RIO report as “humanistic socialism”. This
includes: collective neighbourhood armies, a fully planned world
economy, global free trade, public international enterprises, proposed
changes in consumption patterns among other topics.

Below is a summary of some of the changes to the financial system proposed by The Club of Rome.

Creation of a World Reserve Currency

From RIO: Reshaping the International Order:

[Italicised text is original emphasis and bolded text is added by author.]

“Phasing out of national reserve currencies as well as
gold from reserve creation, confining increasingly the latter to SDR
[Special Drawing Rights] type assets created by joint decisions…” – 128

“The residual use of gold as a reserve stock for central banks should and will be phased out gradually.” – 199

“The creation of an international reserve currency by an
international authority, such as an International Central Bank, which
should be under international management
without being dominated by the interests of one particular group of nations;” – 184

“Fundamental reforms in the international monetary system so that
international liquidity is not created in such an unplanned fashion
that it generates alternate cycles of inflation, stagflation and
depression. If national reserve currencies are replaced by an international reserve currency,
to be created and managed by the international community in line with
the genuine needs for the growth of the international economic system
and with special regard to the pressing needs of the Third World, it
can considerably help in avoiding some of the present unplanned
fluctuations in economic activity.” – 183

Some tricks never seem to get old. Prevention of “alternate cycles
of inflation, stagflation and depression” is exactly the same hogwash
used to sell the Federal Reserve Act to the Americans in 1913. How well
did that work?

Creation of a World Treasury and Global Taxation

“It also follows that some groups must today devote
their efforts to the preparation of long range proposals in order to
ensure that they will be operative on time. This applies especially to
investigations into the feasibility of the more ambitious long range
proposals, such as the creation of a World Treasury.” – 125

“The gradual introduction of a system of international taxation
which should be handled by a World Treasury, both to meet the current
as well as the development needs of the poorer nations;” – 184

“The statutes of transnational enterprises should be under the
supervision of, and their profits taxed by, an inter- or supranational
authority.” – 160

“international commons… ocean-tolls and air-tolls should be considered…” – 165

“these observations would suggest that, in the long run, a World Treasury
could form an effective instrument for attaining some of the aims of an
international community. In that it would operate from a current budget
of expenditures, it would require a current budget of income. This
would be derived from two obvious sources: revenue from international taxes and from the world community’s ownership of productive resources.
Taxes and incomes, profits, the use of scarce resources and the
royalties received from concessions could figure among the most
important types of revenue.” – 131

“Ultimately, there is a need for the equivalent of a World Treasury,
the resources of which are derived from international taxation and
ownership of international productive resources (such as the resources
of the oceans).” – 133

Some Techniques of Implementation

One implementation technique requires the use of “pioneering”
countries to voluntarily submit to international taxation and their new
monetary order.

“A desirable form of international decision-making, however, is one in which a genuinely supranational authority
takes decisions on a qualified majority principle. A qualified majority
may comprise a system of weighted votes, be based on a simple majority,
or based on a system in which not only the total number of
representatives but also the representatives of some well defined
groups must together form a majority… (b) A decision-making body can be
initiated by several pioneering countries on a voluntary basis and then be gradually extended. Some of the means used could first be applied at low levels, for example, a tax on consumer durables, and be gradually raised
and extended to include more categories and eventually more countries.
(c) Membership of an international decision-making body should be open
to both public authorities and private organizations, whether
non-profit or profit-making, or a combination of these categories.” -
104

Another technique of implementation requires the use of
organizations like OPEC to collect international taxes on behalf of the
world community.

“The Financing of Development: A new framework for
international resource transfers form an essential part of the effort
to establish a new international order. It will take time to negotiate
such a framework and put its various elements in place, but at least
some of the principles on which this framework should be based can be
spelt out. (I) An element of automation must be built into
the resource transfer system. To be realistic, the world community is
still too early in its stage of evolution and recognition of its
interdependence to accept the concept of international taxation of the
rich nations for the benefit of the poor nations. But the concept need not be accepted in its entirety: it can be introduced gradually over time through a variety of devices:… (b) certain sources of international financing
can be developed – such as tax on non-renewable resources, tax on
international pollutants… (c) if the rich industrialized nations are
unwilling to tax themselves, others can collect and
distribute these tax proceeds on the basis of what the rich nations
consume – e.g. even a one-dollar per barrel ‘development levy’ by
OPEC…” – 216

One World Currency

“The Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States…
already lays down the fundamental principles which should govern
international economic relations. The transformation, over time, of the
Charter into the proposed framework treaty would greatly facilitate the
establishment of a new international order. If this is to be done, some
more specific provisions, omitted from the Charter, should be
considered for inclusion in the framework treaty. Such provisions could
include:…

(g) All States shall accept an international currency to be created by an international authority;” – 117

The Club of Rome is currently working on a project entitled Monetary Simplification Euro/Dollar: Towards a Global Currency headed by Ramon Tamames.

Conclusion

The next part
in this series addresses the redefinition of sovereignty from
“territorial sovereignty” to “functional sovereignty” as well as the
use of the concept of the “common heritage of mankind” to gain
international control of not just the oceans, atmosphere and outer
space but also all material and non-material resources. Part 4
discusses the generation of public opinion and the use of white coated
propagandists. The creation of a World Food Authority and its use for
population control is examined in part 5. The final article
in this series deals with a variety of issues including global
solidarity, regional unions, legal changes and a standing United
Nations Peace Force.

[1] Quotes from Jan Tinbergen, RIO: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome (1976). ISBN 0-525-04340-3

Reshaping the International Order – Part 2 – Reshaping the International Financial Order *

Knowledge Driven Revolution
14.04.2008
Brent Jessop

“Among the instruments of implementation at the
international level, I attach the highest priority to the introduction
of international taxation and the establishment of an international
central bank.” – Mahbub ul Haq, Director of Policy Planning World Bank
(1970-1982) and RIO Member (p321)

The Club of Rome is a premiere think tank composed of approximately
100 members including leading scientists, philosophers, political
advisors, former politicians and many other influential bureaucrats and
technocrats. This series of articles describes the major conclusions of
the 1976 book Rio: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome
[1] coordinated by Nobel Laureate Jan Tinbergen. The RIO report
“addresses the following question: what new international order should
be recommended to the world’s statesmen and social groups so as to
meet, to the extent practically and realistically possible, the urgent
needs of today’s population and the probable needs of future
generations?”

Part 1
of this series gives an overview of the proposed new international
order described by the RIO report as “humanistic socialism”. This
includes: collective neighbourhood armies, a fully planned world
economy, global free trade, public international enterprises, proposed
changes in consumption patterns among other topics.

Below is a summary of some of the changes to the financial system proposed by The Club of Rome.

Creation of a World Reserve Currency

From RIO: Reshaping the International Order:

[Italicised text is original emphasis and bolded text is added by author.]

“Phasing out of national reserve currencies as well as
gold from reserve creation, confining increasingly the latter to SDR
[Special Drawing Rights] type assets created by joint decisions…” – 128

“The residual use of gold as a reserve stock for central banks should and will be phased out gradually.” – 199

“The creation of an international reserve currency by an
international authority, such as an International Central Bank, which
should be under international management
without being dominated by the interests of one particular group of nations;” – 184

“Fundamental reforms in the international monetary system so that
international liquidity is not created in such an unplanned fashion
that it generates alternate cycles of inflation, stagflation and
depression. If national reserve currencies are replaced by an international reserve currency,
to be created and managed by the international community in line with
the genuine needs for the growth of the international economic system
and with special regard to the pressing needs of the Third World, it
can considerably help in avoiding some of the present unplanned
fluctuations in economic activity.” – 183

Some tricks never seem to get old. Prevention of “alternate cycles
of inflation, stagflation and depression” is exactly the same hogwash
used to sell the Federal Reserve Act to the Americans in 1913. How well
did that work?

Creation of a World Treasury and Global Taxation

“It also follows that some groups must today devote
their efforts to the preparation of long range proposals in order to
ensure that they will be operative on time. This applies especially to
investigations into the feasibility of the more ambitious long range
proposals, such as the creation of a World Treasury.” – 125

“The gradual introduction of a system of international taxation
which should be handled by a World Treasury, both to meet the current
as well as the development needs of the poorer nations;” – 184

“The statutes of transnational enterprises should be under the
supervision of, and their profits taxed by, an inter- or supranational
authority.” – 160

“international commons… ocean-tolls and air-tolls should be considered…” – 165

“these observations would suggest that, in the long run, a World Treasury
could form an effective instrument for attaining some of the aims of an
international community. In that it would operate from a current budget
of expenditures, it would require a current budget of income. This
would be derived from two obvious sources: revenue from international taxes and from the world community’s ownership of productive resources.
Taxes and incomes, profits, the use of scarce resources and the
royalties received from concessions could figure among the most
important types of revenue.” – 131

“Ultimately, there is a need for the equivalent of a World Treasury,
the resources of which are derived from international taxation and
ownership of international productive resources (such as the resources
of the oceans).” – 133

Some Techniques of Implementation

One implementation technique requires the use of “pioneering”
countries to voluntarily submit to international taxation and their new
monetary order.

“A desirable form of international decision-making, however, is one in which a genuinely supranational authority
takes decisions on a qualified majority principle. A qualified majority
may comprise a system of weighted votes, be based on a simple majority,
or based on a system in which not only the total number of
representatives but also the representatives of some well defined
groups must together form a majority… (b) A decision-making body can be
initiated by several pioneering countries on a voluntary basis and then be gradually extended. Some of the means used could first be applied at low levels, for example, a tax on consumer durables, and be gradually raised
and extended to include more categories and eventually more countries.
(c) Membership of an international decision-making body should be open
to both public authorities and private organizations, whether
non-profit or profit-making, or a combination of these categories.” -
104

Another technique of implementation requires the use of
organizations like OPEC to collect international taxes on behalf of the
world community.

“The Financing of Development: A new framework for
international resource transfers form an essential part of the effort
to establish a new international order. It will take time to negotiate
such a framework and put its various elements in place, but at least
some of the principles on which this framework should be based can be
spelt out. (I) An element of automation must be built into
the resource transfer system. To be realistic, the world community is
still too early in its stage of evolution and recognition of its
interdependence to accept the concept of international taxation of the
rich nations for the benefit of the poor nations. But the concept need not be accepted in its entirety: it can be introduced gradually over time through a variety of devices:… (b) certain sources of international financing
can be developed – such as tax on non-renewable resources, tax on
international pollutants… (c) if the rich industrialized nations are
unwilling to tax themselves, others can collect and
distribute these tax proceeds on the basis of what the rich nations
consume – e.g. even a one-dollar per barrel ‘development levy’ by
OPEC…” – 216

One World Currency

“The Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States…
already lays down the fundamental principles which should govern
international economic relations. The transformation, over time, of the
Charter into the proposed framework treaty would greatly facilitate the
establishment of a new international order. If this is to be done, some
more specific provisions, omitted from the Charter, should be
considered for inclusion in the framework treaty. Such provisions could
include:…

(g) All States shall accept an international currency to be created by an international authority;” – 117

The Club of Rome is currently working on a project entitled Monetary Simplification Euro/Dollar: Towards a Global Currency headed by Ramon Tamames.

Conclusion

The next part
in this series addresses the redefinition of sovereignty from
“territorial sovereignty” to “functional sovereignty” as well as the
use of the concept of the “common heritage of mankind” to gain
international control of not just the oceans, atmosphere and outer
space but also all material and non-material resources. Part 4
discusses the generation of public opinion and the use of white coated
propagandists. The creation of a World Food Authority and its use for
population control is examined in part 5. The final article
in this series deals with a variety of issues including global
solidarity, regional unions, legal changes and a standing United
Nations Peace Force.

[1] Quotes from Jan Tinbergen, RIO: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome (1976). ISBN 0-525-04340-3

Reshaping the International Order – Part 1 – What Does a World Governed by Humanistic Socialism Look Like? *

Knowledge Driven Revolution
07.04.2008
Brent Jessop

“The establishment of a New International Economic
Order entails fundamental changes in political, social, cultural and
other aspects of society, changes which would bring about a New
International Order.” – RIO: Reshaping the International Order, 1976 (p5)

The Club of Rome is a premiere think tank composed of approximately
100 members including leading scientists, philosophers, political
advisors, former politicians and many other influential bureaucrats and
technocrats. This series of articles describes the major conclusions of
the 1976 book Rio: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome
[1] coordinated by Nobel Laureate Jan Tinbergen. The RIO report
“addresses the following question: what new international order should
be recommended to the world’s statesmen and social groups so as to
meet, to the extent practically and realistically possible, the urgent
needs of today’s population and the probable needs of future
generations?”

From RIO: Reshaping the International Order:

[Italicised text is original emphasis and bolded text is added by author.]

“Many in the RIO group believe that this equitable social order could best be described as humanistic socialism…” – 63

So what exactly does a new social order based on “humanistic
socialism” look like? Below is the RIO group’s own description of what
the future should look like.

Collective Workers and Full Employment

“Society must also deliberately aim at creating employment
for all those seeking it and at ensuring that the distribution over
different types of jobs achieves a balance between the satisfaction
derived from the job and the satisfaction of the needs of society. The
latter necessitates that certain unpleasant (heavy, dirty, dangerous)
activities be performed. If these activities can be learnt relatively
easily, they could be performed by all citizens. Their efforts could be organized in the form of ‘land’ or ‘neighbourhood armies’ for work in rural areas, in the field of environmental care…” – 69

“A full employment policy should be adopted by all governments as part of their development plan.” – 145

“As a counterpart to these rights, a number of duties must be accepted, especially the duty to use one’s capacities in the interest of an adequate level of production…” – 63

“Public power should be used to ensure that education is geared to
meet the needs of individuals and the needs of society, that is, all
individuals. The supply of qualified types of labour should be
so planned as to equal, to the greatest extent possible, the demand for
them by society
(i.e. by the ‘organizers of production’).” – 69

A Planned World Economy

“Effective application of public power implies the need for middle and long-range planning
at different levels… The UN Economic and Social Council might be best
suited for undertaking such a task, perhaps assisted by the UN
Development Planning Committee.” – 70

“At the highest level, the level of world affairs, international institutions must form the prime movers of planned change.” – 100

“… the optimum utilization of human and physical resources in the world as a whole.” – 140

“One of the basic questions which today faces the international
community is whether it should accelerate the process of this evolution
and consciously put in place the various elements of a system for global planning and the management of resources

The achievement of this global planning and management system calls for the conscious transfer of power
- a gradual transfer to be sure – from the nation State to the world
organization. Only when this transfer takes place can the organization
become effective and purposeful.” – 184

Private Sector and Global Free Trade

“New forms of cooperation between private initiative and
public authorities will have to be characterized by a certain balance
of power…” – 280

“In the trade field, an International Trade and Development
Organization, formed by expanding the responsibilities of UNCTAD
[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development], should be set up
with a very broad mandate for overall coordination of policy issues
relating to international trade in primary commodities and manufactured
goods. Likewise, UNIDO’s [United Nations Industrial Development
Organization] responsibilities should be increased to enable it to
participate in the planning of a more equitable world industrial
order;…” – 184

“This [Third World development] implies that, if a new international
order is to be created, the rich nations must be prepared to give up
part of their future productive capacity. To be able to do this
smoothly they will need to resort to adjustment policies and such policies must form part of their development strategies… The creation of an optimal international division of labour,
and as such the selective development of economic activities in Third
World countries, calls for the substantial extension of such adjustment
policies…

It is no longer desirable that the industrialized countries adopt
policies of protecting their labour-intensive industries in the
manufacturing sector. Rather, they should seek, as must the Third
World, to develop those industries in which they have a comparative
advantage…

The process described, albeit with distortions, is already taking
place: some sectors of Western manufacturing industry are moving to
Third World countries. The movement of Western European garment
industries to North Africa is a case in point. As such, private
initiative will no doubt prove responsible for a large part of the
adjustment required. That adjustments are at present insufficient is
witnessed by the millions of workers who migrate from the Third World
to seek employment in the Western industrialized nations. To the extent
that the adjustments brought about by private initiative on the
strength of international market forces will be inadequate, and in view
of the fact that private enterprises may not be sufficiently creative
nor responsive to the needs of countries, adjustment must be stimulated
and guided by selective taxes and subsidies. Subsidies should be
offered to those industries with a clear potential for contributing to
a country’s or a regions’ development efforts. Such subsidies could aim
at supporting changes, where necessary, in the production mix of
enterprises…

To ensure the effectiveness of adjustment policies, there is a clear
need for coordination of policies both between the industrialized
countries and between public authorities and the private sector…” – 112

“The industrialized countries, on their part, will have to introduce policies of adjustment, develop specialization in knowledge-intensive products and gradually introduce and enforce environmental protection standards.” – 143

“In the long term, transnational enterprises will still form part of
the world structure, in either their present form of private
enterprises or in a renovated form comprising genuine international
ventures.” – 160

Public International Enterprises

“The possibility of genuine internationalization of some
transnational enterprises or transnational operations should be further
investigated. They could be owned, controlled and managed by an international development authority.
The pharmaceutical industry could be used as an initial test case for
analysis because of its international social implications.” – 281

“Active sharing of benefits [of the ocean], with particular regard
to the needs of the less developed countries, through a variety of
devices including international public enterprises, especially for fishing and offshore oil production; international tax on ocean uses, etc.” – 175

Consumption Patterns

“The rich nations… must develop new consumption styles
which are less wasteful, less resource – intensive and geared to the
consumption of social services rather than of superfluous consumer durables.” – 183

“Growth in equality would make it less difficult for people to
accept the principle of self-restraint in the satisfaction of material
needs, the ideological cornerstone of the future ’steady state’.
It would equally create the necessary social conditions for
self-control of family size and the consequent reduction in population
pressure; birth-control campaigns are likely to remain largely
ineffective (unless enforced by coercion, which is clearly
unacceptable) up to the time that peasants are freed
from material insecurity, that infant mortality rates go down, and that
the use of unpaid child labour is no longer necessary to make ends
meet.” – 162

“Ultimately, they must aim to construct their policies on a series
of ‘maxima’ which define an appropriate style of civilized living in a
world of deprivation and declare that all consumption beyond that fixed
maxima is not only waste but a conscious action against the welfare of
large numbers of poor and disprivileged, their own children, and the
prospects for a peaceful world.” – 76

Financial and Monetary Change

“(a) The gradual introduction of a system of international taxation which should be handled by a World Treasury, both to meet the current as well as the development needs of the poorer nations;

(b) The creation of an international reserve currency by an international authority, such as an International Central Bank,
which should be under international management without being dominated
by the interests of one particular group of nations;” -184

“The statutes of transnational enterprises should be under the
supervision of, and their profits taxed by, an inter- or supranational
authority.” – 160

More on the proposed changes to the financial system in part 2 of this series entitled: Reshaping the International Financial Order.

International Control of All Mineral Resources – The Common Heritage of Mankind Concept

“In the long term, and assuming progress towards the
creation of an equitable international economic and social order
leading to a pooling of material and non-material resources, mineral resources will need to be viewed as a common heritage of mankind.
This concept implies both a real world market for all mineral resources
and a system of world taxation to replace national mining taxation. The
revenues collected should be redistributed among Third World countries
- possibly through such an agency as IDA [International Development
Association - World Bank group]…

This tax could, for instance, be introduced as one of a moderate
rate and gradually be raised to something in the order of 70 per cent
of profits on fossil fuels and 50 per cent of the value of production
of ores (including uranium).

Such a tax would, like the present taxes on oil products, in fact be paid by the consumers…

Such a tax, at the rates proposed, would probably induce consumers
to restrict their consumption of mineral raw materials…” – 148

“It is now recognized that a more elaborate system of careful
husbandry and management of raw materials and scarce resources is
inevitable.” – 244

The redefinition of sovereignty from “territorial sovereignty” to
“functional sovereignty” as well as the establishment and expansion of
the concept of the “common heritage of mankind” is discussed in more
detail in part 3 of this series entitled: “Functional” Sovereignty and the Common Heritage of Mankind.

Reshaping Public Opinion

“Public opinion is no phenomenon sui generic. It is in part the result of government policies and by definition politicians cannot hide behind their own creation. If
some sectors of public opinion in the industrialized countries are
immersed in the rhetoric and slogans associated with misunderstanding,
then much of this may be inherited from their political leaders
.
And if these leaders are in part responsible for a situation which
impedes acceptance of the need for change, then they themselves must be
held responsible for changing this situation.” – 110

The reshaping of public opinion and the importance of the scientist
and experts is further described in part 4 of this series entitled: Reshaping Public Opinion and the White Coated Propagandists.

World Food Authority

“A number of measures have been proposed which should
bring greater planning and coordination in the field of domestic food
production and international supplies of food, including the
establishment of world grain reserves… In the last analysis, it may
require the setting up of a World Food Authority to supervise this vital area of human activity and survival” – 184

More on the establishment and functioning of the World Food Authority in part 5 of this series entitled: Population Control and the World Food Authority.

A Glimpse into the New Order

The final article
in this series will examine a wide range of topics including: regional
unions, world solidarity, foundations of the international legal
system, freedom and the establishment of an standing United Nations
military.

[1] Quotes from Jan Tinbergen, RIO: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome (1976). ISBN 0-525-04340-3