text:
Africa and the World
By Lawrence Freeman
Africa Development
Assault on Africa
International Criminal Court-ICC
Regime Change
China's Belt-Road & BRICS
Lake Chad-Transaqua
US & Africa
HomeAnalysis
Cambridge University Press, 2018. Hardback, Softback 330 pages, and Kindle
Creativity Is the True Source of Economic Wealth
Lawrence Freeman
(I promised Patrick Kabanda over a year ago I would write a review of his book, "The Creative Wealth of Nations: Can the Arts Advance Development?" and I always keep my word.)
With his book, Patrick Kabanda makes a significant contribution to examining the subject of economics with a new and refreshing approach. Rather than being stuck in a maze measuring monetary values, he looks beyond the financial structure of prices and export-import figures, to the relationship of the human mind to economics. While I do not agree with everything in this book, its principal value to me is that it elevates the discussion of the importance of creativity in economics. The title of Mr. Kabanda's book caught my eye, because it provocatively alters the title of Adam Smith's well known, wicked book, "The Wealth of Nations." Contrary to what is commonly accepted by the majority of my fellow citizens, and what is taught in our institutions of learning, the United States was not founded on the tenets of Adam Smith. In fact, no economy ever was, or ever could be successful by following Smith's canons. President George Washington and his brilliant Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, rejected Smith's doctrines, as did every follower of the American System of Political Economy, including many American Presidents and foreign leaders. (Read Alexander Hamilton's Credit System Is Necessary for Africa's Development)
While it is useful that Kabanda calls attention to the function of culture (art, music, drama) in contributing to economic progress, he errs in properly pinpointing the relationship. It is not culture per se that contributes to economic progress, but rather only a culture that fosters and nourishes human creativity. More precisely, it is those compositions of art, music, and drama, which stimulate creative thinking, an aptitude uniquely bequeathed to the human species, that we should revere. It is this potential for creative thought that makes us truly human, which society's culture should cherish and nourish.
Creativity in Economics
Machinists set up and operate a variety of computer-controlled and mechanically-controlled machine tools to produce precision metal parts, instruments, and tools.
Before proceeding with my review, it is necessary to discuss the genuine role of creativity in the science of economics. Improving the conditions of life for an expanding population is not based on money. To understand real economic growth, it is important to comprehend that it is physical (not monetary) inputs injected into an economy that yield improvements in the productive powers of society, which causes an increase in aggregate of wealth. It should be evident that the augmented capacity of a nation to ensure a prosperous future for those living and their posterity is not the result of the silly creeds of Adam Smith's "invisible hand."
Putting aside cult like beliefs in monetarism, let us focus on crucial aspect of physical economy. In the broadest yet most accurate terms, economics is humankind's relationship to the physical universe. Humans act creatively to transform nature lawfully for the perpetuation of our noble species. Natural resources are not the ultimate source of value. It is true that human labor adds value to resources in the production process. Thoughtful economists recognize that the productivity of farmers and workers depends on the quality and quantity of infrastructure available to society. However, the crucial concept for our purpose here is the following. Discovery and utilization of resources, productivity of human labor power, and the level of infrastructure for any given economy, are all delimited by the level of existing scientific and technological culture accessible by the population. Improved productivity emanates from the invention of new designs for machines that enable work to be performed more efficiently. The application of advanced technologies is derived from discoveries of new scientific principles by the noetic process of the human mind.
Let us examine energy from a higher conceptual standpoint. On the simplest level, oil has existed for millions of years. However, it only became a valuable resource to humans when a technology was invented to utilize oil for energy, which became the dominant fuel to power the twentieth century. The attainment of electricity was made possible by a human scientific discovery of electromagnetism. It was the scientist, William Gilbert, whose publication of the "de Magnete" in 1600 that began the process of understanding the correlation of electromagnetism and earth's magnetic field.
All energy is not equal. Energy is measured by energy-flux density, that is the ability of that energy source to achieve higher concentrations of heat available to perform work. With that criteria in mind, we can assert with scientific certainty that nuclear fission is the most powerful form of energy we have today. Africa would be well served, if there were hundreds of 1,000 megawatt or modulars of two to four 200 megawatt nuclear power plants dotting its landscape. To achieve nuclear fusion, whose energy flux-density would far exceed fission, requires additional scientific breakthroughs to fuse hydrogen isotopes at temperatures hotter than the Sun. In tragic comparison, large parts of Africa still rely on burning wood and biomass. Not only is this practice primitive, environmentally unsound, but it utilizes energy at the lowest flux density.
Nuclear fission, which has the greatest energy flux density, making it the most powerful energy source, until nuclear fusion energy is developed.
All machines and integrated infrastructure platforms incorporate in their design, principles of scientific knowledge of the universe relative to that historical period. The greater the density of machine-infrastructure capital in an economy engenders a more productive and educated labor force. The effects of manufacturing, and railroads on the productivity, and level of knowledge in society are brilliantly discussed by Alexander Hamilton in his "Report on Manufacturers" (1791), and Friedrich List in his "The National System of Political Economy" (1841). Both authors, who identify humankind's mental powers as a source of economic wealth, should be studied by every competent economists and statesman.
Without going beyond the scope of this article, the history of civilization's progress can be measured by the increase of total energy throughput and energy flux-density, which is made possible by technologies that encompass new scientific principles. It is the profound ability of the human mind to continuously discover higher principles embedded in the physical universe, which lifts humankind from one plateau of economic activity to the next superior one. Civilizational progress emanates from the human mind, not nature per se. Even from the few paragraphs above, it is discernible that the source of economic wealth is the metaphysical, non-material creative imagination, not some corporeal "thing" that you can see, smell or touch. These apparently intangible ideas that spring from the brow of our "mind-soul" have greater force than bodily-physical objects. This conception has profound epistemological implications in economic theory. More can be said about physical economics and how societies develop, but that will have to wait for another time.
Culture and Imagination
Returning to our review, Mr. Kabanda's book highlights the role of the contribution of culture and creativity to economic development, and contains many useful insights. In his opening chapter entitled, "Overture," he discusses "the arts ability to emancipate and foster human imagination." (p. 3) In chapter two, "Arts in Education," he writes: "…since the arts embody creativity and innovation, they have a major role to play in fostering knowledge for development." (p. 44) Quoting Theodore Schultz, "advances in knowledge are a decisive factor in economic progress. The increases in the quality of both physical and human capital originate primarily out of the advances in knowledge." (p. 48) Kabanda quotes cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who advocates changing the curriculum of science, technology engineering and math-STEM to STEAM by adding the arts. (p. 53) Renaissance-man, Leonardo De Vinci is also mentioned for his search "to know what we don't know" originally espoused by Socrates 2,000 years earlier. (p. 26)
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma said he's often asked how he keeps his repertoire fresh, even after playing a piece hundreds of times. "I play as if it were the last time I will play that piece," he said. Photo by Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography.
He includes the creative hypotheses by the towering scientist-astronomer, Johannes Kepler, who unknown to the majority of our society, hypothesized that the ordering of the solar system was derived from musical harmonies. (p. 53) Kepler's great astronomical discovery of gravity and the spacing of the orbits of the planets is presented in his book, "The Harmony of the World" (1619).
In the book's final chapter "Imagination and Choice," Kabanda underscores an essential conception to understanding economic progress.
"Now when the people began to search for the wisdom behind progress, in the end it was not whether development came first and then the arts followed. Or some sort of miraculous statistical formula. Much of it was imagination in thought and deed. Imagination was the future, and the future was imagination. It was [and is] the cradle of civilization…this finale is a call to imagine the future we need." (p. 221 emphasis added)
Kabanda points to the personality of Albert Einstein to demonstrate the unity of science and imagination. Einstein was known to resort to taking up his violin to kindle his imagination to explore scientific hypothesis. He quotes Einstein: "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." (p. 223).
All great art and scientific discoveries first emerge in the creative imagination. A true leader, a statesman, also relies on his or her creative-imagination. When he or she implements policies in the present they ought to be derived from a vision of what the future should look like seen through the mind's eye.
Axiomatic Flaws
Despite many useful and challenging ideas presented in "The Creative Wealth of Nations" there are flaws in sections of Kabanda's thesis. However, to be fair, these shortcomings are unfortunately endemic to our corroded culture.
Not all cultures i.e. music and art are good for society. Applying the criteria, which we developed above, we should rightly ask; does a particular culture nurture the creative powers of the mind? For example, the rock-drug counterculture ushered into the West in the 1960s was destructive, and its damaging effects still linger in today's baby-boomer generation. Music is not good because it is music, or art because it is art. Todays' music is in large part debasing and degrading to the human mind. Profits made from the music industry do not add value to the economy if their music assaults our soul-mind and undermines our creative capacity.
On a deeper level, Kabanda errs in Chapter 3, "The Arts and Environmental Stewardship," when he writes: "The arts have long had a sense of stewardship towards protecting the environment and mitigating climatic change." (p. 72) Contrary to present day popular culture, mankind's relationship to the physical universe is much more than being a steward or custodian. Human beings lawfully transform the physical environment. Consider the injunction given to mankind in Genesis 27: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
Humankind is not meant to be a just a caretaker, but has dominion and the power to subdue. The universe is organized to respond to willful human cognition, transforming the biosphere into the nooespshere, according to Russian scientist, Vladimir Vernadsky. Humankind with the unique power of creative mentation, was not put on this planet to act as a glorified groundskeeper. When we exercise our creative potential, we humans are the most powerful living force in the universe.
Scientist Albert Einstein with his violin
Accepting the axioms of Adams Smith's notions about economy and society leads us down the wrong path. Kabanda alludes to Smith's "Theory of Moral Sentiments" favorably as he does with his "Wealth of Nations" (p. 49) It is in the "Theory of Moral Sentiments" that Smith presents his most hedonistic description of human nature, reducing humankind to being governed by animalistic instincts, rather than human creativity. Quoting Smith:
"The administration of the great system of the universe … the care of the universal happiness of rational and sensible beings, is the business of God and not of man. To man is allotted a much humbler department, but one much more suitable to the weakness of his powers, and to the narrowness of his comprehension, they are of his own happiness, of that of his family, his friends, his country…. Nature has directed us to the greater part of these by original and immediate instincts. Hunger, thirst, the passion which unites the sexes, the love of pleasure, and the dread of pain, prompt us to apply those means for their own sakes, and without any considerations of their tendency to those beneficent ends which the great Director of nature intended to produce by them."
Smith's economic assumptions flow from his degraded, amoral conception of human beings as mere creatures of pleasure and pain. For that reason alone, we know his dogma could never be a successful prescription for how an economy develops. At its core, Smith's doctrine is antithetical to the lawful relationship between humankind and the physical universe.
Let the Discussion Begin
Kabanda deserves a great deal of praise and credit for focusing our attention on the relationship of culture, and creativity to economics. His endeavor is far more relevant to our economic well-being than the trillions of dollars gambled on the gyrations of the stock market. For civilizations to continue to exist, society's culture must unceasingly produce creative individuals. If we want a more prosperous and stable world for our children and their children, then we need citizens from all nations to engage in a robust debate of the role of culture in our society. If this book helps spark such a discussion, then Kabanda's contribution has served an invaluable function.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in the economic development policy of Africa for 30 years. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com
China Investing in Africa's Future, Why Isn't the US?
In the article below you can read about China's strategic investment in making Djibouti's port a major port in Africa and the Middle East. The West can criticize as much as it likes, but China, not the US and Europe, is building vitally needed infrastructure in Africa. Without infrastructure Africa will not develop and progress. U.S policy known as "Prosper Africa" is cynical joke.
In strategic Djibouti, a microcosm of China's growing foothold in Africa
By Max Bearak
DJIBOUTI — Above ground in this tiny but strategically located country, signs of China's presence are everywhere.
Chinese entities have financed and built Africa's biggest port, a railway to Ethiopia and the country's first overseas naval base here. Under the sea, they are building a cable that will transmit data across a region that spans from Kenya to Yemen. The cable will connect to an Internet hub housing servers mostly run by China's state-owned telecom companies.
Beijing's extensive investments in Djibouti are a microcosm of how China has rapidly gained a strategic foothold across the continent. Western countries, including Africa's former colonizers, for decades have used hefty aid packages to leverage trade and security deals, but Chinese-financed projects have brought huge infrastructural development in less than a generation.
The construction is fueled mostly by lending from China's state-run banks. Spindles of Chinese-paved roads have unfurled across the continent, along with huge bridges, new airports, dams and power plants as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's 152-country Belt and Road Initiative.
Overall, Chinese companies have invested twice as much money between 2014 and 2018 in African countries as American companies, spending $72.2 billion, according to an analysis by Ernst & Young.
"The Chinese are thinking far into the long-term in Djibouti and Africa in general," said David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia who was also the State Department's desk officer for Djibouti as far back as the late 1960s. "Djibouti is one node in an economic chain that stretches across the northern rim of the Indian Ocean, from ports in Cambodia to Sri Lanka to Pakistan. They have a grand, strategic plan. We don't."
In Djibouti, that strategic plan is all the more evident because of the country's location at the entrance to the Red Sea, where about 10 percent of oil exports and 20 percent of commercial goods pass through the narrow strait right off Djibouti's coast on their way to and from the Suez Canal.
That location has made it a crucial way-point for undersea cables, which transmit data between continents. China's investment in Internet infrastructure here comes as the region surrounding Djibouti is just starting to come online, including some places that are entirely reliant on Djibouti as a transit point for data transmission…
"Yes, our debt to China is 71% of our GDP, but we needed that infrastructure," Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Djibouti's foreign affairs minister, said in a phone interview on the sidelines of a meeting in New York earlier this month, where Djibouti was pushing to gain a non permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
"It was quite natural that we raise our partnership with China. Neither Europe nor America were ready to build the infrastructure we needed. We're projecting our country into the future and looking after the well-being of our people. Even the United States has trillions of dollars in debt to China, you know," Youssouf said.
The most significant investment China has made in Djibouti is Doraleh Port, Africa's biggest and deepest. As with Internet through the data center, a full 90 percent of landlocked Ethiopia's imports now transit Djibouti, giving the minuscule country, with a population of less than a million, leverage over its gigantic, 100-million-strong neighbor.
Can IGAD Achieve Peace Without Economic Development?
{Below is a provocative article that challenges the accepted method of achieving peace without economic development. I have always strongly believed that true peace and sovereignty can only be obtained, if the common-shared interest of the parties involved is a the center of negotiations. Improving the living conditions of all the people involved in the conflict is essential for long term viable peace. For example, after the unnecessary separation of Sudan, the West, which helped engineer the creation of South Sudan, failed miserably to build up the economy of the newly created South Sudan. As a result, the people of South Sudan are suffering massively from horrific living conditions. While I do not agree with Mekki Elmograbi's approach of solely relying on the private sector and the so called free market, I concur with the thrust of his argument. It is clear to me, that the search for peace without economic development is a fool's errand, and will not succeed.}
By Mekki ELMOGRABI
Could the endless search for peace be a trap? Yes, because "sustainable peace objectives with high standards of security and stability" is the bait that entices stakeholders to ignore the need for private sector development and regional economic integration until peace is achieved.
"We hear questions like peace through development! The maxim is good in theory but in reality, political peace is touted at the cost of economic integration. I no longer believe in everlasting peace as a condition to development or economic growth. In a simple economy, market people could pay to build a police station to increase security in border areas. IGAD, in the meantime, when it is not preoccupied with the "peace trap" it can advise governments on how to allocate the taxes from borders markets to local roads and how to create security in the area. Feasibly, IGAD and AU can hold peace talks and workshops at borders to promote markets and countryside African resorts rather than five-star hotels in the cities."
Read: IGAD and Peace Trap!
Nations Must Study Alexander Hamilton's Principles of Political Economy
Match 28, 2019
Nancy Bradeen Spannaus iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2019, 222 pp. $13.99 soft cover, $5.99 e-book.
Hamilton Versus Wall Street: The Core Principles Of the American System of Economics By Nancy Bradeen Spannaus
A Review by Lawrence Freeman-March 28 2019
For those followers of our beloved Alexander Hamilton and for those new to his writings, this book is for you. Nancy Spannaus, in her just-released book Hamilton Versus Wall Street, makes a unique contribution to the existing volumes written on Hamilton's political and economic thoughts. In her relatively short easy-to-read book, she weaves together Hamilton's revolutionary ideas on political economy that served as the pillars for the creation of the United States, their legacy in the next two centuries of America, and their influence internationally. Throughout her treatise, Spannaus also provides constructive historical analysis of the battle inside the United States to adopt Hamilton's concepts. This book is a valuable complement to Hamilton's economic reports and will aid those unfamiliar with his seminal texts. *
Spannaus polemically begins by countering the popular myth that Hamilton was an agent for the banks (Wall Street) against the interests of the "little man," agrarian society and the states, as espoused by Thomas Jefferson and others. She later devotes entire chapters to Hamilton's opposition to the British central banking system and Adam Smith, exposing another slander which alleged Hamilton was a supporter of the British aristocracy.
Principles of Political Economy
Unlike like other publications on Hamilton that gloss over or give insufficient attention to Hamilton's ground-breaking concepts of banking, credit, and manufactures, Spannaus makes a great effort to elaborate Hamilton's contributions to: "The Core Principles of the American System of Economics." **
All nations would benefit greatly, if their leaders and citizens studied Hamilton writings. American culture would not be at the low level it is today, if my fellow citizens had been taught Hamilton's economic theories, which in fact were crucial to the creation of our nation from thirteen indebted, agriculturally-based colonies. Advanced sector countries that are dominated by financial systems dictated by Wall Street and the City of London, and underdeveloped nations that rely on resource extraction and farming, because they lack a manufacturing sector, could learn a great deal from Hamilton.
However, Hamilton's thinking about economic growth was not limited to the mere production of goods. He understood for society to continually increase the productive powers of the economy, the development of the human mind was essential. Spannaus quotes Hamilton: "To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients, by which the wealth of the nations may be promoted." (p. 28).
Friederich List, a student of Hamilton's philosophy in the nineteenth century, wrote that "capital of mind, capital of nature, and capital of productive matter" are all essential components to achieve economic progress. (p. 29)
Hamilton's First National Bank (courtesy ushistory.org)
The Constitution and Public Debt-Credit
Hamilton knew that for a nation to be truly sovereign, it must possess the means to produce the physical wealth necessary to maintain the existence of its citizens and their posterity. It is no coincidence that the Founding Fathers embedded this concept in the profound Preamble to the US Constitution. As Spannaus emphasizes, for Hamilton, the importance of establishing federal credit through the creation of the National Bank, stabilizing the currency, developing the manufacturing capability of the young United Sates, and increasing the wealth of the nation through internal improvements, was coherent with the intent of the Preamble "to form a more perfect Union."
Hamilton used the "general welfare" clause of the Preamble to justify his revolutionary idea to create a public-private National Bank to consolidate the separate states and establish a unified currency to promote national economic growth. Generations later, in the footsteps of Hamilton, Franklin Roosevelt, who studied Hamilton's writings, would also rely on the "general welfare" clause to garner support for his New Deal and other programs he initiated to revive the U.S. economy wracked by the Great Depression.
Public Credit, anathema today to virtually all Democratic and Republican leaders, was another key concept Hamilton fought for, knowing that private sector funds and privately-owned banks would never adequately fund a nation's economic growth, especially for large-scale internal improvements, i.e. infrastructure.
To emphasize the unique role of public credit, Spannaus lists four exceptional periods in U.S. history when the efficacious application of government-issued credit led to a pronounced expansion of the American economy. These are administrations of Presidents George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt. (p. 55-56)
In chapter 7, the author concisely summarizes Hamilton's outlook: "…it is the deliberate increasing of the productive powers of labor through technology, improvements in infrastructure, and the use of government power to create credit that will produce value in the economy." (p.128) This is more than good advice that all public officials. government leaders, and informed citizens should follow to secure a joyful future for their nation.
In Africa and other underdeveloped regions of the world where nations have suffered from hundreds of years of exploitation of their natural resources, Alexander Hamilton's wise words should be fully grasped: "The intrinsic wealth of a nation is be measured, not by the abundance of the precious metals contained in it, but by the quantity of the productions of its labor and industry." (emphasis added p. 1)
*Hamilton wrote four major economic reports for Congress and President George Washington between January 1790 and December 1791: Report on Public Credit; Report on a National Bank; Report on Manufactures; and Opinion as to the Constitutionality of the National Bank.
**This is the subtitle of Hamilton Versus Wall Street.
Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa Should NOT Have the Majority of Poor People.
This is absolutely unacceptable. There is no objective reason for Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa to have the highest percentage of poor people in the world, with all its natural resources and people. This is the result of failed policies that began with the so called "Washington Consensus" beginning in the 1980s. Under the International Monetary Fund's diktats and Structural Adjustment Programs(SAPs), the economies of African nations were destroyed and many have still not recovered. African nations are beginning to follow a different model in collaboration with China's Belt and Road Initiative. The IMF and World Bank models which measure statistical monetary aggregates ignore the most essential ingredient necessary to create economic growth: technologically advanced infrastructure platforms, integrating rail, energy, water, and roads. Only in the last ten years is infrastructure finally being built, after it was outlawed under colonialism and neo-colonialism, (except for roads and rail for resource to port and transporting colonial soldiers). For example, the Sudanese people are suffering terribly from a lack of economic growth, because Sudan has been threatened not to deviate from IMF dictated macro-economic parameters. The Sudanese people will rebel, if Sudan continues to adhere to the murderous policies of the so called "free market."
It is time for African nations to over throw the old model and break free from the monetarist grip of the IMF and WB. Inclusive growth, as it is called, will only happen when there is improvement in the real-physical economy.
It is projected that by 2050 Nigeria will have 400 million people and Africa as a whole 2.4 billion. Despite the hysteria of the "zero-growthers," Nigeria and Africa are not suffering from over population, but underdevelopment of its vast wealth. Each new human born can be a new source of wealth, if their creative potential is nurtured and developed. Thus, the Africa continent with its projected large population, should become the center development (not poverty) of world economy, if we act now to massively expand infrastructure across the continent.
Read Below:
Nigeria to host 90% of extremely poor by 2030, says World Bank
The World Bank has predicted that by 2030, about nine out of 10 extremely poor people in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa, which includes Nigeria and others. The Bretton Woods institution, which gave its forecast in its report named Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018, affirmed that the forecast for 2018 suggested that Nigeria … Continue readingNigeria to host 90% of extremely poor by 2030, says World Bank
The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper – Nigeria and World News
A Brief Response: Marshall Plan for Africa or "Debt Trap?"
The world is witnessing an increase in attacks on Africa's relationships with China in various articles, as well as low-level, unthoughtful, messages on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Not only does that content intend to demonize China as the new colonial empire of Africa, but it also includes vulgar demeaning caricatures of African Heads of State.
Could the reason for the uptick of these kinds of diatribes be related to the successful September 3-4, Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Beijing, attended by leaders from almost every African nation? China has reached out to Arica and formed a special relationship which is being embraced by African Heads of State. It should be clear to any intelligent historian, that China is not acting as an Imperialist manner towards Africa.
However, what has been conspicuously, egregiously omitted from this unsubstantiated vilification of China, is the history of Western nations and institutions, which have acted as an Imperialist power towards Africa. The latest accusation is that China is deliberately entrapping African nations into unpayable debt. However, this is precisely what the IMF, World Bank, Paris Club, along with their allies in the City of London and Wall Street did to Africa immediately following the "Winds of Change."
The motivation for this propaganda barrage is that China via FOCAC and the Belt & Road Initiative is offering African nations a pathway toward growth uncontrolled by the financial predators in the City of London and Wall Street. Contrary to the myth that China is stealing African resources; which the Western powers did first under slavery, then under colonialism, and have continued under neo-colonialism, China is actually providing credit for physical infrastructure; the sin qua non to spur economic growth.
Debt and Credit for What?
A pervasive and quite serious problem affecting well-intentioned individuals from all corners of the globe is the lack of understanding of what actually creates economic growth. Neither money, nor financial transactions, nor derivatives, nor speculation, nor rising stock markets, nor the market place are the cause of growth or synonymous with real economic growth.
Credits issued for infrastructure; water, energy, rail, roads, healthcare, and education, identifying the most vital categories, if properly organized, leads to an increase in the productivity i.e. the economic power of the society. This is measured by the ability of society to increase its physical output from one production cycle to the next. By utilizing advanced technologies embedded in new capital equipment, including infrastructure, farmers and workers can produce more efficiently. Simply providing abundant energy, high-speed railroads, and water inputs to an African nation would lead to a jump in economic output. Shortly after the death of President Kennedy, the US ceased its commitment to assist Africa nations in expanding their infrastructure.
China is committed to lending, issuing credit-yes creating a debt to fund long-term investment in infrastructure. Credit directed in this way is good debt. With non-usurious interest rates over 15-20 years, the loan can be retired from the profit it generates to society. This form of debt is not equivalent to the hundreds of billions of dollars African nations were forced to pay to the financial capitals of the world for loans to cover rigged terms of trade, and currency devaluations.
If you study the American System of Political Economy with its cornerstone; Alexander Hamilton's national credit policy, you will realize that China is emulating the best of America's past. For example, President Franklin Roosevelt, who successfully applied Hamilton's principle to rebuild the Depression riddled US with state issued credits, would have little trouble understanding the principles of President Xi Jinping's Belt & Road.
Economics and the Common Good
There is a deeper level to comprehending economic growth. Every human being is united by a universal principle often expressed as the "common good of mankind." Yes, all human beings regardless of religion, color, ethnicity, or place of birth, share a "common interest." We are all created with the power of creativity. Not logic, not deduction, not induction, but the power to hypothesis new ideas. The power of discovery, to discern new principles of the universe that we previously did not know but were there waiting to be revealed to the human mind. These scientific discoveries spawn new technologies which are the primary source of economic growth. Thus, it is the responsibility, nay the obligation of every society to nurture and develop that creative potential innate in all its citizens from birth to death.
For all citizens to realize their potential, live productive lives, and raise their families without fear of hunger and security, a nation must have the economic means to expand the total physical wealth of society over succeeding generations. An advanced industrialized nation requires a healthy manufacturing sector, which is also an essential component of a productive agriculture sector. The absence of robust agro-manufacturing economies in Africa is crime along with its huge deficit in infrastructure.
Sadly, the West does not have the vision to assist African nations in overcoming these deficiencies. China in all, but name has launched the equivalent of a Marshall Plan for Africa.
Among the eight major initiatives that President Xi laid out at the Africa-China Summit, China will:
1.Promote industrialization; 2. Support agricultural assistance programs; 3. Work with the African Union (Agenda 2063) to formulate a China-Africa infrastructure cooperation program; 4. Increase its imports from Africa, in particular non-resources products; 5. Train 1,000 high-caliber Africans for training in innovation sectors; provide Africa with 50,000 government scholarships; and sponsor seminar and workshop opportunities for 50,000 Africans and invite 2,000 African students to visit China for exchanges.
China has come to understand that it is the common interest of its own country, and in the fact all nations, is to help Africa develop productive industrialized societies not dependent on revenue from one resource or one crop. Under these improved conditions, hunger and poverty, the underlying causes for conflict, can be eliminated. Great progress can be accomplished in Africa and the world, if the US and Europe acquire the wisdom to join China's Spirit of the Belt & Road
Below are three articles with excerpts that provide useful background to understanding Africa's productive relationship with China.
"The recently concluded China-Africa Summit offers a new deal for Africa's recovery. The Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has the making of a 21st century equivalent of the Marshall Plan, America's massive economic rescue programe that President Harry Truman unveiled for Europe on April 3, 1948.
AFRICA'S INDUSTRIALISATION
On its part, China is taking a Pan-African approach targeting projects with regional impact such as Kenya's standard gauge railway. Like the Marshall Plan that prioritized the reindustrialization of Europe after the war, China is laudably giving a pride of place to Africa's industrialisation.
Industrialization was top on the list of President Xi Jinping's eight-point plan to guide Chinese aid to Africa in the next three years. Recipients of Marshall Plan had to invest 60 percent of these funds in industry. The funds also involved Technical Assistance Programes to create a skilled labor force to drive industrialization." Read: China's Marshall Plan for Africa-Debt or New Deal ?
"Speaking as the Chairman of the African Union, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, expressed the will of Africa very clearly: "Africa wishes to be a full and integral part of the Belt and Road Initiative."And in spite of the myriad attacks in the Western media regarding the Belt and Road's alleged "debt trap"—and its description of China's extensive involvement in Africa as a "new colonialism"—this "fake news" has not blurred the vision of Africa's leaders, who have stayed focused on the future of the continent.
Ramaphosa also praised the work of China's Belt and Road Initiative: "Why do we support the Belt and Road Initiative?" "Because we are confident that this initiative, which effectively complements the work of FOCAC, will reduce the costs and increase the volume of trade between Africa and China. It will encourage the development of Africa's infrastructure, a critical requirement for meaningful regional and continental integration." Read: FOCAC Summit: Turning Point in History
"It can be said that this sentiment is near universal among the African nations now participating in the BRI. Indeed the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the summit, "Let me be very clear that Africa has absolutely no debt crisis; African countries are desperate for infrastructure. The population is rising, urbanization is there, and fiscal space is very small." The AfDB president added, "They are taking on a lot more debt, but in the right way." Read: Changes Underway as FOCAC Convenes
Final Call: IMF and World Bank real culprits in Africa's debt Crisis
This article debunks the myth of China colonizing Africa through a "debt trap" policy. It also has quotes from me on this subject. You can read more comments from me with this link to my post: A Brief Response: Marshall Plan for Africa or "Debt Trap?"
FINAL CALL: IMF-and-World-Bank-real-culprits-in-Africa-debt-crisis.
BY JEHRON MUHAMMAD | SEP 12, 2018
Many Western press outlets, including CNN, have repeated a recent claim presented to the U.S. State Department that the "Chinese government is leveraging billions of dollars in debt to gain political leverage with developing countries."
The phrase they use to accuse China is "debt book diplomacy," a play on the past usage of the term "gunboat diplomacy" about U.S. policy. They accuse China of miring Africa in debt and "undercutting their sovereignty."
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with African Union Chair Paul Kagame who is President of Rwanda at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2018. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
Not to be outdone, ABC News chimed in: "China's commercial presence in Africa has prompted complaints in some countries that the continent gets too little from the relationship. Africa is a major target of Beijing's 'Belt and Road' initiative to build ports, highways and other trade-related infrastructure, but some critics in Tanzania, Kenya and other countries say they leave hosts with too much debt."Pushing back, China claims to be helping African development, not piling up debt, one top China government official said.
"If we take a closer look at these African countries that are heavily in debt, China is not their main creditor," its special envoy for Africa Xu Jinghy said, during a news conference. "It's senseless and baseless to shift the blame onto China for debt problems."
Claims that China is an "economic predator" in Africa, pillaging natural resources and dragging it into debt crisis are "as false as they are sensational," the Xinhua official Chinese news agency said in a commentary.
According to African economic and political analyst Lawrence Freeman, "It is more than ironic that the West is complaining about Africa's debt to China. Since the 1960s, Western nations, the IMF, World Bank, Paris Club, etc., have 'looted' Africa of hundreds of billions of dollars in bloated debt payments and through the manipulation of currencies, and terms of trade."
Of note is the fact that the anti- China accusation is fairly recent. An April 18 Financial Times article, headlined "African nations slipping into new debt crises," did not mention China one time as the source of the continent's debt crisis.
In fact the FT's piece is critical of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. "The increase in debt should have raised all sorts of flags and triggered triage, but it didn't. Neither the International Monetary Fund nor the World Bank sounded the alarm," the London-based financial paper reported.
In addition, the FT claimed some African countries were hit because "they borrowed in foreign currencies and were finding debt hard to finance after a significant depreciation."
In 2017 Quartz Africa reported, again not mentioning China, that "African eurobond debt is growing to risky levels." A eurobond, also referred to as sovereign bond, is a debt security issued by a national government and is denominated in a foreign currency, usually dollars, rather than the euro that its name implies.
This debt crises have been cyclical. Africa's debt of the 1980s mushroomed to $270 billion and had many factors, according to Quartz, "depending on which side of the fence you're on."
Those events came full circle. Even though Quartz recognized the repeating "hallmarks" of unchecked corruption, poor governance, and political mileage investment, the "single catalytic factor to trigger debt unsustainability in Africa has always been the crash of commodity prices on the global market."
The news service Reuters reported in May of 2017 that "most sub-Saharan African countries still rely on U.S. dollar-denominated debt to finance their economies. Some investors say this is sowing the seeds of future debt crises if local currencies devalue and make dollar debt repayments more expensive."
The United Nations trade body UNCTAD estimates that Africa's external debt rapidly grew to $443 billion by 2013 through bilateral borrowing, syndicated loans and bonds. But since then sharp currency devaluations across the continent have pushed up the cost of servicing this debt pile, which continues to grow, the agency said.
It's no wonder over 50 African heads of state attended the Sept. 3-4 Forum on China-African Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing. During the forum China president Xi Jinping announced a hefty $60 billion package to compliment another $60 billion pledged at the 2015 summit.
This breaks down, according to press reports, to $15 billion in grants and interest free loans, $20 billion in credit lines, a $10 billion fund for development financing, $5 billion to finance imports from Africa and waving the debt of the poorest African nations diplomatically linked to China.
On top of President Jinping letting the numbers speak for themselves he had words for China's detractors: "Only the people of China and Africa have the right to comment on whether China-Africa cooperation is doing well … . No one should deny the significant achievement of China-Africa cooperation based on their assumptions and speculations."
The African Union chairman, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, has been heard to call Chinese aid and investment strategy in Africa "deeply transformational" and respectful of the continent's global position.
He said FOCAC had grown into a powerful engine "of cooperation fully aligned with Africa's Agenda 2063 and sustainable development goals."
"Our growing ties with China do not come at anyone's expense. The gains are enjoyed by all who do business with us. Building the capacity of African institutions to transact and monitor more effectively is what will make the biggest difference," he said.
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Africa Will Be the Breadbasket of the World With Investment in Physical Infrastructure
Africa Should be the Breadbasket of the World, Says the African Development Bank President
Aug. 9, 2018–Addressing the 2018 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting in Washington attended by over 1,600 agricultural and applied economists from around the world, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina said Aug. 5 that Africa should be the breadbasket of the world, and questioned why Africa should be spending $35 billion a year importing food.
"All it needs to do is harness the available technologies with the right policies, and rapidly raise agricultural productivity and incomes for farmers, and assure lower food prices for consumers," Adesina said, according to the AfDB website. "Technologies to achieve Africa's green revolution exist, but are mostly just sitting on the shelves. The challenge is a lack of supportive policies to ensure that they are scaled up to reach millions of farmers," he stated, not referring to phony "green" environmentalism, but the green revolution that raises productivity and would make Africa food secure.
Adesina, who was the 2017 World Food Prize winner, is advocating the creation of staple crops processing zones across Africa (SCPZs): vast areas within rural areas, set aside and managed for agribusiness and food manufacturing industries and other agro-allied industries, enabled with the right policies and infrastructure. "I am convinced that just like industrial parks helped China, so will the SCPZs help to create new economic zones in rural areas that will help lift hundreds of millions out of poverty through the transformation of agriculture–the main source of their livelihoods–from a way of life into a viable, profitable business that will unleash new sources of wealth," he said.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, in Tanzania, Calls for Investment in Infrastructure Development
Aug. 9, 2018–Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, who arrived in Tanzania today on a one-day trip to discuss regional matters with President John Magufuli, said he requested the meeting to brief Magufuli on the outcome of the July 25-27 BRICS Summit in South Africa, during which Museveni made a case for the BRICS countries to invest in the East Africa Community (EAC) which provides high returns on their investments, higher than Europe, Latin America and Asia. He said: "Investment in infrastructure development is key, especially in roads, railway and electricity. The Chinese have already helped us construct two hydropower dams, in Karuma, which is 600MW, and Isimba 183MW," the {Kampala Post} reported today. Museveni attended the BRICS summit as rotating head of the EAC this year.
Uganda is a significant beneficiary of Chinese investments in East Africa. China has extended its hand of investment to many African countries, and continues to do so to uplift their economies. Liaoshen Industrial Park and Mbale Industrial Park in Uganda, launched last March, are set to increase local employment. The Chinese investors will offer training to the Ugandans who will work there. Among other spin-offs could be increase trade between Uganda and China.
Development Leapfrogs in Africa Due to Chinese BRI Investment
Aug. 8, 2018 — In an Aug. 7 op-ed to China Global Television Network, He Wenping, senior research fellow at the Charhar Institute, depicts the dramatic changes she's seen in Africa after a visit to Djibouti earlier this month.
Prof He states the "two wings" of China-Africa industrial capacity cooperation; infrastructure construction and industrial park construction, have been booming on the African continent. This includes the Nairobi-Mombasa railroad and the Djibouti-Addis Ababa Railroad [see slugs in this briefing], as well as rail lines in Angola and Nigeria. In addition there are over 100 Sino-African industrial parks either in operation or under construction.
"Wherever you go, you can see an upsurge in infrastructure construction in Djibouti and a huge presence of China," He writes. "For example, the largest free trade zone in Africa, jointly managed by Chinese enterprises and local entities, began construction in early July; the already completed Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway; the port built by China Merchants Group; and the thousands of economic housing projects built with the of Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh when he visited China in November last year. "The Westerners have been around for more
than 100 years but our country is still so poor, and the Chinese came to our country only three years ago but we have already seen great changes and hope," President Guelleh said.
By the end of 2017, the stock of Chinese investment in Africa had exceeded $100 billion and more than 3,500 Chinese enterprises had invested and operated on the continent. He points to the example of Dongguan Huajian Group's investment in a shoe factory in Ethiopia. The Huajian Group has created 7,500 local jobs in Ethiopia, and the Huajian (Ethiopia) Shoe Factory now produces 5 million pairs of women's shoes annually.
"The hope for development comes from the new impetus provided by the BRI," He Wenping writes. "Since the Chinese government proposed the BRI in 2013, the African continent, with its abundant resources, huge market potential and strong infrastructure construction demand, has been actively involved in BRI-related projects.
"And in the process of participation, the continent seized an important opportunity for historical development, in order to achieve leapfrog development and transformation from a pre-industrial to a fully industrialized society."
Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway Revolutionizing Transportation
Aug. 8, 2018– Kenya's new, up-and-running Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from the Port of Mombasa to the capital, Nairobi, built with major Chinese participation, is already revolutionizing the country's transportation according to the {Daily Nation} of Kenya.
The railway runs seven trains a day carrying a total of 752 containers from the port to Nairobi. While roughly 1,300 containers arrive at the port daily, the time necessary for a ship to clear the port has been reduced from 12 days to just a day and half! This has created a quantum leap in the potential throughput the port, without having to physically expand it. By August, the connection of the SGR line to berths at the port will be complete, increasing the efficiency even further.
Of course this has led to loss of business and employment at the container freight stations (CFS) where the containers were broken down and transferred to trucks. In answer to this problem Transport Principal Secretary Paul Maringa said that SGR has brought more gains to the economy, ensured efficiency at the Mombasa port and saved roads from overloaded trucks. "We cannot continue having the conversation about Mombasa and Nairobi. We must look at the bigger picture. We are encouraging the CFS owners to come and open their stations in Nairobi and other parts of the country," Maringa told the {Daily Nation} by phone. Asked whether players in the sector should concentrate on investing in Nairobi, Maringa said, "We should not lose the direction. Let's look at things holistically. We have been able to attract more business at the port which is benefitting Mombasa and the country at large," he said. "And this is because of the speed that the SGR has been able to transport cargo to the inland container depot in Nairobi compared to the trucks. We have added handling capacity at the port and that is beneficial to all of us," he said, stating that the port has handle at least 17,000 containers.
Furthermore the SGR has enabled the government to save money for other development projects. "The accidents cases have also gone down. Those are the silent benefits of the project as Kenyans' lives are more important than the businesses we are doing," he said.
Ethiopia Railway on the Road to Self-Management
Aug. 8, 2018–China is now training Ethiopians to independently run the new standard gauge railway line between Djibouti and Addis Ababa. As of now the locomotive drivers, the management, and many of technicians are still Chinese. While teams of Ethiopians and Djiboutians have been undergoing training in China, the Chinese and Ethiopian governments are cooperating in building an Ethiopian railway academy.
The Chinese Embassy Economic and Commercial Counselor Liu Yu told the {Ethiopian Herald}, "The Ethiopia railway academy is already under design in Bishoftu. The government has donated $60 million for the construction. Ethiopia and China have been enjoying strong relationship and cooperating in different areas, one of which is human capacity building takes the epicenter."
The Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Share Company (EDRSC) Director General Tilahun Sarka stressed that human resource development is the top priority of the corporation, as the railway has been under the management of two Chinese companies, China Railway Group (CREC) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
Pointing to the high quality of the Chinese training, Tilahun said: "The good thing about Chinese instructors and lecturers, as long as you keep on asking questions you will get what you need."
"Keeping the ration of the EDRSC share, we are engaged in training about 50 Ethiopian and Djiboutian prospective train drivers. These trainees will exchange ideas on topics related to railway operations technologies and railway management, that could realize and create a competent and skilled labor force to operate the Chinese-built and financed 756 km Ethiopia-Djibouti electrified rail line," he stated.
One trainee, Eyoba Dubale, told the {Ethiopian Herald}: "The trainers from China are dedicated in assisting us. The training is going well in its schedules and we are happy of the whole process. After the training we will be assistant driver, and after establishing comprehensive skills and knowledge as well as attitude of serving in the system, we will take over charge of the driving responsibility to the service the logistics sector for the common good."
The EDRSC is part of the five-year growth and transformation plan, which aims to enhance the transportation network within the country by connecting to adjacent countries and ports. The National Railway Network of Ethiopia is believed to provide efficient mobility and improve the export and import activities, boosting the economic development.
Who Owns Africa's Debt: China or The West?
It is more than ironic that the West is complaining about Africa's debt to China. Since the 1960s, Western nations, the IMF, World Bank, Paris Club, etc. have "looted" Africa of 100 of billions of dollars in bloated debt payments and through the manipulation of currencies, and terms of trade. Of course, the West has participated for over a century in massive stealing of Africa's resources, and before that, the forced exportation of millions of slaves. Let the truth be heard.
"China's loans to Africa leave their sovereignty unscathed"
By Yang Sheng-Global Times July 12, 2018
China's investment and loans in African countries are designed to help them improve basic infrastructure, increase productivity and achieve self-reliance, which analysts say differs from years of strings-attached aid from the West.
Some Western media and politicians have recently created the phrase "debtbook diplomacy" to accuse China of "miring nations in debt" and "undercutting their sovereignty."
According to CNN, a new report presented to the US State Department claims the "Chinese government is leveraging billions of dollars in debt to gain political leverage with developing countries."
"This phrase 'debtbook diplomacy' shows the West is nervous of China-Africa cooperation. 'Debtbook diplomacy' is what they did to Africa for decades, but now China is actually helping African nations rid themselves of 'the debt trap' set by the West," said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China in Beijing.
The West left African countries with a heavy debt on projects and failed to support their sustainable development, or to increase productivity and help them realize self-reliance, Wang noted. "Western countries wanted Africa to become their raw materials supplier while maintaining their post-colonial influence over the continent. This prevented African countries from realizing their own industrialization, Wang said.
China, on the other hand, is helping the nations move toward self-reliance and industrialization. The West doesn't like that and this is why it is attempting to slander China, Wang added.
Xu Weizhong, deputy director of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations' Institute of West Asian and African Studies, said that "Africa needs a lot of investment to build infrastructure, and China's loans, which have increased African countries' debt, are necessary for their development."
China's assistance to Africa differs from what the West offers. China has a "crucial principle," which is to respect African countries' will and conditions. China has never forced African countries to accept loans on large infrastructure projects beyond their ability to pay, Wang said.
"China and Africa have walked an extraordinary path in developing relations and cooperation, and our peoples have benefited greatly from it," Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong said at the opening ceremony of the Seventh China-Africa Think Tank Forum in Beijing on July 4.
"A minority of Westerners are blinded by their 'pride and prejudice' and choose not to see this… maybe that is what they call 'sour grapes'?" Chen said.
West is largest debt holder
Data shows that Western countries and West-led organizations are the largest owners of African debt, not China, Shen Shiwei, a research fellow at the Charhar Institute and former government relations and business consultant for Chinese enterprises in Africa, said in an article published on CGTN's website.
Research from SAIS and the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University shows that China has provided loans worth $114.4 billion to Africa from 2000-2016, which accounts for 1.8 percent of Africa's total external debt.
"The IMF and World Bank own 36 percent of African debt.These multilateral financial institutions and other giant investors in Europe and the US have far stronger leverage [than China]," Shen noted in his article.
"For historical reasons, the West has many interests in Africa. Those that are reasonable should be respected when we cooperate with Africa. But for those that are unreasonable, should China and African countries continue to respect them? Before accusing China, the West should think about this carefully," Xu said (emphasis added)
{From Lawrence Freeman: Detention centers, whether in Africa or Europe will fail. Economic development is the pathway to a real solution}
"It's time for Europe to learn from China in engaging in Africa"
By He Wenping and Hisham Abu Bakr Metwally
Global Times Published: 2018/7/5
Read Global Times article
Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT
The just-concluded EU Summit on migration has come up with measures like securing centers for migrants to process asylum claims, strengthening external border controls, and boosting financing for Turkey and countries in North Africa. But these are old solutions to old problems.
Since 2015, the EU has been working at full capacity to overcome the migration crisis. EU member states received over 1.2 million first-time asylum applications in 2015, more than double that of the previous year. But it seems that the European continent is still working in the same old way to try to prevent the entry of immigrants and not to address the causes of migration. Even if we assume these measures bring success in reducing immigration for some time, the EU will later be surprised when migrants use other means and methods to migrate, because the causes of migration still exist.
The root of migration is poverty. The African continent has suffered occupation and war for many decades. Many African countries have not yet been able to achieve the path of reform and development. This has put the people of these countries under unbearable pressure from poverty, ignorance and disease. They have pushed themselves into the abyss and tried to cross the border to reach Europe. They have faced danger and horror, believing a chance at a better future is worth dying for, if necessary.
With the emergence of the new system of globalization, the world became a small village and Africans opened their eyes to the luxury and good life enjoyed by Europeans, which inspired them to move to these countries. The majority of people from African countries continue to blame European countries for their backwardness and believe they should shoulder their responsibilities toward Africa. As a result of the failure of European countries to play the role that the African people were waiting for, these masses migrated to Europe to try to gain these rights. Europe, when dealing with refugees, looks at them from a perspective of human logic or empathy and does not view migration as a symptom of a disease. European countries must change their thinking and strategy to deal with the disease in order to make the causes of migration disappear.
It is time for Europe to look at the Chinese experience in Africa. The Chinese policy has always focused on development. Economic relations between Africa and China have grown enormously, especially since 2006. The African continent is playing an important role in the Belt and Road initiative. China provides infrastructure funding and a workforce, and this infrastructure allows Africa to increase its production and exports, improving the quality of life and improving the conditions of millions of Africans.
Hope is the solution. The people of the African continent need hope. At least this last summit has come out with some words about more investment in Africa to help the continent achieve a substantial socio-economic transformation. China has been focusing on African development for a long time and has seen the results. The EU should work closely with China to push for the B&R to fight poverty in Africa and promote development. (emphasis added)
He Wenping is a senior research fellow at the Charhar Institute in China, and Hisham Abu Bakr Metwally is the first economist researcher at the Central Department for Export & Import Policy under the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn
By William Jones
The world is on tenterhooks waiting for the next moves from the Trump Administration in terms of the draconian tariffs he has threatened to place on China as well as on a number of other countries, including our close neighbors Canada and Mexico. And the question remains for most people: Is he really intent on carrying out the threat (the first tariffs are to take effect on July 6) or is this merely an "in-your-face" negotiating tactic to cut a better deal for the United States? We probably won't know until the last moment, but a number of things seem to be clear.
Why the "Fire and Fury" on China Trade?
President of Ghana Speaks out for Strong Independent Africa
December 11, 2017 L
Speaking at the Presidential Palace of Ghana on December 4, 2017 with French President Macron, Ghanaian President Akufo-Addo spoke eloquently of the need for Africa to be self-sustaining and independent. Emphasizing that when African nations became developed their people would have no need to migrate to Europe. To watch his speech click: Speech by the President of Ghana
Through Science, Africa's Challenges Will Be Met
December 10, 2017)–South Africa's Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor told the third Science Forum in Pretoria on Dec. 7, that "it is through science that many of the challenges faced by our communities can be addressed." A primary objective of the two-day forum, she said, is "to put science in the service of African society." She stressed the importance of international collaboration, welcoming delegates from around the world to Africa's largest "open science" event. Pan-African cooperation, in particular, is a hallmark of all of South Africa's science and technology programs.
The purpose of the forum was to discuss the role of science in society. She said that one objective of the forum was to "showcase African science and technology to the world. We want to change the way they talk about us." Pandor is dedicated to promoting African breakthroughs in science, which will change the way Africa has historically been viewed, and will help eliminate the "Afro-pessimism" on the continent itself.
The New York Times Is All Wrong About Africa
The July 30th Sunday edition of the New York Times, published an article by its Africa reporter, Jeffrey Gettleman, entitled, "Loss of Fertile Land Fuels 'Looming Crisis' Across Africa." The analysis, and conclusions of this article are all wrong, because they are based on false and ideologically driven axioms regarding the development of Africa. Essentially, Gettlemen and the New York Times are steeped in the "Zero Growth" culture which became prevalent in the United States and the West in 1970s.
In the aftermath of the 1963 assassinations of President John F Kennedy and the ensuing "rock-drug-sex" counterculture, the groundwork was prepared for the onslaught the environmental movement. With its no-growth, anti-science, anti-industrialization outlook that dominated the thinking of the baby-boomer and succeeding generations, cultural pessimism became pervasive. This ideology combined with the looting of Africa's natural resources by the financial predators of Wall Street and the City of London resulted in a policy of no development for Africa that has continued to the present.
Today Africa has the largest deficit of infrastructure per capita and per square kilometer on the planet. The lack of electrical power, railroads, water management, and modern highways is literally responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans each year. Only since the entrance of China into Africa in the past decade with its commitment to build physical infrastructure, have we witnessed a change in the dynamic on the continent.
Economic Science
It is no accident that the US and Europe have not contributed to the construction of vital infrastructure projects; it's their flawed policy. Infrastructure is not just one of several possible good ideas; rather it is an indispensable, irreplaceable ingredient to the success of any agro-industrial economy. Infrastructure drives an economy forward and upward by incorporating new scientific advances in technology that improve the productive powers of the workforce, yielding increased economic output of wealth for society. The most wicked and pernicious feature of the Zero-Growth ideology is the denial of the unique creativity of Mankind. For thousands and millions of years Mankind has transformed his surrounding environment to make it more propitious for human expansion. Like the discovery of "fire," a million years ago, the Neolithic revolution 12,000 years ago was a revolution in Mankind's knowledge of the universe and led to a population explosion. This non-linear growth pattern has been repeated many times over the last 10,000 years, as a result of the unique power of discovery by the human mind.
The essential underlying cause of the problems in Africa today is not over population, or loss of arable land, but underdevelopment. The failure to grasp this elementary concept by the New York Times and others is the reason for the abysmal conditions of life in Africa's that contributes to the easy recruitment to terrorist movements like Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin region.
False Axioms
For example, Gettleman cites the:
"overwhelming degradation of agricultural land throughout Africa, with one recent study showing that more than 40 million Africans are trying to survive off land whose agricultural potential is declining." He continues, "More than in any other region of the world, people in Africa live off the land. There are relatively few industrial or service jobs here. Seventy percent of Africa's population makes a living through agriculture, higher than on any other continent, the World Bank says. But as the population rises, with more siblings competing for their share of the family farm, the slices are getting thinner."
Why is agricultural potential of the land declining? Why are there relatively few manufacturing jobs? Why are the slices of land getting thinner?
The answer is not the Malthusian argument that Africans breed too fast and that this huge continent – almost three times the size of the continental US- has too many people trying to exist on a shrinking pie of arable land. The proper question to ask is; why after half century since the "Winds of Change" liberation from the colonial powers, Africans still do not enjoy the fruits of modern industrialized economies with a modern standard of living, instead of large pockets of abject poverty? Any poor-quality farm land, even the Sahara Desert, can be made productive with water. Less than 5% of cultivated land is irrigated In Africa. With manufacturing plants to build the irrigating machinery and sufficient energy to pump the water, millions of hectares of arable land can become fruitful. Nuclear powered desalination could provide fresh water from the Mediterranean and Red seas to the North African deserts. US farmers, among the most productive in the world, experienced huge increase in yields of food production including in the former desert of southern California by utilizing new technologies, fertilizers, irrigation, and abundant energy under President Franklin Roosevelt's economic recovery.
Why has the US and the West not assisted African nations in acquiring the necessary infrastructure and new technologies to expand its cultivated land and build a substantial manufacturing sector as part of an integrated modern economy. In his brief Presidency, John F Kennedy collaborated with President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana to build the Volta Dam hydro-power and industrial smelting complex. This what we should have continued to do over the last 50 years, and if we had, Africa would look completely different than it does today.
Population Reduction Is Not the Solution
In the concluding section the article, the New York Times and its reporter reveal the depraved thinking of the Zeitgest of western culture; we have too many people using up the fixed natural resources of our planet.
"Africa's land pressures may seem overwhelming, maybe even unstoppable. But scientists say there are solutions within reach. For example, the continent has the highest fertility rates in the world, but more African governments are pushing contraceptives, saying the best answer for densely populated countries is smaller families.
'The problem is too many people, too many cattle and too little planning,' said Iain Douglas Hamilton, a wildlife activist in northern Kenya."
This view echoes Henry Kissinger's infamous "National Security Study Memorandum 200," written 1974-1976, which advocated reducing the population for "Third World" nations to guarantee an uninterrupted supply of vital natural resources to the West. For centuries, the British raciest imperialist school has targeted Africa's population as inferior and as an impediment to their access of Africa's precious minerals.
The birth a child can never be a problem for society. Each new human being, by the fact that it is human, intrinsically has the potential to contribute to new discoveries that can change the world, or contribute to the progress of society in more humble manner. Why not take up the challenge of developing the vast continent of Africa with its soon to be multi-billion population, and its rich untapped wealth? Presently we are witnessing the construction of desperately needed infrastructure on the Africa continent, with the assistance of China. Yet, Africa's requires hundreds of gigawatts of electrical power, East-West and South-North railroads, high speed trains connecting the capital of each nation, and much, much, more. If the US joins the new paradigm of China's "Belt and Road Initiative" and collaborates on eliminating poverty and hunger, and expanding Afrfia's unrealized agricultural potential, the continent will be able to sustain an expanding population at a standard of living commensurate with that of the advanced sector nations.
Let us act on the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, when he told his son at the Casablanca Conference during World War II, that if we divert water into the Sahara Desert: "It'd make the Imperial Valley in California look like a cabbage patch."
The New Name for Peace is Development
Africa's huge, unacceptable deficit in physical infrastructure is the primary cause for the continent's problems; not over population, good governance or corruption. It is this underdevelopment in physical economy that is literally killing millions of Africans, through disease, dirty water (cholera,) starvation, and tribal-ethnic-religious warfare.
With the population of Africa projected to reach 2.4 billion in 2050-in less than two generations from now, of which approximately 30%-over 700 million will be 35 years of younger; the continent is facing an existential crisis. With hundreds of millions of youth ready to enter new workforce, unless African nations adopt future oriented polices now to grow healthy economies and provide them with meaningful-productive jobs, they face a potential catastrophe. To accomplish this task, governments must initiate planning and investment today for hard infrastructure in the vital categories; of energy, road, rail, and water, and soft infrastructure in health and education to create a platform for robust economic growth. Statesmen should guide their nations with a vision in their mind's eye of how their economy should be function one to two generations into the future.
In Africa most especially, there is no substitute for infrastructure and grand-transformative projects, such as Transaqua, and East-West/North-South railroads, to ensure the survival and well-being of its soon to be billions of citizens. As a result of the Chinese One Belt-One Road policy, championed by President Xi Jinping, Africa has an opportunity to construct the infrastructure that should have been built a half century ago following the "Winds of Change," if not earlier. With China's assistance new railroads have been built in Ethiopia and Kenya for the first time in a century, but Africa needs much, much more. Today's mere 100,000 megawatts for sub-Sahara Africa is a virtual death sentence. Africa needs hundreds of thousands of additional megawatts of power along millions of kilometers of railroad track for passenger and freight, and this is just the beginning of what can and should be done to lift all Africans up to a 21st century standard of living.
Like the African proverb says: The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is today. Let's get on with it!
UN Adviser Prof Ibrahim Gambari, Tells The Truth About Africa
The most urgent challenge facing Africa is "poverty prevention and development," according to Gambari, who provides the following facts and figures. "Over 42% of Africa's population lives on less than $1 a day, and 40% in inhuman poverty. Out of 700 million Africans, 120 million women are illiterate, and 150,000 die every year as a result of complications related to pregnancy. Even worse is the death [in the last decade] of 22 million children who die before they reach their first birthday." This misery is concentrated in Africa's Sub-Saharan region.
Ghana Amb Dr. Kofi Awoonor: 'The United Nations has lost its moral authority'
Dr. Kofi Awoonor is the ambassador and permanent representative of Ghana to the United Nations. In 1991 he was chairman of the Group of 77, which represents the more than 100 developing sector nations.
Interview-July 2, 1993
" You don't know what we are going through, in the developing countries, after suffering so many years of colonial exploitation. We did say that in the Non- Aligned Africa's position has been buttressed very strongly, since we are weakest link in the economic chain, by countries that are developing strong economies ; countries in Asia in particular, by Malaysia, by Indonesia, al1d so on. These countries have seen a concerted attack, a conspiracy to undermine their own development efforts by a singularly austere focus on the liberal aspect of human rights.
Of course, the NGOs-we are a little worried sometimes about the NGOs. I had a lot of problems with the NGOs when I was chairing the G-77 , on the environmental issue. I remember addressing the entire NGO group at one of the preparatory meetings in Geneva. And I said to them: "For God's sake, you cannot make environmental work part and parcel of some kind of almost dilettantish attachment to whales and elephants, and such wonderful species that we have here. Human beings are imperiled. "Some of them seemed to understand it. But you see many of them are coming from this intellectual, emotional, psychological tradition of the West, which has perfected the habit of separate things."
Ghana Amb Dr. Kofi Awonoor: 'By a stroke of the pen, cancel all debts'
Interview-October 22, 1991
Dr. Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations. He is also chairman of the Group of 77, which represents the more than 100 developing sector nations.
When the question of the environment was put on the international agenda a few years ago, we were enthusiastic supporters of this issue, because we share a common planet and we must be concerned as to its fate. But suddenly, when we, the developing countries, insisted upon the question of development being an intrinsic aspect of any effort to deal with environmental degradation on a global scale, we were being told that we were introducing an irrelevant issue. And we said: It's not only a question of keeping the world green, or protecting the flora or the fauna of this planet, but the human beings which are the makers or unmakers of this planet. A great percentage of that human population lives in a state of abject poverty. In our parts of the world, poverty is the cause of environmental degradation, if it is not in the developed parts of the world, where over consumption is ..
Lawrence Freeman, Political-Economic Analyst for Africa…
is an outspoken opponent of the current policies of neo-colonialism. He is a highly respected researcher, writer, and speaker on a variety of topics concerning Africa. An outspoken critic of the ICC attacks on African countries, Freeman led a delegation of American State Legislators to Sudan, who subsequently exposed the charges that the Khartoum government was engaged in slavery as fraudulent. Insisting that Africa no longer be forced to live in a dark age, he has consistently brought African governments a roadmap for transformative infrastructure projects. As the author of dozens of articles and reports on Africa, having traveled to the continent 25 times, Freeman served as a member of AFRICOM's Advisory Committee under U.S. General Kip Ward. Most recently, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Lake Chad Basin Scientific Committee and is currently working on a project to replenish the shrinking Lake Chad. Presently, he is teaching courses on the history of Africa, utilizing his decades of experience and knowledge.
A Hamiltonian Development Policy for Africa Is A Necessity
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China's Friendship and Economic Partnership With Africa in 2021
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US-Africa Strategy Should Focus on Long-Term Development for the Continent's 2.4 Billion People
US-China Relations: Cooperation Not Geo-Politics. All Nations Share A Common Interest
Africa Needs Nuclear Power to Propel Economic Development and Eliminate Poverty-Will Ghana Take the Lead?
Biden Administration Must Break from Past Practices, to Collaborate with China in Fostering Economic Development in Africa
China Brings Good News for Humankind: Eliminating Poverty and Discovering Abundant Energy for the Future
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Ethiopia's Conflict: A War Won to Preserve the Nation-State
Transaqua Garners Support From Former Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi.
Ethiopia's Addis Ababa to Djibouti Railway: A Model for the Role of Infrastructure in Fighting Hunger
Ouattara Elected President: Cote d'Ivoire Poised for Progress
World Food Program Awarded Nobel Peace Prize. WFP Dir, Beasley Responds With "Call to Action" to Stop Starvation
U.S. Supports Sovereignty of Ivory Coast in Upcoming Election
Will IMF Austerity Policies Lead to More Deaths in Africa? The Answer is Obvious
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Africa Threatened With Starvation: No Objective Reason
South African Pres. Ramaphosa Calls For End to Poverty and a New Global Deal
Ivory Coast Increases Manufacturing Capacity to Advance Their Economy
Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed: "Africa's Peace and Prosperity Begin at Home"-More is Required
Africa Development News: Ivory Coast and Ghana Move Forward With Infrastructure
Trump's Aid Cut Harmful to Ethiopia and All of Africa
Mali's Future Depends on Development of the Sahel
The West Continues to Attack China to the Detriment of Africa
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text:
Marc A. Ott Appointed ICMA Executive Director
Austin city manager will assume new position October 31, 2016.
ARTICLE | Aug 12, 2016
Marc A. Ott, city manager of Austin, Texas, has been selected by the ICMA Executive Board as the organization's next executive director. Ott will assume his new position on October 31, 2016.
"Marc brings to ICMA nearly 30 years of distinguished service in the local government management profession and has been a member of ICMA throughout his career. His broad local government experience includes service to a number of very diverse communities in Texas and Michigan." stated Patricia Martel, ICMA Executive Board President and city manager of Daly City, California.
"In making this appointment, following a year-long competitive search, the board selected a candidate who reflects the integrity, professionalism, and commitment to service of our entire organization, which has been a hallmark of ICMA's leadership," Martel noted. "Marc is a reflection of our members' dedication to local government service and most importantly to the ethics of our profession. ICMA, our membership, and our staff will be well served by Marc Ott's leadership," said Martel.
Ott currently serves as the city manager of Austin, Texas, a full-service city with 40+ departments, 14,000 employees, an all-funds budget of $3.7 billion, and a AAA bond rating that was maintained throughout his tenure. He has held this position since January 2008. During his nearly nine years as chief executive and chief administrative officer, Ott has championed employee empowerment, civic dialogue, innovation, and fiscal sustainability with the goal of having Austin recognized as the "Best Managed City in America."
Since his arrival in Austin, Ott has received numerous awards and honors. In 2011, he was one of only six senior public sector administrators worldwide—including Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Vienna (Austria) and Melbourne (Australia)—that were highlighted for their exceptional local management practices in the CAO Chronicles of Public Sector Digest.
In 2013, Ott was recognized with ICMA's highest professional honor, the Award for Career Excellence in Memory of Mark E. Keane, for his creative approach to such challenging issues as budget deficits, homelessness, infrastructure management, and education. Ott's insistence that "a good idea is a good idea, regardless of where it comes from," was put in to practice early in his tenure with Austin, as the city faced a $30 million budget gap which, if left uncorrected, most likely would have persisted over time. Through a creative combination of employee-generated cost savings, thoughtful service reductions, strategic infrastructure investing, and unprecedented public involvement, Ott and his team navigated the fiscal challenge without laying off a single employee.
Also in 2013, Ott and the city of Austin received ICMA's Community Sustainability Award, which recognizes innovative local government programs that creatively balance a community's social, economic, environmental, and cultural needs. The city was cited for its Austin Energy Green Building program, a rating system initially designed for single-family homes that expanded to include multifamily and commercial buildings.
In Ott's tenure as city manager, Austin has consistently been recognized by the ETC Institute as one of the best cities in America for municipal service delivery, exceeding the national average in almost every public service category. In 2013, Austin was ranked number one among 13 cities with populations over 500,000, and continues to garner top marks in community satisfaction rates when compared to other large cities in the country.
Earlier this year, Forbes magazine ranked the city of Austin #22 in a list of "America's Best Employers," joining other Top-25 winners that included Google, Costco, Facebook, Southwest Airlines, and Duke University. Additionally, Austin was the top-ranked employer in the government sector for organizations with 5,000 or more employees.
"I am excited about the opportunity to serve and lead America's premier local government organization, one that is supremely dedicated to excellence in local governance around the world," said Ott. "I am proud to say that I've been a member of ICMA for over 30 years. The mission, values, and code of conduct espoused by ICMA serves its members, and the communities they serve, very well. This is a time of great change, and it is essential that ICMA be at the forefront in helping to shape the future of local government," he added.
Ott has had a long and distinguished career in municipal management. Before joining Austin, he served as assistant city manager for infrastructure services for Fort Worth, Texas (2002–08), where he was responsible for the infrastructure operations carried out by the Water, Transportation and Public Works, Engineering, and Aviation departments. He was also responsible for implementing one of the city council's top strategic priorities: promoting orderly growth.
Prior to moving to Texas, Ott served as city administrator of Rochester Hills, Michigan (1998–2002), where he had administrative and managerial oversight over all municipal operations. He also served as city manager (1993–97), deputy city manager (1991–93), and as an assistant city manager (1990–91) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ott served in leadership and support roles for the cities of Grand Rapids and Jackson, Michigan (1982–90), and as a staff assistant to the Michigan Municipal League (1981–82).
Ott earned his bachelor's degree in management with a concentration in economics from Michigan's Oakland University and a master's in public administration from the same university. He is also a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and serves on the board of directors for the Alliance for Innovation. Ott received an ICMA Service Award in 2012 in honor of his 30 years of service to local government.
Best Practices for Proactive Governance in Your City or County
An open line of communication - and responsiveness to it - in turn, creates public trust and improves the services that a community provides.
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Stretching job assignments help people see you in a new light
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LGR: Local Government Review, July 2019
Special Section of the July 2019 PM Magazine
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text:
Suppressed study shows jump in anti-Semitism / Contentious report blames much of the increase on European Muslims
News // Politics
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Dec. 3, 2003 Updated: Jan. 14, 2012 2:14 a.m.
2003-12-03 04:00:00 PDT Jerusalem -- Defying a ban by the European Union's watchdog group on racism, the European Jewish Congress on Tuesday released a suppressed EU study on its Web sites that shows a surge in anti-Jewish attacks and propaganda in Europe.
The report, commissioned by the European Monitoring Center for Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) but never released, pins the blame for much of the increase in anti-Semitic hatred in recent years on European Muslims. But it says anti- globalization crusaders, left-wing writers and activists and even some church leaders shared responsibility.
Jewish groups said the report had been quashed because it might offend Muslims, and they demanded that the center publish the study.
"Withholding the report from publication is alarmingly irresponsible, and counterproductive for Jews and European society as a whole," Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial group, said in a statement Tuesday.
"The EU should publish the report immediately and take decisive action to implement its recommendations," which included increased education on religious tolerance and monitoring of the Internet, where anti-Semitic remarks are proliferating.
EUMC Chairman Bob Purkiss said the study had been shelved because the research was "of poor quality and lacking in empirical evidence" and pledged to release a more wide-ranging report on the issue next year. Others at the center said the study had been rejected because it covered a period later judged to be unrepresentative -- May and June 2002, after Israeli troops and tanks had stormed Palestinian towns in the occupied territories in a campaign to root out militants suspected in attacks on Israelis.
But Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, derided the center's explanations for the report's suppression, calling them "subterfuge to hide the real reason, which is political intimidation by the Arab world."
A similar report showing an increase in anti-Muslim discrimination in Europe after the suicide attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001 was published by the EUMC without any controversy.
The second report was shelved in February, but the Financial Times newspaper obtained a copy this month. It was posted Monday on the Web site of the French Jewish Representative Council.
According to the full text of the 105-page report, written by researchers at the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism at Berlin Technical University, the wave of anti-Semitism in Europe started with the Palestinian uprising in October 2000 and was fueled by further conflict in the Middle East and the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
"Physical attacks on Jews and the desecration and destruction of synagogues (during the monitoring period) were acts often committed by young Muslim perpetrators," it says. "Many of these attacks occurred either during or after pro-Palestinian demonstra- tions, which were also used by radical Islamists for hurling verbal abuse. In addition, radical Islamist circles were responsible for placing anti-Semitic propaganda on the Internet and in Arab- language media."
The authors say that the activities of European extreme right-wingers, the traditional source of anti-Semitic hatred on the continent, "have not played the decisive role in the reporting period."
Reports from 15 EU member countries showed a sharp rise in physical assaults on Jews, violent attacks on synagogues, schools and Jewish cemeteries,
and a rise of anti-Semitic arguments and stereotypes in public discussion and debate. The report says anti-Jewish incidents were highest in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
"There were 22 synagogue desecrations in the 22 months before October 2000, but 78 in the same time period since," the report says.
Professor Werner Bergmann, the main author of the report, said the EU body that commissioned the research had repeatedly asked for the draft report to be changed to soften its conclusions about young Muslims. Alterations were also sought when it linked anti-Semitism to both anti-Zionism and criticism of Israeli politics.
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"The EUMC didn't want to publish the report because it's not politically correct," said Dr. Juliane Wetzel, one of the study's co-authors. "The results give the EUMC problems because it wants to protect exactly these groups."
The 15-nation EU has often opposed Israeli policies. Its leaders say the criticism is not anti-Semitic but merely reflects European views that Israel's current policies harm the cause of peace in the region. But the suppressed report drew links between anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment.
"In Spain, France, Italy and Sweden, sections of the political left and Arab-Muslim groups unified to stage pro-Palestinian demonstrations," the report said. "While the right to demonstrate is of course a civil right, and these demonstrations are not intrinsically anti-Semitic, at some of these anti- Semitic slogans could be heard and placards seen; and some demonstrations resulted in attacks upon Jews or Jewish institutions."
Said Wetzel, "There is a borderline between criticism of Israeli policies and anti-Semitic stereotypes, and that border is crossed."
Left wingers, usually committed to fighting racism, were also found to be using anti-Jewish messages, the report said -- often in combination with anti-American statements.
One anti-globalization rally in Berlin in May 2002 featured leaflets where Uncle Sam was depicted as a hook-nosed Jew controlling the world like a puppet-master.
Serge Cwajgenbaum, the European Jewish Congress' secretary-general, said, "There are some weaknesses in this study, but ... the conclusions are entirely identical to what we have noticed on the ground across Europe."
On Nov. 15, a Jewish school in a Paris suburb was firebombed, and on the same day, two synagogues in Turkey were bombed, killing 23 people.
"This report shows that anti-Semitism in Europe is rising, and it has not abated," said Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League. "It is serious, it is explosive, and until and unless the European countries come to grips with the problem, it will continue growing."
Matthew Kalman


Recently, President Ahmadinejad of Iran interviewed with Pierce Morgan on CNN. The interview, which went for approximately forty-five minutes covered many topics from 9/11 to the Holocaust. Given the rarity of public figures (World leaders, even) who speak openly about "the other side of the story," President Ahmadinejad has grown into one of the most admirable world leaders...at least in my opinion.
You may have heard much about him from the generally corrupt western media, now hear it from the source... The revelations may surprise you!
What are your thoughts? Is Mr. Ahmadinejad as "MADD" as they say to you? Who seems more civil or peaceful to you?