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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Book Fair Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters For richer, for poorer
When President Mubarak made his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, he spoke in the name of all developing countries. He spoke eloquently of the fact that, for many members of the world community, the global market economy has meant nothing but more instability and more poverty.Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, adherence to the rules of the free-market economy and the capitalist model is no longer an option, but a must. Ready-made prescriptions from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are imposed on developing countries as if they were God-given scripture, regardless of individual political, economic and social conditions.
Even those who agreed to "integrate" into the US-led world economy, furthermore, were not spared the financial crises that are the lot of the weak in this jungle. The "free flow" of capital has proven to be not only a fallacy but also a major threat to developing economies which are entirely vulnerable to major financial speculators and powerful transnational corporations.
It is extremely important to start working toward a goal President Mubarak mentioned several times in his speech: dialogue between the rich and the poor, the North and the South, on the basis of equal rights. The same major industrial powers who ruthlessly force world markets open should open their markets to exports from developing and Third World countries instead of applying protectionist measures in disguise.
Any global world economy must put the interests of human beings and their development above all else. The issue is not simply social justice, but also the stability of the world economy. If only a few nations prosper and develop while the majority of other world countries fall deeper into poverty, globalism and the "global village" are nothing but nonsense. If this happens, the world should prepare itself for more war, rather than cooperation and integration.
