Re: <nettime> drafts on WTO

["cisler" <cisler@pobox.com>]

Geert and Nettime:

Last week I was in the hotbed of elite decision-making: The Aspen Institute. The
Aspen Meadows is the hotel adjoining the Institute. It's a wonderful Bauhaus
design, set in the Rockie mountains in a town that subsists on the taxes from
large second/third homes as well as the tourist industry (mainly skiing).  The
physical setting is memorable, and the facilities allow you to relax or be very
productive. I chose both.

In my hotel room there was a copy of Foreign Policy magazine, and the October
issue contained several very interesting articles. This is not a journal that
anti-globalists are fond of, but I would urge to to read a couple of pieces:

Will Globalization Make You Happy? by Robert Wright.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_sept_2000/essay.html

Wright looks at the different measures of happiness in the world, and the
results may surprise some of you. Very interesting observations on how national
happiness seems to flatten out at $10,000 per capita (that's where Greece, S.
Korea, and Portugal are in 2000) but up to that point it really does make a
difference.  Most Americans are consuming like crazy in order to boost their
relative standard in society, but it may not make them happier. Wright brings is
a lot of the arguments by those 'fighting globalization' as well as those who
disagree with them. It's a very different way of looking at the whole issue.

There's also an interview with the former head of the IMF.
Michel Camdessus Talks with FP The former managing director of
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) takes on his harshest critics,
warns of the next global financial crisis, and scolds world leaders for
using the IMF as their "scapegoat of first resort." This is not online, but I
was impressed with the tough questions asked by the editor, Moisés Naím. These
are questions IMF critics would like to ask him.

There's also a great cartoon accompanying the article "the spy who loved
globalization" where James Bond is strapped down and Evil Dr. Soros exclaims,
"You saw wht my awesom destructive powers did to the British Pound and the
Malaysian Ringgit, 007...do you think your puny governments can stop me?"  
(Bond flips the bird to Soros).

Steve Cisler

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