‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
e-Con e-News May 2023 – Part 1
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‘Political parties could have used this year’s May Day
to emphasize the gravity of the situation
thereby preparing the population to face the deepening crisis.
Instead, all of them engaged in meaningless rhetoric…
…such useless propaganda received
primetime television coverage as well as coverage
by Sinhala, Tamil & English print media.’
– former General Secretary of the Communist Party, DEW Gunasekera
(See: ee Random Notes, for more)
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Even the most vicious snakes moult their skin quite often. But not the corporate media. Well-bribed by their multinational corporate sponsors, led by Unilever, Ceylon Tobacco Co, CIC-ICI, Standard Chartered, etc., they see no need to renew the country. Yet they preen themselves in constant claims to ‘newer’, ‘diverse’, inclusive’, etc. The media’s job is to trivialize or ignore what is vital, and highlight what is paltry. They claim to be whiter than white and love to point fingers at politicians (who usually wear ‘national’ & are ‘corrupt’ – though the media never call their corporate sponsors such names). Or highlight the petty crimes of working-class criminals (usually given Sinhala monikers, Makandure Madush etc). Despite the whiteout, there are those who would still attempt to discuss the roots of our disquiet. Yet, their words never obtain repetition and saturation in broadcast media. Meanwhile, all of them are totally prevented from examining one tap root: the prevention of modern industrialization.
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‘Special Loan Conditions on Upper Kotmale Hydropower Project (UKHP):
1) 50% of goods & services from Japan;
2) All main & subcontractors from Japan;
3) Consultants should be from Japan’
– ee Industry, Wimalasurendra Memorial Lecture 2022
Such ‘loan conditions’ are demanded not just by Japan. It’s part of the imperialist game of keeping us underdeveloped. ee was directed this week to examine the 1935 Report of the Technical Advisor on Industries in English-colonized Ceylon. He (KD Guha) noted how in India every Province already had a Department of Industries by 1935 (due to being ‘rudely shocked’ by world war & depression). Yet in Ceylon, despite ‘the bitter experience of Ceylon in recent years as purely an agricultural country’, all that was allowed over the previous 2 decades had been an overabundance of ‘mere speculation’ on the need for industrialization. He noted how in India, the Department of Industries had to battle the Department of Education to take control of Technical & Industrial Education (so today in 2023 India’s Institute of Technology or IIT is a leading institution in machined modernity).
The 1935 report records drawbacks (in Bengal then, as) similar to developing a modern producer culture in Ceylon, which still apply to us almost 100 years later: ‘An absence of familiarity’, ‘want of zeal’, ‘lack of technical knowledge’, ‘want of necessary tools & appropriate machinery’, ‘lack of necessary funds for developing cottage industries and saving cottage workers from the clutches of the middlemen’, ‘ignorance of market conditions’, and ‘lack of advertisement’.
Well, as to ‘lack of advertisement’ of our real needs, we can very well ask Unilever, who controls the propaganda (aka public relations or PR) machinery (which was behind the recent ‘Aragalaya’) in Sri Lanka (and has captured our home market!).
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• Which brings us to this tiny gem found midst the mountain of doo-doo that is the English media in Sri Lanka today. Within a mistitled excerpt from A Cabinet Secretary’s Memoirs by BP Peiris – ‘Writing the Soulbury Constitution’ – we learn of the stenographic ‘native’ copyeditors of the English dictat to inscribe a body of useless principles that would prevent our economic transformation at ‘independence’. Note the reference to 19th century comprador families, English universities, and Colombo clubs, where all the so-called ‘separations of powers’ between executive, judiciary, legislature and raw capitalist cravings vaporize in a tipple of alcohol:
‘PC Villavarayan – Classics man from Oxford; HNG Fernando – Oxford & Orient Club;
BP Peiris – No Clubs; Abeysundera – One-time Private Secretary to DS;
S Namasivayam – Oxford, Grandson of Arunachalam;
Fred de Silva – Son of George de Silva, Member, State Council;
A Mahadeva – Grandson of Ramanathan;
The fact that I was drafting the Constitution was kept secret by my colleagues…
The Ministers’ Draft, which had been prepared by Sir Ivor Jennings,
was in a most confusing form as a draft and,
although it contained all the essential points, had to be entirely redrafted.’
– ee Politics, Writing the Soulbury Constitution.
Such hubris! All those essential points by ‘Sir Aiyo!’, serving to maintain English political, military & economic interference in the country to this day, were dictated by England’s Foreign Office!
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• This ee covers the continued US destabilization of Asia & Africa. The 14 May elections in Thailand offer a template of what is in store for Sri Lanka. In SL elections have been postponed while there is blatant auctioning of public resources (under the guise of SoE restructuring) to pay for the upcoming buy-off of politicians. As one observer points out (ee Workers), the IMF is only concerned about corruption by the empire’s enemies, than political and economic repression of the masses.
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• Nazis & Fascists of Europe always saw the genocidal white settlers of the Americas, Africa and the Pacific, as their ‘older brothers’ (no ‘sisters’ are mentioned but they no doubt ‘intersect’). So, it is no surprise that Europe is so easily capitulating to US control of their politics and economy. At the same time the Nazi (& ZioNazi) grip over US & Canadian political power grows even more dire and shrill.
For those taken in by the fake claims of DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, Equality), former US ambassador Charles Freeman explains exactly what defines a ‘European’ (White, Christian & Docile). Hungary PM Viktor Orban exposes the US war as cover for the US to cut Europe off from Russia and China, to set up a new architecture of power in Europe – this is no Polish joke! (See ee Random Notes)
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• This ee covers SBD de Silva’s charting of the retardation of the growth of indigenous industrial capital – as evident in the post-1977 sabotage of an indigenous textile & garment industry (when it had features of real industry) leading to the rise of the fakers (Brandix, MAS), which mirrored the multinational capture of Singapore’s garment industry. He also noted the rise in imports due to so-called ‘access’ to export markets. (ee Focus, Political Economy)
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• England’s Pre-emptive Judicial Tricks – There’s an ongoing suit in Scotland by over 1,000 injured tea workers employed by James Finlay and Unilever in Kenya. Finlay insists Scottish courts have no authority to preside over the case [and] that letting Scottish courts determine the class action suit would be a direct attack on Kenya’s sovereignty! Workers argue that policy is made at the multinational’s registered parent company in Scotland [and] the ultimate beneficiary of the profits derived from labour rights violations are domiciled in Scotland’. What may interest Sri Lankans is that these injuries are also linked to Finlay’s ‘mechanical harvesting department, with a 9-year-old boy decapitated by a tea-plucking machine at a 100-year-old James Finlay tea estate. Tea plantations have refused to mechanize production in Sri Lanka, relying on its over-150-year methods of labor-intensive musculoskeletal movements. Though no such law suits appear to have been launched from here. As to how these plantations were built on land stolen from Sri Lankans, see Random Notes. The story also refers to a recent BBC documentary of sexual abuse of workers by Unilever management in Kenya. The issue for us is that Unilever is BBC and BBC is Unilever. So what tricks are the English up to now? (ee Focus, Kenya)
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• This week saw ‘Sri Lankan firm’ Browns Investment buy into aforementioned multinational tea firm James Finlay Kenya. Also, Swiss multinational Nestle, which monopolizes milk production in Sri Lanka, declared itself a private company. Nestle claims that the ‘company manufactures over 90% of its products sold in Sri Lanka locally at their state-of-the-art factory in Kurunegala’.
Further, England’s Unilever claimed to ‘get more Sri Lanka-rooted’ by setting up a malted beverage plant in Sapugaskanda. Again, the media provides no details on where their machinery and chemistries come from, nor how much imports are required. Then, we get the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Delegation of German Industry & Commerce (AHK SL) together with the Export Development Board (EDB, which has a German offficial housed within its offices) organizing an ‘awareness program on German Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains.’ This ‘diligence’ will then insist that local production does not meet their high ‘green’ standards, and we must only use their machinery!
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Contents:
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A1. Reader Comments –
• ee Dangerous • Balancing Information & Sanity • Local Academics & US Imperialism
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A2. Quotes of the Week
• Killing Gotabaya • Axing Samurdhi • Absent Opposition • Domestic Debt Restructure to Harm EPF, ETF, NSB & Insurance Corporation • IMF Liquidation of Licensed Banks • Money to Workers vs Bankers • Brzezinski’s fears & BRI • China vows to heal Sino-Indian relations • Kremlin Attack & Hegemon • Zelensky as Showman • May 2 Memories • USA under God • US Libertarians & CIA
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A3. Random Notes –
• Communist Party’s DEW Gunasekera on MayDay • US NGOs Hijack Thai Elections • Plantations & Sinhala Land Theft • Every US President needs a 3rd-World Villain • Indo-US Tango • China’s Cultural Revolution Greater than the Great Wall & Pyramids • US Divides Europe from Russia & China • US Defining Europe as White & Christian
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B. ee Focus
B1. Kenya’s Tea Pickers sue James Finlay in Scotland for Work Injuries – Brian Wasuna
B2. The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, Part 7 – SBD de Silva
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C. Building Blocks
• Guaranteed Rice Price for Industrialization • Creation of a Home Market for Industry • Japan’s Limits on Industrial Exports • Smallholding & Science • Extraordinary Culture of Machine Tools • Making Central Banks Independent of the People? • On State-owned Enterprises & Privatization
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D. News Index
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A1. Reader Comments
ee thanks Readers who send articles of interest. Please excerpt or summarize what is important about any news sent, or your comments, and place any e-link at the end. Email: econenews@gmail.com
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• ‘I received ee with an email warning: ‘This message seems dangerous.’’
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• ‘I’m trying to balance my need for information, with keeping sane.’
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• ‘Thank you for the fine article by Shamindra Ferdinando on Zheng He. You may recall The Island carried Sena Thoradeniya’s article in May 2021, ‘Vira Alkeshvara & Zheng He: More Basic Facts,’ written in response to Sasanka Perera’s ‘Vira Alakeshvara’s plight: signals from the past’… Now we understand how the US is inspired by our academics to bring Zheng He to the ongoing dialogue opposing China’s Road & Belt Initiative.’
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A2. Quotes of the Week_
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• ‘Plan A among those involved in the conspiracy was to kill Gotabaya Rajapaksa & senior leaders of the armed forces who were inside the President’s House, allow the country to descend into anarchy for a couple of weeks and then establish an interim government headed by the Speaker.’ – ee Sovereignty, Wimal & US envoy trade barbs over conspiracy allegations
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• ‘The IMF wants the Wickremesinghe Government to axe Samurdhi in a big way. That would certainly provoke social protests, even the IMF would not deny. The IMF therefore does not speak about State repression though they show concern about corruption and stress on transparency. Meanwhile the strategy seems about reducing space for protests to the best of their ability.’ – ee Workers, ‘20th Century’ TU leaderships & IMF proposed ‘social security’
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• ‘Ranil deprived the Opposition of a local-authorities election. The Opposition could have retaliated by voting against his IMF agreement at the parliamentary debate or linking its response to a verifiable guarantee of elections. By its vote it could have signaled a less-than-smooth passage on the ground for the IMF deal, thereby nudging the IMF’s global stakeholders into strongarming Ranil on elections before the next tranche. Instead, by absenting itself at voting time the main Opposition rewarded Ranil’s atrocious conduct on electoral democracy by giving him a blank cheque on his IMF deal.’ – ee Economists, The Absent Opposition
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• ‘Foreign creditors now demand to include domestic debt in the restructuring, which some Sri Lankan banks oppose but the government seeks to avoid talks that include pre-conditions.
According to several financial analysts and former top officials of the Central Bank, local banks and licensed financial institutions will experience significant capital and forex shortfall…
Superannuation funds such as EPF, ETF, NSB and Insurance Corporation will also be heavily exposed by this procedure… However, the government will have to fulfil several commitments under the IMF reforms to extend the currently improving economic performance and secure long-term recovery.’ – ee Economy, Debt restructuring talks with bilateral creditors
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• ‘The IMF & World Bank have highlighted the importance of strengthening the resolution framework to strengthen the financial sector safety nets; the draft Banking (Special Provisions) Act was prepared as a supplement to Banking Act No30 of 1988, introducing provisions for resolution of licensed banks, deposit insurance & winding up/ liquidation of licensed banks.’ – ee Economy, Cabinet nod to table Banks (Special Provisions) Bill in Parliament
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• ‘If 100 rupees is handed to working people, then more or less all of it will be spent; and it will be spent on goods & services which are produced mainly in the small-scale sector where the profit-margins (& hence savings per unit of income generated) are generally lower.’ – ee Economists, Prabhat Patnaik, India’s Economy is Facing the Heat Like Never Before
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• ‘As a steel grid of rails & petroleum pipelines began crisscrossing the continent, China ringed the tricontinental world island with a chain of 40 commercial ports – from Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, around Africa’s coast, to Europe from Piraeus, Greece, to Hamburg, Germany. In launching what soon became history’s largest development project, 10 times the size of the Marshall Plan, Xi is consolidating Beijing’s geopolitical dominance over Eurasia, while fulfilling Brzezinski’s fear of the rise of ‘an assertive single entity’ in Central Asia.’ – ee Sovereignty, The Rise of China (& the Fall of the USA?)
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• ‘Chinese State Councillor & Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed on Thursday that China expects the relationship between China & India to return to a healthy & stable development track. He also stated that China is willing to ease the border situation between the 2 countries. He made the remarks when meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of attending the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Panaji, the capital of Goa, India.’ – ee Sovereignty, China vows to bring Sino-Indian relations back to a healthy, stable track
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• ‘Some Chinese experts considered the attack [on the Kremlin] as likely to be linked with Ukraine extremists who advocate prolonging the Russia-Ukraine conflict and coercing high-ranking Ukrainian officials to continue the fight, while the odds are that there was support or even encouragement from international hegemonic forces for the operation.’ – ee Sovereignty, China calls for avoiding escalation in Ukraine crisis after Kremlin drone attack
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• ‘After almost 3 years in office, it is clear what the problem is: Mr Zelensky’s tendency to treat everything as a show. For him, gestures are more important than consequences. The words you use don’t matter, as long as they are entertaining.’ – New York Times, 21 Feb 2022
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• ‘On May 2, 2014, riots culminated in the massacre in Trade Union House in Odessa when the victims of this day officially stated to be 48 dead and over 200 injured. But about them one thing has been left out. They were all left-wing opponents of the putsch government supporting the federalization of the regions… May 2 is also the day on which, in 1933, the trade union houses in Germany were stormed by the Nazis, and left-wingers and trade unionists were sent to the first provisional concentration camps and beaten up there, tortured or even murdered.’ – ee Security, Berlin Judge Releases
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• ‘In 1954, the US Congress followed US President Eisenhower’s lead, adding the phrase ‘under God’ to the previously secular Pledge of Allegiance. A similar phrase, ‘In God We Trust’, was added to a postage stamp for the first time in 1954 and then to paper money the next year; in 1956 it became the nation’s first official motto.’ – Kevin Kruse, One Nation under God, How Corporate America Invented Christian America
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• ‘This libertarian advocate for absolute monarchy also has no qualms about making money through mass surveillance. In 2003, [Thiel] founded Palantir, which specializes in big data analysis, and immediately received funding from the CIA’s investment fund.’ – ee Economists, Capital’s Militant
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A3. Random Notes (‘Seeing Number in Chaos’) _
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• ‘Former General Secretary of the Communist Party, DEW Gunasekera: The participation of genuine workers seemed to be almost nil, the former cabinet minister said, adding that May Day rallies, held in Colombo and Kandy, reflected further decay in the political party system… the main May Day speeches reflected the shoddy handling of the worst economic crisis by Parliament, regardless of its responsibility for public finance… Political parties could have used this year’s May Day to emphasize the gravity of the situation thereby preparing the population to face the deepening crisis. Instead, all of them engaged in meaningless rhetoric, the ex-MP said, adding he was quite surprised by how such useless propaganda received primetime television coverage as well as covered by Sinhala, Tamil & English print media…
The UNP leadership should realize that the much-touted export economy status hasn’t been achieved and the changing global order would make it impossible for us to reverse the situation with the latest IMF intervention… out of that, of over $15bn in ISBs obtained by Sri Lanka, $12.5bn were taken at high interest rates… the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government was yet to educate the public of the severity of the crisis. Instead, $2.9bn, promised by the IMF, over a period of 48 months, was being touted as a panacea for all our ills… At least after we accepted, officially, our inability to service international debt in April 2022, Parliament should have made a realistic re-assessment after consulting the Central Bank and the Monetary Board. Unfortunately, Parliament seems to have failed its primary responsibility… Sri Lanka should take into consideration critically important global developments, such as Saudi Arabia-China opening a new chapter in their relationship, as US wanes in the Middle East. The recent Saudi involvement in the political and security bloc Shanghai Cooperation, that includes both China & Russia, should be an eye-opener for Sri Lanka decision-makers. [He] urged political parties, represented in Parliament, to study developments, pertaining to BRICS – a group of nations that depict themselves as the global South, and an alternative to G7. The ex-lawmaker asserted that our political parties were kind of lost in global developments as countries realigned themselves against the backdrop of waning US influence and the continuing war in Ukraine. “I do not think our pundits at least bother to peruse reports on the continuing crisis in the US banking system. The recent seizure of First Republic Bank by regulators, and the transferring of control to JP Morgan Chase, underscore the risks involved… US media reported yesterday that the First Republic Bank failed to recover, in spite of receiving a $30bn lifeline from nearly a dozen banks. It is the 3rd big US bank to collapse in recent weeks.’ – ee Workers, DEW, May Day should have been used to address economic crisis
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• The US is busy funding NGO fronts to hijack the upcoming 14 May elections in Thailand. The Thai government can apparently do little to prevent such open & covert subversion, because the US (along with Japan & EU) brandishes its major economic presence. The Thai elections will therefore ‘be an exercise in foreign-interference, not self-determination’.
‘The US has invested heavily in not only opposition parties but also a massive network composed of legal, media & political organizations funded by the US government through the CIA’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED). US government-funded iLaw (also active in Sri Lanka) has been ‘openly involved in supporting US-backed opposition groups and is now playing a growing role in the elections themselves’.
The goal is to not only install a client regime into power to reverse close and growing Thai-Chinese relations, but also to overwrite Thailand’s sovereign institutions with US-government funded proxies.’ (ee Sovereignty, US-funded Fronts Hijacking Upcoming Thai Elections)
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• ‘These plantations needed large extents of land, and a large labour force. From where did the English get them? Like in all cases of primitive accumulation of capital, in Ceylon, too, the primitive accumulation of capital (in this case in the form of land) took place through large-scale plunder. It was done through the Waste Land Ordinance of 1897 and the Grains Tax of 1878.
When the English came to Ceylon, the Dutch had given a legal system to the maritime provinces over which they ruled. People who owned land had some kind of title deed to prove it. Not so in the Kandyan provinces. Here, all land belonged theoretically to the king. Through his nobles, the king farmed out his lands to the peasants. This tenure was secure and could be transferred only if the peasant lost the confidence of the king. But generally it was held in perpetuity and passed from generation to generation. This was well understood. But there were no title deeds to prove it.
By means of the Waste Lands Ordinance, the English declared all lands to which the people could not prove ownership to belong to the Crown. Even if a certain number of peasants could prove ownership of their paddy fields they tilled, they could prove no ownership to the communal forest & common pasture where their cattle grazed, which was so much a part of the village economy and without which the cultivation of the paddy fields was impossible. Large numbers of peasants were thus forced to sell their fields & emigrate. These lands and the forests were declared to be crown property and sold to English planters at ridiculously low prices – sometimes, reported, at less than 50 cents per acre. Later, Ceylonese planters, too, were allowed to buy Crown land. If there were any peasants still left in ownership of the land, the Grains Tax looked after them. This was a particularly odious piece of taxation, aimed only at the peasant, while it exempted the landowner, temple lands, etc. Unable to pay this onerous tax, a large number of peasants, who were still left, sold their lands and left. Many of them are reported to have died of starvation.
In much the same way, the English also expropriated temple lands under the Temple Lands Registration Ordinance No 10 of 1856. In effect, this, too, affected the peasants, because these lands had always been given to them on service-tenure. On the Land Commissioners, appointed to administer this Ordinance, declaring the absence of legal title to the lands, 1,000s of acres of temple lands were seized by the government.
It is necessary to report that in the task of expropriating the lands from the Kandyans, the English were helped by a section of the feudal chiefs. In the process these chiefs helped themselves to large tracts of land. This, in fact, is the source of all present big nindagams. Governor Clifford’s cynical comment: ‘The speculative work of buying up doubtful titles from villagers was for the most part conducted by their own countrymen.’
Thus was the Kandyan peasant robbed of his land by the English conquerors. Though carried out under the semblance of legal fiction, it was nothing but plunder. It’s good to have this well in mind. Because, while remembering the Kandyan peasants had been robbed of their lands, the present-day chauvinist tends to forget who robbed the Kandyan lands. They even tend to substitute the innocent plantation worker of Indian origin, themselves victims of Imperialist exploitation, in place of the real culprit – the English imperialist, who still owns the greater part of the lands his forefathers robbed.
The evictions of the Kandyan peasants from their lands parallels a similar eviction of the English peasants by their feudal landlords on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, as a result of the change from wheat farming to sheep farming. But, whereas the great majority of the English peasants wandered to newly established towns to work in the factories that had lately sprung up, and thus became converted into the proletariat, no such luck awaited the evicted Kandyan peasants. The English did not employ them in any big scale in the plantations they opened up. There could probably be 2 reasons for this: 1) after the 1818 & 1848 rebellions, the English were suspicious of the Sinhala; 2) they may have preferred immigrant labour, whom they could have at their beck and call, and who would work right throughout the year.
Thus, the evicted Kandyan peasants were left to die a slow death, or, at best, to eke out a miserable existence. That this was so is borne out by the report of the 1935 Land Commission, which states, in Ceylon, the peasantry was dying out as a class. In order to stop this process, the Commission recommended that all alienation of Crown lands to private capitalists or to companies be stopped and, in future, Crown lands be given only to peasants. Thus arose the colonisation schemes of the 1930s. This land policy was followed by all governments up to the 1965 UNP government, when it was reversed, and Crown land again alienated to private capitalists and companies.’ (see ee Agriculture, A Marxist Looks at the History of Ceylon)
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• ‘For instance, although US Imperialism was fighting communism, so-called, throughout this period you’d find that US presidents – every US president – had to have a 3rd-World leader as a villain. They never fought the Russians. Truman had Kim II Sung, the North Korean leader, as a villain and mobilized US forces & international forces to fight their villain. Eisenhower had Mao Tsetung as the villain, not the Russians but Mao. Kennedy had Castro as the villain, not the Russians, but Castro. Then came Johnson – he had Ho Chi Min as the villain. Then Nixon. His villain was Sihanouk of Cambodia. He had to destroy that country in order to prove Sihanouk was his villain. He was followed by Reagan, who chose Khaddafy as his villain. And now we have Bush with Saddam Hussein as his villain. But is this accidental? or is it part of US policy necessitated by the significance of the 3rd-World countries in relation to the US? Not because 3rd-World countries have nuclear weapons, but because the US contains a large population from 3rd-World countries in its own borders, more than any other country in the Western World.’ – Abdul Rahman Muhammad Babu of Zanzibar at 1990 Malcolm X: Radical Tradition & a Legacy of Struggle Conference in New York City, as recorded by Norman Otis Richmond.
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• Indo-US Tango – ‘The US has made “unhelpful” foreign policies by handing over Afghanistan to Pakistan, gifting $450million to Pakistan to upgrade its F16s, pushing Myanmar more into China’s arms by sanctioning its regime, putting pressure on Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh on democracy issues (not inviting it to the Summit for Democracy, but inviting Pakistan), putting strain on our ties with Russia and pushing it increasingly into the arms of China, not to mention damaging our ties with Iran because of the sanctions regime…
Is the expanding Indo-US relationship of cooperation built solely on India prospectively supporting the US against China in a conflict? What is the pertinence then of a whole gamut of India-US dialogues on trade, resilient supply chains, health, climate change, renewable energy, energy transition, data-related issues, AI, Quantum computing, education, and so on?…
India has been standing up to China in Ladakh during 3 winters now at unconscionable heights, and earlier at Doklam. It is monitoring the movement of the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean. It is exercising with the US and others in the Sea of Japan, and with ASEAN navies for the first time in the South China Sea. It is doing burden sharing with France in the western Indian Ocean, with China’s penetration of East Africa also in mind. It is working with US and others on maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean. Is US pressing Pakistan to dilute its strategic ties with China? Has it weaned Sri Lanka away from its China leanings? Does the US feel obliged to secure India’s neighbourhood for us? A less one-sided view of India-US relations is needed…
Deterring China is a strategy that India shares with the US. India is already contributing to deterrence by showing to China its determination to counter its bullying and salami-slicing tactics, positioning missiles and more air power close to the Tibet border, the Malabar exercises now joined by Japan & Australia, monitoring the movement of Chinese ships and submarines in the Indian Ocean, pushing back on the gains China has made in our neighbourhood etc. – Kanwal Sibal, India’s former Foreign Secretary & Ambassador to Russia (ee Sovereignty, Tellis’ narrow self-serving view on India-US ties overlooks the big picture)
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• ‘Capitalist economists and the media love to whiteout the real basis of China’s rise. Not only do they ignore what happened right after 1949, they totally distort what happened during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The current leader of China Xi Jinping was a student ordered to the countryside and his account of his experiences there have become a bestseller in China. Here is what China had to do to survive the 2nd & 3rd decade of its independence:
‘The high cost of fighting the paper tigers of imperialism: During those years when both superpowers were China’s enemies, China gave the Vietnamese $20billion to fight the US invasion and they supported liberation movements elsewhere, especially in Africa (Tanzam railway, etc) to the tune of several billion. In addition, the relocation of industry to the interior of China for defence purposes took up half the national capital construction funds for the decade after 1964…’
‘No estimates or published statistics exist for the billions of labor days invested in basic farmland capital construction from one end of the country to the other during the Cultural Revolution. If such calculations are ever made it is safe to say they will dwarf the Pyramids, the Great Wall or any other previous human construction in scale & social purpose many times over. The policy decision of Mao & the Central Committee put a heavy burden on the peasants, did not raise their immediate disposable income, but did create the debt-free infrastructure (irrigation works, roads, railways, mines, oil wells, hydropower etc) that have become the basis for China’s later advances and her ability to turn to consumer production. In addition, it must not be forgotten that the People’s Communes supported social income policies that provided healthcare, educational and other services at a level never before reached in the countryside.’ – Stephen Endicott, Socialist Development in Rural China, ee Agriculture
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• The US & its allies are waging war in East Africa & West Asia to also carve out & control the western Indian Ocean – Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban believes the US is ‘restructuring Europe’s power structure’ under the cover of the US war in Ukraine. That is just the surface and a useful tool, which news media & publicists have to promote.
Russia has provided cheap energy & raw materials for Europe to develop technology – a Europe ruled by Germany & France. The US is now separating the EU economy from Russia, forcing them to obtain energy from elsewhere. Ukraine or what’s left of it will be joined to the EU & NATO. NATO will soon include Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, & Romania. The US is creating a North Central European ‘Headquarters’, with Poland becoming the USA’s main base. Poland, larger than France & Italy, and only 2nd in size to Germany, will become a powerhouse and challenge Germany. The US will also cut Europe from China. Orban insists therefore, ‘economic planning is key’, for Hungary to not become subservient to outside powers.’ (ee Sovereignty, Viktor Orban, Hungary PM, This War is a complete restructuring of power within Europe
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• What does being European mean? White. Christian. – ‘In 1993, when I was US Assistant Secretary of Defense, I synthesized a program called ‘The Partnership for Peace’. It was a path to NATO membership for the newly independent countries of Eastern Europe, and a cooperative vs collective security institution. There was a link to Russia’s involvement in it – in the NATO-Russia Council. And Russia was invited to join it. The origin of this was interesting: People had a view of what Europe should be, but the only organization that embraced Europe at the time was the OSCE – Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe, with 57 States from Europe, Central Asia & North America – including Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan, which by no stretch of the imagination are European(!). So, the idea was we shall let Europeans define themselves.
If people in Slovakia wish to demonstrate they are European, they have to do 2 things: 1) they have to conform to Western European standards – for the parliamentary supervision of the defense budget, and a civilian minister of defense – in other words conform to the political military culture that defines Western Europe & NATO. And 2) they had to learn the 3,000 Standardization Agreements (StanAgs) which enable people from different nationalities speaking different languages to cooperate in military operations (in support of peacekeeping & disaster relief – not fundamentally different from those involved in warfare!!!).
This fell afoul of 2 things – domestic US electoral politics, with ethnic groups insisting on immediate admission of their favorite country, their ancestral homelands, to NATO, without regard to their conditions. And 2) revanchism, a kind of triumphalism on the part of neoconservatives in the US, and their fellow travelers in Europe, which altered the plan. So would the Baltics (incl Ukraine) join NATO? The idea was, if Russia does not object. It was acceptable to Russia. With Ukraine, we had a different calculation. We imagined Ukraine would wish to learn StanAgs, to become inter-operable with NATO, but would not seek to join NATO because that would be a strategic provocation that would bring in a Russian intervention. So 30 years ago, we understood what would happen if Ukraine would be admitted to NATO, especially if it failed to meet any of the criteria. How we got into this mess, was a push from our side, from NATO & the US, to bring in every country that had become independent of the former Soviet empire in Europe, Georgia first, then Ukraine, regardless of their conditions. Russia then began amassing troops on the Ukraine border, demanding negotiations on European security architecture… The US-Russia proxy war is easiest to resolve. The most difficult is the war between Ukrainians, with purist Ukrainians demanding Russian-speaking Ukrainians speak Ukrainian, and the efforts of the Crimea to declare independence after the 2014 Coup. Russia had accepted a federal structure, like the Quebecois, Swiss Cantons, Walloons in Belgium.’ – Charles Freeman (ee Sovereignty, New World Order)
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B. Special Focus__
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B1. Kenya’s Tea Pickers Sue James Finlay in Scotland for Work Injuries – Brian Wasuna
Two days before the 9 August 2022 General Election, the attention of Kenyans & the world was fixed upon the polls that would determine who, between Dr William Ruto & Mr Raila Odinga, would be the country’s 5th President.
But, for James Finlay & over 1,000 of its past & current workers, court proceedings before Scottish judge Lord Braid was the most important event.
Judge Braid was presiding over a David vs Goliath legal battle that had seen a group of tea pickers claim at least £125million from James Finlay.
The legal battle started with 7 test cases filed in 2017 but has grown into a class action suit accusing James Finlay of profiting from intentional exposure of workers to inhumane working conditions that have left over 1,000 tea pickers with excruciating musculoskeletal injuries.
Some, the court papers claim, were unceremoniously sacked with no financial benefits to cater for medical bills or to start less-strenuous businesses.
The complainants were, at different times over the past 2 decades, employed by James Finlay to pick tea at its 25,000-acre plantation in Kericho County, now over 100 years old.
Just 4 days before Judge Braid’s proceedings, James Finlay had filed a fresh case at the Employment & Labour Relations Court in Nairobi seeking to quash the Scottish case and requesting temporary orders suspending it.
The multinational held in its application that Scottish courts had no authority to preside over the case that has, for over half a decade, raised tensions at the firm. It added that letting Scottish courts determine the class action suit would be a direct attack on Kenya’s sovereignty.
Temporary orders – Judge Braid was not happy with James Finlay’s move to stall proceedings. The firm, to him, was performing legal gymnastics by using Kenyan courts to ensure the Scottish case never took off.
Three days later, the Nairobi court issued orders temporarily stopping the Scottish case.
But the Kenyan court placed James Finlay’s case in abeyance on 2 December 2022 following Lord Braid’s orders, which opened the door for the case in Scotland to proceed.
James Finlay has twice tried, unsuccessfully, to overturn Lord Braid’s orders barring it from using Kenya’s courts to stop the Scottish proceedings.
On 16 March 2023 James Finlay was still reeling from a BBC documentary that exposed gross sexual abuse on its plantations and those owned by Unilever.
At least 70 women have come out to reveal the sexual abuse they have gone through in exchange for work in farms owned by James Finlay & Unilever. James Finlay has since fired the contractor at the centre of the sexual abuse allegations and offered all its workers positions at the multinational. Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji ordered for an investigation following BBC’s documentary.
The class action suit was slated for hearings on select days over a 2-week period. The tea pickers are being represented by Thompsons Solicitors Scotland. CMS Cameron McKenna Nabbaro Olswang LLP is representing James Finlay. Lord Weir took over the case in Edinburgh from Lord Braid. His immediate task is to determine which courts – Kenyan or Scottish – have authority to preside over the class action suit.
James Finlay is sticking its ground that the claim belongs in Kenya, but should not be determined in a courtroom.
The multinational insists that the workers should have sought compensation under the Work Injury & Benefits Act (WIBA), which reduced the Judiciary’s role in such cases strictly to an appeals platform for disgruntled claimants.
Under WIBA, workers who get injured or ill in the line of duty apply for compensation from the Directorate of Occupational Safety & Health Services. Companies are required to take out insurance covers for such outcomes.
But the tea pickers in the class action suit hold that WIBA is not the right forum to address their grievances as some of their injuries are not listed among conditions for which compensation can be given. The multinational further holds that the plantations are in Kenya and the alleged labour rights violations occurred in Kenya and should be determined locally.
But the workers insist that policy is made at the multinational’s registered parent company in Scotland. They add that the ultimate beneficiary of the profits derived from the alleged labor rights violations are domiciled in Scotland.
Expert witness – On March 16, former Attorney-General Githu Muigai took to the witness box to support James Finlay’s claim that the tea pickers should have pursued their claim in Kenya. Prof Muigai insisted that James Finlay operates in Kenya and had given workers contracts under local laws.
James Finlay brought Prof Muigai on board as an expert witness to testify on why the Scottish case should be terminated in favour of the WIBA route.
The tea pickers, he added, should have filed for claims with the Director of Occupational Safety & Health Services, which is in charge of paying compensation under the WIBA Act.
The Act provides for compensation of a maximum of 8 years’ salary. One of the issues that has become a central point of the Scottish proceedings so far is the definition of injury or illness under WIBA. Lawyers & experts for the tea pickers last week told the court that the law has a very short list of injuries and illnesses, which would exclude several of the plaintiffs.
Prof Muigai insisted that Kenya’s legal system has had no problem translating work injuries into compensation for workers under WIBA. Prof Muigai added that one of the reasons WIBA was enacted was to cut out “ambulance chasers” who filed several claims against companies and won millions that drained the firms.
Law Society of Kenya President Eric Theuri differed with Muigai, arguing, at the time, most lawyers new to the profession would often get cases involving personal injury hence the high number of suits. He said payments made under WIBA are relatively small when compared to claims made under common law, which means filed in court.
Injuries –Wilfred Nderitu, a seasoned advocate and expert witness for the plaintiffs, told the judge that the schedule of injuries listed in WIBA can see some claimants excluded from compensation despite contracting complications from the same organization as others who will get paid.
The Scottish case has also revealed some gaps in Kenyan law.
When the first group of 7 plaintiffs filed their cases in 2017, the Scottish court issued orders for inspection of James Finlay plantations. After a group of 8 experts arrived for the process, James Finlay filed a case in Kenyan courts arguing that there were gaps in the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Orders Act which do not provide for recognition of orders from ongoing cases in other countries.
The multinational held that the Act only provides for recognition of final decisions in the shape of judgments. In 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that foreign courts have to liaise with Kenyan courts to effect such orders. The tea pickers have appealed the decision at the Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs have told the Scottish court of the injuries they sustained while working for James Finlay.
Lucas Omoke said in court papers that he would pluck up to 80kg of tea in a day, and had to make up to 10 trips between the plantation and factory. After being transferred to the mechanical harvesting department, Mr Omoke developed injuries that now bar him from doing physically daunting tasks.
Simeon Hutchison, James Finlay Kenya’s managing director, has testified that the workers may have suffered the injuries in their childhood while carrying water home from rivers.
– see ee Workers, Tea pickers in Kenya
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B2. The Political Economy of Underdevelopment – Part 7 (from Chapter 17, SBD de Silva, PEU, 1982)
The economic expansion in the periphery consequent upon its relinking retards the growth of indigenous industrial capital. The retardation of indigenous enterprise in the case of the garment industry in Sri Lanka was disclosed in evidence before a Select Committee of the Parliament of Sri Lanka by a local industrial tycoon, who is himself a member of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission:
‘Hon de Mel [Minister of Finance]: In other words, up to date the only attraction in Sri Lanka is to collar the quotas which are still available to Sri Lanka. Korea has exhausted her quota. Hong Kong has exhausted, Singapore is exhausting; so the only thing [the foreign investors] find attractive in Sri Lanka is to collar Sri Lanka’s quota. Do you agree?
Mr Gnanam [leading Sri Lankan industrialist]: I agree.
Hon de Mel: Could Sri Lankan industrialists not have got this quota and done this industry without any foreign help?
Mr Gnanam: If you had announced your offer of a 5-year tax holiday to industrialists in your last but one Budget, then all the garment industries would have done very much better than anyone else, because Sri Lanka has got the best garment industries… If they were allowed to export [with a tax holiday] they would have done without the Free Trade Zone.
Hon de Mel: In other words, the Free Trade Zone has only deprived the Sri Lankan industrialists. ‘ (‘Parliamentary Series No17 of 1st Parliament of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’, 2nd Report, 22 Feb 1980)
This tendency extends even to industries producing for the domestic market. In the Kenya soap industry, the MNC firms within a decade had ousted a good many of the indigenous firms (Steven Langdon, ‘The Invasion of the Kenya Soap Industry’, Review of African Political Economy, 2 (1975)
The survivors were forced to conform to MNC patterns – mechanizing their technology, raising the import content of products, and resorting to fancy packaging and higher advertising outlays. A few of them became contractors or agents of the foreign firms. A combination of market power and technological superiority enabled the international soap giants to destroy a local industry and displace it with a functionally superior product.
The tendency for foreign capital to control or suppress indigenous enterprise was also evident in Singapore, despite the existence there of a formidable class of ethnic Chinese capitalists. In 1970 the solely foreign-owned firms held 57% of the total value of industrial assets, the solely domestic firms only 17%, and joint ventures 27% (K Yoshihara, Foreign Investment & Domestic Response, Singapore, 1975).
The size of the foreign firms and their efficient public relations enabled them to get concessions from the government. Tax reliefs stipulated a capital investment that exceeded the size of the typical indigenous firm. Dr Yoshihara, while appreciating the Economic Development Board contribution to Singapore’s industrialization, wrote:
But in one respect it failed. The EDB was not very successful in stimulating a response from domestic entrepreneurs… Singapore’s industrialization was carried out to a large extent by foreign subsidiaries… There is no sign that the dominant position of the foreign-controlled companies is weakening (Ibid, 25,148).
Indigenous capital settles like a sediment lower down the investment scale. In the manufacturing sector, it operates mostly on a small-scale basis, independently in the niches of a highly monopolized economy, or else as subcontractors to foreign firms, supplying components whose production technology favours the small unit. In this role of subcontractor, the indigenous entrepreneur makes available to the foreign firms his access to sweated labour. Though stifled industrially, indigenous capital gains new opportunities in the tertiary sector. After the relinking of the economy, the closure of many independent small- & medium-scale manufacturing enterprises gives a stimulus to imports. The trade expansion, however, does not wholly benefit the indigenous trading class. First, the increase in imports takes the form partly of intrafirm transactions by the multinationals (MNCs) – the goods do not leave the parent company’s own channel but move only ‘in one and the same corporate territory’ (Muto Ichiyo, The Free Trade Zone & Mystique of Export-Oriented Industrialization, AMPO: vols 8:4 & 9:1&2, 1977, 23).
While the trading interests are generally reactivated, there is also greater competition & lower profit margins. Second, there is an expansion in activities catering mostly for the needs of a growing expatriate community. (In Singapore, their numbers and importance have warranted a separate cost of living index for expatriates, computed and published by a business journal.) Third, a buoyancy in the real estate market resulting from the urban-centred and extroverted development pattern confers prolific windfall gains on speculators & owners of urban property. A parallel expansion of investment is in residential construction, consumers stores, recreational & entertainment facilities, tourism & travel, packing & removal services. These rentier & purely commercial activities provide soft options to the indigenous bourgeoisie, leaving foreign capital a free rein over industry, merchant banking & finance.
The relative disability of indigenous capital in manufacturing industry is as much a question of markets as of technology. The foreign firms have ‘expert and comprehensive entry to the world market’, based partly on international brand names under which the goods produced by them are sold (In this connection, Singapore’s Prime Minister ruefully observed: ‘Our products must be sold under the label of the well-established multinational company’, Straits Times (Singapore), 27 April 1976).
In the components and intermediate goods industries, though the importance of technical criteria as a determinant of sales is conducive to the entry of new firms, the ease with which new designs can be imitated calls for frequent technological innovations; but investment in innovation requires an assured market. Patents & the concentration of R&D in the centre, and access to markets, give the bigger foreign firms an unassailable advantage. It is for this reason that such firms direct their investment to products and production processes whose technology is changing rapidly rather than to those which conform with the local resource endowment or incorporate the functional aspects of a commodity. Exotic technology increases the monopoly power of the multinational and ensures a higher rate of profits.
Local collaboration, when resorted to by foreign capital, is merely a precondition for starting ventures. It is a protective mantle. The admission of local capital ‘depoliticizes’ the investment, and makes it difficult for the host government to control it in the national interest. For example, in Indonesia, as in the Philippines, the abuse of the country’s timber resources by the foreign lumber companies was facilitated by their tie-up with army officials, politicians & bureaucrats. In the resource-based industries local collaboration gives the foreigner access to mining concessions, and in industries supplying the domestic market it gives him access to sales outlets & distribution networks which the local partner may have built up earlier as an importer. In the garments industry, the foreigner avails himself of the host country’s export entitlements. In other instances, joint industrial ventures are trading operations in disguise, promoting the sale of machinery, components & raw materials, and the hiring of technology. In these cases, a condition of foreign participation is that the enterprise purchases plant and equipment from the foreign partner himself, or on his advice, and raw materials from tied sources. The supply of inferior, possibly reconditioned equipment, resulting in very frequent breakdowns requiring large imports of spares for maintenance & repairs, and an income in the form of royalties & technical assistance fees, enables the foreign partner to recoup a portion of his investment regardless of the profits or losses of the enterprise. With high import content, even a slight overpricing of supplies enhances hidden profits. The local collaborators in these ventures may be ‘outright dummies’, and totally unprepared to assert themselves. Their predominantly trading character may even lead them to connive with the foreign partner to give a trading orientation to what is nominally an industrial venture. The trading proclivities of the local bourgeoisie are thereby strengthened, retarding its transformation into a genuine industrial class.
As a modern version of the classical enclave, the periphery remains ‘tightly bound to the home country, far away, but loosely connected, except geographically to the local scene’ (CP Kindleberger, American Business Abroad, 1969, 146).
In the manufacturing sector, despite some indigenous capital, and the employment of indigenous labour and indigenous managers and executives, investment expands horizontally, over a range of final goods. The vertical integration of investments is between countries but not within each country. First, the foreign firms centralize their raw material purchases abroad, and resell these materials at grossly inflated prices to their collaborative enterprises in the periphery.
For instance in Sri Lanka, raw materials for tetracyclene capsules were imported in 1974 by Pfizer Ltd at US$99 per kg, compared with a price of $20/kg at which the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation was importing the same materials from Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft in Frankfurt. Despite a cholera epidemic that was prevalent at the time, Pfizer declined to accede to a request by the Minister of Industries & Scientific Affairs that it should produce capsules from the raw materials imported from the cheaper source (Disclosure by Minister of Industries & Scientific Affairs, Sunday Observer (Colombo), 7 May 1978). Glaxo Ltd was importing chlorophenisamine from its parent firm at $411 per kg compared with a price of $53 from Halewood, a smaller British firm (Lall & Bibile, p686).
Second, even when producing for the domestic market, the actual production operations, in their input-mix, technology and packaging, are the reverse of import substitution which is supposedly carried out. The brand differentiated products imported are now made locally in a way which serves the global strategies of the producing firm, regardless of the local resource potential and technological capabilities or even of the original tastes of the consumers. Third, unlike the traditional plantations and mines which were geographically dispersed because of natural conditions that governed their location, the MNC industrial firms are in the capital city. Their heavy reliance on imported inputs places a high premium on efficient transport and communication links with the external world. Their products cater mostly for urban, high-income consumers whose preferences could be artificially induced; and the senior staff of these enterprises (belonging to the transnational community) are difficult to retain except in the capital city where social amenities are at their best.
Preceding pages referred to the attempted rationalization in the use of resources by multinational capital, through vertical integration of production sites on a global scale. The resulting concentration and centralization of capital expands the flow of production capital to the periphery. This leads to a growth of productive forces through an incipient industrialization and of capitalist production relations. The inability of capitalism to resolve its basic contradictions, not merely within the boundaries of the nation state, but even on the basis of groupings of capitalist countries which have begun to be formed, is now no longer a problem of markets and of the need for supplies of raw materials to expand production, for the sake of production; it also relates to a breakdown of the work process, with a serious weakening of the established mechanisms of labour discipline and control.
The new buoyancy of capitalism in the periphery has given international finance capital a freer rein, one consequence of which has been a foreign-debt explosion of unusual severity – in Pakistan the rice harvest of 1979 was mortgaged to a commercial bank in Belgium. Manifestly, this pattern of development seeks to enhance the viability of the centre relative to that of the periphery. Investment is directed towards 1) the production of raw materials for the centre, 2) industries or production processes whose productivity seriously lags behind prevailing wage levels in the centre, 3) the resource-based industries and those which cause pollution, 4) export industries of the centre which are threatened by import tariffs in the periphery, 5) infrastructure projects, and 6) forms of agriculture which are heavy users of imported inputs. The rationale of this international economic order, in some of its aspects, was explained by Japan’s Council on Industrial Structure:
Japan will retain and encourage the branches of the machine industry that yield high added value, but production facilities which involve a low degree of processing and generate low added value should be moved to developing countries… so that Japan can concentrate on high technology and knowledge-intensive industry (quoted in Nakano Kenji, Japan’s Overseas Investment Patterns & FTSs, AMPO, 44).
The industries to be transferred were also the resource-based ones – such as crude steel, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals and pulp.
(Next: Part 8 of Chapter 17, SBD de Silva, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment)
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C. Building Blocks
Every ee carries these extracts below to counter: 1) The constant harangue about exports, when they must at all times serve to advance or recapture and control of our home markets to develop modern industry. 2) We need to learn about machine industry versus handicraft, assembly and manufacture 3) The rules of the Sangha require constant interaction between people.
• ‘The biggest handicap to industrial development is not the lack of capital but the absence of external economics, such as cheap power, cheap transport, technical and managerial ability, and above all the lack of a home market. The home market in an agricultural country is essentially the rural market. It is only a prosperous peasantry that can provide the home market for our industry. This is the connection between a guaranteed price for paddy and the industrialization of our country’ – Philip Gunawardena
• ‘The Creation of a Home Market for our Industry is the pivot on which the future industrialisation of our country rests. In Ceylon’s context The Home Market essentially means The Peasant Market. To create the home market therefore we must substantially raise the living standards of the mass of the peasants so that they will be able to buy the goods produced by our industry. This demonstrates clearly the necessary connection between Industrialization & Agrarian Reform.’ – Policy Statement of the Ministry of Industries, 1956
• ‘Their field of production, the smallholding, admits of no division of labor in its cultivation, no application of science and, therefore, no diversity of development, no variety of talent, no wealth of social relationships. Each individual peasant family is almost self-sufficient; it itself directly produces the major part of its consumption and thus acquires its means of life more through exchange with nature than in intercourse with society.’ – Karl Marx, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, p124
• ‘Japan will retain and encourage the branches of the machine industry that yield high added value, but production facilities that involve a low degree of processing and generate low added value should be moved to developing countries… so that Japan can concentrate on high technology & knowledge-intensive industry.’– Japan’s Council on Industrial Structure, 1977 (in SBD de Silva, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment)
• Economics Not Taught – The Machines Nobody Knows – The Extraordinary Culture of Machine Tools – If we were a truly ‘developing’ country, here are the questions a national media would need to ask: A plan requires a political, economic & military strategy, which will first assess peasant & worker power, land (including natural resources), & capital, that the nation possesses, and the time needed to transform these powers into material reality:
Here’s ee’s Index of a Real Economy or, at least, how a real economy would be measured:
1. The index of a strong economy is modern industry.
2. The index of modern industry is the production of machines.
3. Machine tools (MT) are the most important of all machines.
4. MT is needed for huge diversified metal fabricating industries (auto, electrical, etc.)
5. MT is essential for production of machines for all other industries.
6. Full data on machinery production is needed:
7. What portion of our machinery needs are supplied by machines built in Sri Lanka?
8. What is the trend? Are we producing more or less machines than we did before?
9. Data on imports & exports of machinery is needed (esp shipments of MTs & other Industrial Machinery)
10. MT production vs imports, must include: Mining & Metallurgical Machinery, Pulp & Paper Machinery, Textile Machinery, Woodworking Machinery, Logging Machinery, Sawmill Machinery, Office & Business Machines (adapted from: ee 20-26 Sept 2020).
• Making Central Banks Independent of the People?
– anchor.fm/shiran-illanperuma/episodes
– youtube.com/watch?v=_AWg6VvTj9g
– eesrilanka.wordpress.com/2019/08/10/imf-independence-the-central-bank/
– eesrilanka.wordpress.com/2020/06/27/make-the-central-bank-independent-of-capitalism/
• On State-Owned Enterprises and Privatization
– anchor.fm/shiran-illanperuma/episodes/On-State-Owned-Enterprises-and-the-Privatization-Debate-w-Vinod-Moonesinghe-e1vric4
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D. News Index______________________________________________
• ee News Index provides headlines & links to make sense of the weekly focus of published English ‘business news’ to expose the backwardness of multinational, corporate controlled ‘local media’:
D1. Sovereignty
(ee is pro-politics, pro-politician, pro-nation-state, anti-corporatist, anti-expert, anti-NGO)
ee Sovereignty news emphasizes sovereignty as economic sovereignty – a strong nation is built on modern (machine-making) industrialization fueled by a producer culture.
• Trinco Indo-Lanka Friendship Auditorium stone laid by Indian Airforce Chief
– https://island.lk/trinco-indo-lanka-friendship-auditorium-to-be-built/
• Indian, Sri Lankan air forces to conduct joint air drill
• Chief of the Air Staff of Indian Air Force calls on Commander of the Navy
– https://island.lk/chief-of-the-air-staff-of-indian-air-force-calls-on-commander-of-the-navy/
• US double standards displayed by Ambassador Chung: Draconian Patriot Act exposed
– https://island.lk/us-double-standards-displayed-by-ambassador-chung/
• ‘Nine: The Hidden Story” – Wimal Weerawansa’s Valiant Revelations
• Wimal and US envoy trade barbs over conspiracy allegations
• MP’s regime-change conspiracy theory confounds US ambassador: US Stenographer
– https://island.lk/mps-regime-change-conspiracy-theory-confounds-us-ambassador/
• Gross violation of Vienna convention on diplomatic relations
• The Karannagoda affair: Role of NGOs
– https://island.lk/the-karannagoda-affair-role-of-ngos/
• US blacklists Karannagoda on the basis of findings of NGOs, ‘independent investigations
• Karannagoda says former military official, US ambassador behind his ban
• Karannagoda questions legality of his ‘blacklisting’
– https://island.lk/karannagoda-questions-legality-of-his-blacklisting/
• US Sanctions Former Sri Lankan Navy Chief – Balachandran
‘Although human rights violations are cited as the reason for sanctioning, the West has been using sanctions mainly to attain geopolitical objectives.’
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/us-sanctions-former-sri-lankan-navy-chief-analysis/
• Cries of Sri Lanka’s victims are only useful fodder for geopolitical games between big States.
• Separating Sri Lanka – TNA & LTTE Want the Same
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/05/03/separating-sri-lanka-tna-ltte-want-the-same/
• Rethinking US-Sri Lanka Ties – Devapriya
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/27/rethinking-us-sri-lanka-ties/
• A foreign policy for Sri Lanka – Devapriya
– https://island.lk/a-foreign-policy-for-sri-lanka/
• Differences Between Euromaidan and Aragalaya – Kannangara
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/differences-between-euromaidan-and-aragalaya/
• The Global Conference on Multipolarity
– https://vk.com/video-220061318_456239020
• “Kerala will be converted into an Islamic state within 20 years.” Ex Kerala CM’s recorded admission
• NSA Doval Assured Russian Counterpart of India’s Support in Multilateral Fora: Leaked US Intel
‘It is not clear how US intelligence agencies gained access to Doval’s discussions with Patrushev.’
– https://thewire.in/diplomacy/ajit-doval-nikolay-patrushev-india-russia-leaked-documents
• Hanging tough on China – President Xi Jinping’s initiative on Ukraine needs to be factored in by India – Bhadrakumar
– https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/hanging-tough-on-china-503491
• Is India the Balancer in the Indo-Pacific?
– https://inkstickmedia.com/is-india-the-balancer-in-the-indo-pacific/
• Chinese vessels in Indian ocean, Indian Navy on alert
‘“At any point of time, there are three to six Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean Region,” he said.’
– https://island.lk/chinese-vessels-in-indian-ocean-indian-navy-on-alert/
• Tellis’s narrow self-serving view on India-US ties overlooks the big picture
• China vows to bring Sino-Indian relations back to a healthy, stable track
• US-funded NGO Fronts Hijacking Upcoming Thai Elections
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gKyYHWhmd4
• US-funded iLaw launches petition for Thai charter rewrite
– https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30392491
• Thailand’s Election Race Heats Up with Pheu Thai Party Dominating Poll – Bloomberg
• China’s world?
‘More than 500 years after Western European powers initiated the modern era of maritime trade and colonisation, a non-Western nation, China, has emerged as a genuine contender for global supremacy.’
– https://www.dawn.com/news/1749734/chinas-world
• Shoigu: US-Led West Seeks to Goad Other Countries into Confrontation with Russia, China
• US Sells 400 Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles to Taiwan – Will it Make a Difference?
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0Ga3fwWMk
• U.S. Argues for More Protectionism & Subsidies
‘The U.S., by pressing its ‘allies’ in Europe and Asia, is trying to deny China the ability to acquire or produce computer chips’
– https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/04/us-argues-for-more-protectionism-and-subsidies
• USA Has Dictated Its Economic Peace Terms to China
– https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/24/america-has-dictated-its-economic-peace-terms-to-china/
• Why is U.S. talking about engagement with China halfway through the administration?
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGYiVmTcRJI
• US officials scramble to slow China’s advances
– https://asiatimes.com/2023/04/us-officials-scramble-to-slow-chinas-advances/
• China shifts gear on Ukraine mediation – Bhadrakumar
‘The US “is also spying on Ukraine’s top military and political leaders, a reflection of Washington’s struggle to get a clear view of Ukraine’s fighting strategies.”’
– https://www.indianpunchline.com/china-shifts-gear-on-ukraine-mediation/
• China calls for avoiding escalation in Ukraine crisis after Kremlin drone attack
– https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202305/1290106.shtml
• Yoon’s overwhelming pro-US policy could become nightmare for S. Korea, with losses to outweigh gains
– https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202304/1289982.shtml
• The Rise of China (and the Fall of the U.S.?)
‘From the ashes of a world war that killed 80 million people and reduced great cities to smoking rubble, the USA rose…’
– https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/04/the-rise-of-china-and-the-fall-of-the-u-s.html
• Yoon’s visit to the US verifies an evaluation: Global Times Editorial
– https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202304/1289938.shtml
• US roping in Philippines into geopolitical conflict harms Manila’s interests, undermines China-Philippines ties
– https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202304/1289996.shtml
• The World Doesn’t Work That Way Anymore
‘President Xi had made this clear in 2013 when he asked: “Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate? Why did the Communist Party of the Soviet Union fall to pieces?’
– https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/analysis/the-world-doesnt-work-that-way-anymore
• Our position on China: English Foreign Secretary’s 2023 Mansion House speech
– https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/our-position-on-china-speech-by-the-foreign-secretary
• China resumes construction of military base in UAE, defying US objections
• US-Iran shipping war resumes
– https://www.raialyoum.com/us-iran-shipping-war-resumes/
• US confiscates Iran oil cargo on tanker amid Tehran tensions
• US seizure of oil vessel triggered Iran tanker capture
‘Iran has a history of seizing tankers in retaliation for western countries targeting its crude oil shipments.’
– https://www.ft.com/content/8781270a-bcdb-440f-9cfa-305cdc101cdf
• Quiet US Seizure of Iranian Crude Prompted Iran’s Capture Of Houston-Destined Tanker
• Tanker Carrying Oil for Chevron Seized By Iran
• Iran Sizes Second Oil Tanker In Week, U.S. Navy Says
– https://southfront.org/iran-sizes-second-oil-tanker-in-week-u-s-navy-says/
• Israel seizes 70 Palestine homes in occupied West Bank
• Mayotte Crisis: Putrid Leftover of France’s Imperialist and Colonialist Scrooge?
• Sudan: The new geopolitical battlefield between east and west?
– https://thecradle.co/article-view/24319/sudan-the-new-geopolitical-battlefield-between-east-and-west
• Sudan Embroiled in Civil War, Bloody Conflict Between Operation Kaveri and Burhan-Hemti
• Who Is Fighting Whom in Sudan?
– https://consortiumnews.com/2023/05/02/asad-abukhalil-who-is-fighting-whom-in-sudan/
• Đukanović’s Defeat in Montenegro
‘Đukanović derided his opponent’s policies as a dangerous form of ‘economic populism’ that would threaten the stability of the public finances and precipitate a so-called ‘Greek scenario’’
– https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/dukanovics-defeat
• The Anglo-American Axis is Hellbent on Destabilizing Eurasia
– https://astutenews.com/2022/02/the-anglo-american-axis-is-hellbent-on-destabilizing-eurasia/
• Court Orders USAID’s RFE/RL’s Radio Azattyk Shut Down in Kyrgyzstan
– https://thediplomat.com/2023/04/court-orders-rfe-rls-radio-azattyk-shut-down-in-kyrgyzstan/
• How Azerbaijan’s stability became vital for China
‘Beijing’s northern trade route to Europe has been severely curtailed, making the ‘Middle Corridor’ route that runs through the south Caucasus the natural alternative for China-EU trade.’
– https://thecradle.co/article-view/24076/how-azerbaijans-stability-became-vital-for-china
• On The Hypocrisy of the New EU Sanction Regime
‘Once upon a time the European Union rejected secondary sanctions which the U.S. used to press third party countries to follow its sanction regimes against others’
– https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/05/on-the-hypocrisy-of-the-new-eu-sanction-regime.html
• US elites have plan to split Russia – security chief
– https://www.rt.com/russia/575699-patrushev-western-elites-plan/
• Zelensky regime’s fate is sealed – Bhadrakumar
‘How would the US react if a drone hit the White House, the Capitol or the Pentagon? The answer is obvious… the punishment will be harsh and inevitable.’
– https://www.indianpunchline.com/zelensky-regimes-fate-is-sealed/
– https://en.interaffairs.ru/article/zelensky-regime-fate-is-sealed/
• Zelenski’s Regime is Finished
– https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/05/zelenskis-regime-is-finished.html#more
• Whither Ukraine’s counteroffensive?
‘Well-informed veterans of the US intelligence community regard the leaking of Pentagon documents itself as a mini-mutiny.’
– https://www.indianpunchline.com/whither-ukraines-counteroffensive/
• Clown Prince Zelensky’s Charge of the Light-Headed Brigade into Crimea
‘As long as Anglo-American war profiteers continue to enjoy their safe havens in Western Europe and the U.S., we will never see an end to their crimes.’
• Ukraine could launch its offensive against Russia any moment. Here’s what’s waiting
– https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/29/europe/russia-ukraine-spring-offensive-intl/index.html
• Ukraine SitRep: Offensive in Doubt – No Talks – Social Breakdown
– https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/05/ukraine-sitrep-offensive-in-doubt-no-talks-social-breakdown
• What Happens to the Ottawa Regime When the Kiev Regime is Defeated
• New World Order w/ Ambassador Chas Freeman, Alexander Mercouris and Glenn Diesen
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp0DzClQtn0
• May Day protesters in Puerto Rico demand expulsion of Financial Oversight Board
‘Protesters rallied outside the San Juan offices of the Financial Oversight and Management Board, a nonelected body imposed by the U.S. government that controls the island’s budget’.
• No More Foreign Interference in Haiti: The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Core Group Do Not Represent Haitian People!
• Slavery and Prior Accumulation in Venezuela: A Conversation with Enrique Rivera
• Venezuela denounces the confiscation of Citgo before the United Nations
• Venezuela rejects U.S. Treasury’s decision related to CITGO
• Mexican president denounces USAID funds as interventionist
• Africans in the USA are a Colonized People: A Comment on the Indictment of the African People’s Socialist Party
• US DOJ Indictment Against the APSP is an Old Tactic in the Government’s Perpetual War on Black Radical Organizing
• Gerald Horne on U.S. Foreign Policy – Part 2
– https://www.blackagendareport.com/gerald-horne-us-foreign-policy-part-2
• The USA – What Democracy?
‘Since Elon Musk released Twitter files, we have known for certain that the FBI orchestrated the suppression of the story on social media.’
– https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2023/05/the-usa-what-democracy/
• Is the USA about to Have its Perestroika Moment?
– https://nationalinterest.org/feature/america-about-have-its-perestroika-moment-206439?page=0%2C1
• This war is a complete restructuring of power within Europe – Victor Orban, Hungarian PM
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Tls-YRiaM
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D2. Security (the state beyond ‘a pair of handcuffs’, monopolies of legitimate violence)
ee Security section focuses on the state (a pair of handcuffs, which sposedly has the monopoly of legitimate violence), and how the ‘national security’ doctrine is undermined by private interests, with no interest in divulging or fighting the real enemy, whose chief aim is to prevent an industrial renaissance as the basis of a truly independent nation.
• The mastermind of the Easter attack – Nalin de Silva
‘We are also sorry for those victims. Similarly, I am sorry for the monks who were killed in the Arantalawa massacre’
– http://www1.kalaya.org/2023/04/blog-post_64.html
• Is it Sajith Premadasa who politically benefited from the Easter Sunday attack?
• Arson attack on President’s private residence: J. Sri Ranga named as a suspect
• ‘Brigadier’ Balraj was the finest LTTE military commander
– https://www.ft.lk/columns/Brigadier-Balraj-was-the-finest-LTTE-military-commander/4-747919
• US-funded iLaw launches petition for Thai charter rewrite
– https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30392491
• Iran Can Now Track Unique Radar Signature of Individual F-35 Jets
• Weapon of Power, Matrix of Management – NATO’s Hegemonic Formula
‘This sustained escalation around Ukraine was the context for the accelerated pull-out from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021…’
– https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii140/articles/grey-anderson-weapon-of-power-matrix-of-management?
• Russian Missile Hit Ahead Ukraine Offensive + Kiev’s Obsession Over Territory Amid War of Attrition
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0wOmMaJEqE&t=625s
• Ukrainian assassination attempt on Putin foiled – Kremlin
– https://www.rt.com/russia/575703-ukraine-drones-kremlin-putin/
• Russia Foils Ukrainian Drone Attack on Putin’s Kremlin Residence
– https://sputnikglobe.com/20230503/russia-foils-ukrainian-drone-attack-on-kremlin-1110053978.html
• Soviet Operational Art: Troubled Beginnings – The History of Battle: Maneuver, Part 12
– https://bigserge.substack.com/p/soviet-operational-art-troubled-beginnings
• Berlin Judge Releases Heinrich Buecker But Rules Russia Is Waging An “Illegal War”, Restricts The German Constitution’s Freedom Of Speech To Private, Not Public Audiences
• Cointelpro/Civil Rights Era Political Prisoners, Prisoners of War, Exiles Are on the Agenda of a UN Panel
• How the Deep State Took Down Nixon
– https://compactmag.com/article/how-the-deep-state-took-down-nixon
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D3. Economists (Study the Economists before you study the Economics)
ee Economists shows how paid capitalist/academic ‘professionals’ confuse (misdefinitions, etc) and divert (with false indices, etc) from the steps needed to achieve a modern industrial country.
• May Day should have been used to address economic crisis – DEW Gunasekera
– https://island.lk/may-day-should-have-been-used-to-address-economic-crisis-dew/
• IMF programme: Is there a way out? – Garvin Karunaratne
‘When I showed him the crayons we produced… He insisted that I establish a Crayon Factory in Kolonnawa, his electorate, and ordered the total cancellation of all imports on crayons.’
– https://island.lk/imf-programme-is-there-a-way-out/
• Debts that cannot be repaid in full – Malinda Seneviratne
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/28/debts-that-cannot-be-repaid-in-full/
• The Absent Opposition – Jayatillake
– https://www.ft.lk/columns/The-absent-Opposition/4-747942
• How the economic crisis hit ‘home’ for Sri Lanka – N. Kadirgamar
‘The IMF’s primary role is to protect the interests of global private capital and their push for female labour force participation is to make way for the exploitation of cheap labour’
– https://www.ft.lk/columns/How-the-economic-crisis-hit-home-for-Sri-Lanka/4-747858
• The Concept of Production Economy: What is the IMF Opinion on This Concept for Sri Lanka
– Theophilus
• Concern over decreasing agricultural production and exports – Sanderatne
‘While industrial exports accounted for 70 percent of exports, agricultural exports were less than 25 percent of total exports.’
• Is the Central Bank on its way to technical insolvency? – Wijewardena
– https://www.ft.lk/columns/Is-the-Central-Bank-on-its-way-to-technical-insolvency/4-747856
• Current Sri Lankan crisis through an economic lens – Sriyani Hulugalle,
‘Always the industrialists, the exporters, the farmers, the SMEs etc. etc. lobby for tax relief measures’
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/05/02/current-sri-lankan-crisis-through-an-economic-lens/
• Sri Lanka economic governance violated over headless CoPF: AOG Harsha
– https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-economic-governance-violated-over-headless-copf-harsha-119707/
• Sri Lanka’s collapse in new sovereign default wave is not really China’s fault: Bellwether
‘IMF can help stabilize a country after a crisis is created but it cannot stop the next crisis. The IMF through its flexible policies and flawed monetary regimes will lay the seeds for the next crises… IMF countries are repeat customers.’
• India’s Economy is Facing the Heat Like Never Before – Prabhat Patnaik
– https://www.newsclick.in/economy-facing-heat-never
• US Sanctions and Dollar’s Waning Hegemony – Prabhat Patnaik
– https://www.newsclick.in/us-sanctions-and-dollars-waning-hegemony
• Understanding China’s economic system: Socialism with Chinese characteristics
‘Learn about China’s economic model with Beijing-based scholar Roland Boer, a professor at Renmin University and author of the book Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: A Guide for Foreigners’
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgcyqkEOhQc
• Yellen Declares Economic War on China – Hudson
– https://vk.com/@580896205-dr-hudson-yellen-declares-economic-war-on-china
• Since Money is Political – Hudson
– https://vk.com/@580896205-dr-hudson-yellen-declares-economic-war-on-china
• The Analysis Discussion part 1: Debt and the Collapse of Antiquity – Hudson
– https://globalsouth.co/2023/04/23/the-analysis-discussion-part-1-debt-and-the-collapse-of-antiquity/
• Democratic Liberty Versus Oligarchic Liberty: Hudson on The Collapse of Antiquity – Part 2
– https://michael-hudson.com/2023/04/democratic-liberty-versus-oligarchic-liberty/
• De-Dollarization Kicks into High Gear
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/de-dollarization-kicks-into-high-gear/
• Calls to move away from the U.S. dollar are growing — but the greenback is still king
• How the War on Crypto Triggered a Banking Crisis
– https://ellenbrown.com/2023/04/29/how-the-war-on-crypto-triggered-a-banking-crisis/
• Capital’s Militant – Palantir’s Peter Thiel
– https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/capitals-militant
• A slightly off-center perspective on monetary problems – & you wonder why we are unpopular
– https://www.themoneyillusion.com/and-you-wonder-why-we-are-unpopular/
• A multipolar world and the dollar – Roberts
‘The US dollar is not being gradually replaced by the euro, or the yen, or even the Chinese renminbi, but by a batch of minor currencies.’
– https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2023/04/22/a-multipolar-world-and-the-dollar/
• Well-founded pessimism – Roberts
‘Even in the best performing G7 economy, the US, a recession (ie ‘technically’ two consecutive quarters of contraction in real GDP) now seems probable.’
– https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2023/04/15/well-founded-pessimism/
• Inflation: causes and solutions – Roberts
‘Last week, the Bank of England’s chief economist, Huw Pill, doubled-down on the argument that the current inflationary spiral affecting the major economies was the result of excessive wage demands.’
– https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2023/04/27/inflation-causes-and-solutions/
• Global De-Dollarization Nearing ‘Crossroads Moment’
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D4. Economy (Usually reported in monetary terms)
ee Economy section shows how media usually measures economy by false indices like GDP, etc., in monetary terms, confusing money and capital, constantly calling for privatization, deregulation, moaning about debt & balance of payments, without stating the need for modern industrial production.
• Sri Lanka parliament to debate draft central bank law on May 11
– https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-parliament-to-debate-draft-central-bank-law-on-may-11-119769/
• Cabinet nod to table Banks (Special Provisions) Bill in Parliament
‘The IMF and World Bank have highlighted the importance of strengthening the resolution framework to strengthen the financial sector safety nets, the draft Banking (Special Provisions) Act was prepared as a supplement to Banking Act No. 30 of 1988, introducing provisions for resolution of licensed banks, deposit insurance and winding up/liquidation of licensed banks.’
– https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-cabinet-clears-banking-special-provisions-bill-119732/
• Three new members appointed to Finance Commission as recommended by Constitutional Council.
‘The new members are Sumith Abeysinghe (Chairperson), Tuan Nalin Osen and Mayan Wamadeva.’
• Economic reforms critical for Sri Lanka’s recovery and sustainability-World Bank Country Director
‘current crisis is not a temporary liquidity shock that can be resolved by external financing support.’
• Trillions borrowed to keep economy hobbling along in 2022, while expenditure galloped
• Banking sector seeks more clarity on proposed Domestic Debt Optimisation
• Debt restructuring talks with bilateral creditors get underway
• Sri Lanka confident of debt restructure, will no longer borrow for wasteful infrastructure
• SJB lacked backbone to vote against IMF deal – NPP
– https://island.lk/sjb-lacked-backbone-to-vote-against-imf-deal-npp/
• Sri Lanka parliament passes resolution on IMF agreement by majority votes
• IMF deal gets Parliament nod, but its opposition supporters choose to give vote a miss
• Sri Lanka’s economy to shrink by 2% in 2023: Central bank
• Sri Lanka’s inflation dips as IMF bailout kicks in
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/sri-lankas-inflation-dips-as-imf-bailout-kicks-in/
• Strong Currency, High Rates Help Slow Sri Lanka’s Inflation
• 73rd Central Bank Annual Report gets ‘pretty honest’ about Sri Lanka’s economy
– https://island.lk/73rd-central-bank-annual-report-gets-pretty-honest-about-sri-lankas-economy/
• Sri Lanka, UNDP join hands to better align taxation policies for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Chinese economy off to a roaring recovery
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/27/chinese-economy-off-to-a-roaring-recovery/
• Chinese banks seize on Russia, oil trade to internationalise yuan
• China’s small steps on offshore use of yuan are starting to add up
• Debt restructuring strategy for commodity exporters
‘Many of the world’s debt-distressed countries are in Africa.’
• IMF raises 2023 economic outlook for Asia, sees China and India making up half of global growth
– https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/01/imf-asia-outlook-china-india.html
• Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) interest rate rise catches markets, banks and borrowers by surprise
– https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-02/rba-interest-rate-rise-may-2023/102292616
• Biden’s ‘Vandals’ Will ‘Destroy US’ if GOP Loses Debt Ceiling Fight
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D5. Workers (Inadequate Stats, Wasteful Transport, Unmodern Plantations, Services)
ee Workers attempts to correct the massive gaps and disinformation about workers, urban and rural and their representatives (trade unions, etc), and to highlight the need for organized worker power
• May Day should have been used to address economic crisis – DEW
– https://island.lk/may-day-should-have-been-used-to-address-economic-crisis-dew/
• ‘20th Century’ TU leaderships and IMF proposed ‘social security’ – Kusal Perera
– https://www.ft.lk/columns/20th-Century-TU-leaderships-and-IMF-proposed-social-security/4-747917
• Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers’ Union celebrates May Day
• Sri Lanka marks first labour day since IMF deal amid political headwinds
• Nearly 66% schools don’t offer A/L science
‘the number of schools offering the Advanced Level in Sri Lanka is 2,952 and science subjects are available in only 1,011’
– https://ceylontoday.lk/2023/05/03/nearly-66-schools-dont-offer-a-l-science/
• Some 2,000 state employees went abroad on five-year no-pay leave
• Families completely destitute and have no income are not even included in UN WFP aid list
– https://www.dailymirror.lk/expose/Discrepancies-and-doubts-associated-with-WFP-initiative/333-258473
• Lankan workers in Middle East sending money, while more educated do not: Minister
– https://island.lk/lankan-workers-in-middle-east-sending-money-while-more-educated-do-not-minister/
• Matara Rahula College Centenary – Garvin Karunaratne
‘Rahula College, Matara, a secondary school made a notable contribution to the Divisional Council Development Programme (DDCP) of Sri Lanka (1970-1977)’
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/05/03/matara-rahula-college-centenary/
• Watch Out Sri Lankan Parents – LGBTQ School Sex Education
• Sri Lankans Campaign to Decriminalize Same-Sex Relationships
– https://www.newsclick.in/sri-lankans-campaign-decriminalize-same-sex-relationships
• CJR Le Mesurier: An English Civil Servant who challenged the Imperial Order
• How This ‘Demon Dance’ Banishes Illnesses in Sri Lanka’s Remote Jungles
• Tea pickers in Kenya seek Sh20bn from firm for work injuries
– https://nation.africa/kenya/news/tea-pickers-seek-sh20bn-from-firm-for-work-injuries-4174962
• May Day and Workers’ Rights in Eritrea
– https://www.blackagendareport.com/may-day-and-workers-rights-eritrea
• Tunisia retrieves bodies of 41 drowned refugees
‘asylum seekers – most from sub-Saharan Africa, Syria and Sudan’
• Thousands of protesters demonstrate against French government’s immigration plans
• ‘I’ll Be Damned if I Go Back to Work Under Those Conditions!’ – Lucy E. Parsons, May 1, 1930
• As US Life Expectancy Plunges, Political Bigwigs Stay Busy Not Noticing
‘the bizarre and self-defeating U.S. fixation on military cures to almost every problem abroad has much to do with its insane gun violence here in the so-called homeland’
• Poll says one-third of U.S. nurses consider quitting
• Hollywood writers strike, halting TV and film production
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D6. Agriculture (Robbery of rural home market; Machines, if used, mainly imported)
ee Agriculture emphasizes the failure to industrialize an agriculture that keeps the cultivator impoverished under moneylender and merchant, and the need to develop the rural home market, monetization and commercialization, to produce, rather than import, agricultural machinery.
• Water and hydropower Uma Oya project leaves soiled legacy
– https://www.sundaytimes.lk/230430/news/water-and-hydropower-project-leaves-soiled-legacy-518464.html
• Two State-owned fertiliser companies to be amalgamated to cut down costs
‘Amalgamation process of both companies which had a long history and market dominance, with a monopoly in the country, would enable more private fertiliser companies to enter into the market.’
• USA’s Thriposha Production Plant – Its Construction 40 years ago
‘The Thriposha production line was planned at the Colorado State University by Ronald Triblehorn. He also helped CARE, New York office to purchase machinery.’
– https://island.lk/the-thriposha-production-plant-its-construction-40-years-ago/
• Maha Kudugala Apple Farm Land Issue: A classic example of environmental misgovernance and mismanagement
• Finlays sells business to Sri Lanka tea giant
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/05/04/finlays-sells-business-to-sri-lanka-tea-giant/
• Nestle Lanka goes private after 40 years as public listed company
– https://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Nestl%C3%A9-Lanka-announces-plans-to-go-private/273-258618
• Unilever gets more Sri Lanka-rooted; kicks off Rs. 4 b maiden malted beverage plant in Sapugaskanda
• Who the devil is Chamara G in XP’ Pearl’s 6b dollar mystery?
• Activists slam Lanka’s bid to seek X-Press Pearl compensation in Singapore
– https://island.lk/activists-slam-lankas-bid-to-seek-x-press-pearl-compensation-in-singapore/
• A Marxist Looks at the History of Ceylon
– https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/sri-lanka/ceylon-history/chapter-2.htm
• Indian Govt is More Worried About Corporates Than Farmers
– https://www.newsclick.in/govt-more-worried-about-corporates-farmers-p-sainath
• Socialist Development in Rural China: Reflections on the Experience of the People’s Commune
– http://www.yorku.ca/sendicot/RuralSocialism.htm
• If You Don’t Use Your Land, These Marxists May Take It
– https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/world/americas/brazil-land-occupation.html?
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D7. Industry (False definitions, anti-industrial sermons, rentier/entrepreneur, etc)
ee Industry notes the ignorance about industrialization (versus handicraft and manufacture), the dependence on importing foreign machinery, the need to make machines that make machines, build a producer culture. False definitions of industry, entrepreneur, etc, abound, and the need for a holistic political, economic and military strategy to overcome domination by merchants and moneylenders.
• IOC with 112 filing stations unit makes 7.1 b rupees profits in March 2023 quarter (News item)
• CEB to be broken into 14 entities; new regulator in the offing
• Blowing the lid off gas explosions that shook the country
‘stocks distributed by both Litro and the private sector company, Laugfs Gas, contained a higher percentage of propane when compared with older samples.’
• Industrialize or Perish – Sugath Kulatunga
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/30/industrialize-or-perish/
• Indian air force donates AN-32 propellers to Sri Lanka air force
• HNB partners leading Heavy Commercial Vehicle importer Lanka Ashok Leyland (LAL)
– https://island.lk/hnb-and-lanka-ashok-leyland-to-support-sme-sector/
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce (AHK Sri Lanka) together with EDB organises awareness program on German Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains (GSCDDA)
• Why Government Should Sell Even Profit-Making State-Owned Enterprises – Jayaweera
• Eng. D J Wimalasurendra Memorial Lecture by Shavindranath Fernando, – 2022
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSK84CmXU6k
• Volkswagen takes on China’s EV market with a higher-end car and $1 billion investment
• Industrialization – A Standard Pattern (IMF)
– https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/022/0003/004/article-A005-en.xml?
• What Can We Learn From Peak Whale Oil?
‘Whales quickly became critically overfished in the Atlantic, pushing whaling enterprises further and further into faraway, colder waters and to hunt smaller and smaller whales.’
– https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/What-Can-We-Learn-From-Peak-Whale-Oil.html
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D8. Finance (Making money from money, banks, lack of investment in modernity)
ee Finance tracks the effects of financialization, the curious role of ratings agencies, false indices, etc., and the rule of moneylenders, preventing investment in modern production.
• IMF program a stepping-stone to restructuring debt and pave way for economic revival – Standard Chartered
• First Republic – the case for public ownership – Roberts
‘The other lesson of this crisis is the failure of regulation as the alternative to public ownership.’
– https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2023/05/02/first-republic-the-case-for-public-ownership/
• First Republic Bank collapse spurs fears for banking system, broader economy
• Crowning the King of Wall Street
‘JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon’s ascent depended heavily on the Crown family – whose deep ties to organized crime and the military-industrial complex made them one of the richest, most powerful …’
– https://unlimitedhangout.com/2023/04/investigative-series/crowning-the-king-of-wall-street/
• The London Whale – Patricia Hurtado
‘The trader known as the London Whale lost at least $6.2 billion for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2012’
– https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/the-london-whale
• Half of the USA’s banks are potentially insolvent – this is how a credit crunch begins
• There Was a Blood Bath in Some Bank Stocks Yesterday: So Much for Jamie Dimon’s Prediction That It’s the End of the Banking Crisis
‘his bank is a key financier of hedge funds, some of which are undermining bank stock prices with short selling.’
• Add 4,281 Hedge Fund Clients to What Makes JPMorgan Chase the Riskiest US Mega Bank
• JPMorgan Chase, Officially the Riskiest Bank in the U.S., Is Allowed by Federal Regulators to Buy First Republic Bank
• JPMorgan, PNC Bidding for First Republic as Part of FDIC Takeover
• PMorgan, PNC To Buy First Republic After FDIC Seizure First Leaves Taxpayers Holding The Toxic Stuff
– https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/first-republic-shares-rise-reports-rescue-talks
• Banks that Put Up $30 Billion to “Rescue” First Republic May Have Been Trying to Rescue their Own Exposure to $247 Trillion in Derivatives
• Short Sellers Cratered Silvergate Bank and First Republic; They’re Now Targeting PacWest and Numerous Other Regional Banks
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D9. Business (Rentierism: money via imports, real-estate, tourism, insurance, fear, privatization)
ee Business focuses on the rentier diversions of the oligarchy, the domination by a merchant mafia, making money from unproductive land sales, tourism, insurance, advertising, etc. – the charade of corporate press releases disguised as ‘news’
• Sri Lanka Fitch confirms Sunshine Holdings at ‘A(lka)’
‘Sunshine’s rating reflects its strong financial profile and solid market positions in healthcare, fast- moving consumer goods, such as packaged tea and confectionary, and palm oil plantations. The rating is constrained by a small operating scale, commodity-price volatility in Sunshine’s palm-oil business and regulatory risks in healthcare.’
– https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-fitch-confirms-sunshine-holdings-at-alka-119765/
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D10. Politics (Anti-parliament discourse, unelected constitution)
ee Politics points to the constant diversions and spectacles and the mercantile and financial forces funding the political actors, of policy hijacked by private interests minus public oversight.
• Politics in Sri Lanka Part 3 Mb, Mc, Md, Me
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/27/politics-in-sri-lanka-part-3-mb/
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/politics-in-sri-lanka-part-3-mc/
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/politics-in-sri-lanka-part-3-md/
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/politics-in-sri-lanka-part-3-me/
• Writing the Soulbury Constitution
– https://island.lk/writing-the-soulbury-constitution/
• Dayan Jayatilleka speaking at Freedom Rally
‘… explaining the potential of FPC to emerge as a formidable force in the current political arena’
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf3kosFSPKA
• Ranil’s Triple Reconciliation: National, Criminal and Electoral – Rajan Philips
– https://island.lk/ranils-triple-reconciliation-national-criminal-and-electoral/
• Death of the last LSSP stalwart (2012) – Susantha Goonatilake
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2012/10/07/death-of-the-last-lssp-stalwart/
• A Marxist Looks at the History of Ceylon – Shanmugathasan
– https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/sri-lanka/ceylon-history/chapter-2.htm
• Ranasinghe Premadasa’s rocky road to Presidency – Jeyaraj
– https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Ranasinghe-Premadasas-rocky-road-to-Presidency/172-258392
• Reformists, Revolutionaries, and Social Liberals
‘Throughout history we observe that people use political language in the way accorded to them by tradition, even when that political language — that conceptual language — no longer corresponds to reality. I think this is happening today among Communists and Marxists in Brazil. Why?’
– https://redsails.org/esquerda-reformista/
• The US Democrats Plan to Steal Another Election
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/29/the-democrats-plan-to-steal-another-election/
• Long, Queer Revolution (2018)
‘Is it possible for a single mind to fully fathom the transition from capitalism to communism?’
– https://redsails.org/long-queer-revolution/
• The Neocons and Their Rise to Power
‘Daniel Bell, Nathan Glazer, Irving Kristol, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, & Seymour Martin Lipset were among the most prominent names usually mentioned…James Q. Wilson and Thomas Sowell also…’
– https://www.unz.com/runz/the-neocons-and-their-rise-to-power/
• The Extreme Center: How the Neocons Went Woke
– https://www.unz.com/article/the-extreme-center-how-the-neocons-went-woke/
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D11. Media (Mis/Coverage of economics, technology, science and art)
ee Media shows how corporate media monopoly determines what is news, art, culture, etc. The media is part of the public relations (corporate propaganda) industry. The failure to highlight our priorities, the need to read between the lines. To set new perspectives and priorities.
• Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed his interest in history – Nalin de Silva
– http://www1.kalaya.org/2023/04/blog-post_29.html
• President reveals plans to establish an Institute of History
– https://island.lk/institute-of-history-will-be-established-president/
• On sweeping close to one’s feet
– https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/04/30/on-sweeping-close-to-ones-feet/
• Remembering Ranajit Guha
‘Indian freedom struggle was hijacked by bourgeois nationalists whose writings give the impression that they attained for our nation its consciousness of nationalism.’
– https://www.newsclick.in/remembering-ranajit-guha
• Debate between Google and government deepens in Brazil
‘The Brazilian government has accused Google of promoting an “abusive and misleading campaign” against a bill to curb massive circulation of disinformation on the Internet.’
• Pushing Anti-Russian Propaganda – Pushkin House has Replaced Alexei Navalny with the English Government for Money
• Harry Belafonte – Unashamedly Revolutionary
– https://www.blackagendareport.com/harry-belafonte-unashamedly-revolutionary
• Tucker, Blackrock and the SIFI (Systemically Important Financial Institutions) Two-Step
‘Blackrock increased their ownership in FOX just before these events.’
– https://tomluongo.me/2023/05/01/tucker-blackrock-and-the-sifi-two-step/
• Tucker Carlson Tried to Serve Two Masters
– https://consortiumnews.com/2023/04/27/tucker-carlson-tried-to-serve-two-masters/
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email: econenews@gmail.com
blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com
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