The DISH

Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use

Vol. 11 Issue 12…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…March 21, 2008

Bit of History

Asian Contagion (1997-1998)

The Asian Contagion refers to the financial crisis that affected a number of Asian nations from early 1997 - 1998. Fear that the financial meltdown would spread to other economies led to the Asian economic crisis being dubbed 'contagion.'

Dick K. Nanto, writing for CRS Report for Congress, identified four basic problems or issues surrounding the Asian financial crisis: "(1) a shortage of foreign exchange that caused the value of currencies and equities in Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and other Asian countries to fall dramatically, (2) inadequately developed financial sectors and mechanisms for allocating capital in the troubled Asian economies, (3) effects of the crisis on the United States and the world, and (4) the role, operations and replenishment of funds of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)." Because the IMF played a prominent role in either exacerbating or alleviating the financial crisis, depending on the perspective, the contagion is also referred to as the IMF crisis in the affected Asian nations.

Until 1997, Asia attracted almost half of the total capital inflow to developing countries. The economies of Southeast Asia in particular maintained high interest rates attractive to foreign investors looking for a high rate of return. As a result, the region's economies received a large inflow of money and experienced a dramatic run-up in asset prices, i.e., bubbles, particularly in real estate. Prior to the financial crisis, most of these economies experienced close to double-digit growth rates in the 1980s and early 1990s. Their exceptional economic growth was widely acclaimed by financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, as part of the "Asian economic miracle."

In early 1997, global investors begin to sell Southeast Asian currencies, following hints by Japan of an increase in interest rates to support the yen. On July 2, 1997, Thailand severed its currency peg to the US dollar. Thailand's efforts to support the baht failed. Burdened with foreign debt and a bursting real estate bubble, Thailand was effectively bankrupt even before its currency collapsed. As the crisis widened, most of Southeast Asia and Japan saw slumping currencies, devalued stock markets and asset prices, and a precipitous rise in private debt.

Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand were the countries most affected by the crisis. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Laos and the Philippines experienced an economic downturn. Mainland China, India, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam remained relatively unaffected. Japan was not much affected by the crisis but was going through its own long-term economic difficulties, which included millions of dollars in bad debts. All of these Asian countries saw their currencies fall significantly relative to the United States dollar. Ten foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries believed the well coordinated manipulation of currencies was a deliberate attempt to destabilize the ASEAN economies.

To assist those nations hit particularly hard by the Asian contagion, the IMF created a series of bailouts ("rescue") or 'structural adjustment' packages that required these countries to cut back on government spending, allow insolvent banks and financial institutions to fail, and aggressively raise interest rates. The IMF claimed these reforms would 'restore confidence in the nations' fiscal solvency, penalize insolvent companies, and protect currency values.' The effects of the IMF mandated reforms proved controversial. In the West, particularly the US, the traditional Keynesian response to an economic downturn is to increase government spending, prop up major companies and lower interest rates. Some economists believe the IMF's austerity program exacerbated the Asian economic crisis, which showed signs of ebbing in the first quarter of 1998.

Intuit's Vibe

"A Black American"

By Smokey Robinson

"I love being Black. I love being called Black.

I love being an American. I love being a Black American,

But as a Black man in this country I think it's a shame

That every few years we get a change of name.

Since those first ships arrived here from Africa that came across the sea

There were already Black men in this country who were free.

And as for those that came over here on those terrible boats,

They were called niggah and slave

And told what to do and how to behave.

And then master started trippin' and doing his midnight tippin',

Down to the slave shacks where he forced he and Great-Great Grandma to be together,

And if Great-Great Grandpa protested, he got tarred and feathered.

And at the same time,

The Black men in the country who were free,

Were mating with the tribes, like the Apache and the Cherokee.

And as a result of all that, we're a parade of every shade.
And as in this late day and age, you can be sure,

They ain't too many of us in this country whose bloodline is pure.

But, according to a geological, geographical, genealogy study published in Time Magazine,

The Black African people were the first on the scene,

So for what it's worth, the Black African people were the first on earth

And through migration, our characteristics started to change, and rearrange,

To adapt to whatever climate we migrated to.

And that's how I became me, and you became you.

So, if we gonna go back, let's go all the way back,

And if Adam was Black and Eve was Black,

Then that kind of makes it a natural fact that everybody in America is an African American.

Everybody in Europe is an African European;

Everybody in the Orient is an African Asian

And so on and so on,

That is, if the origin of man is what we're gonna go on.

And if one drop of Black blood makes you Black

Like they say, then everybody's Black anyway.

So quit trying to change my identity.

I'm already who I was meant to be

I'm a Black American, born and raised.

And brother James Brown wrote a wonderful phrase,

"Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm proud!

Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm proud!"

Cause I'm proud to be Black and I ain't never lived in Africa,

And 'cause my Great-Great Granddaddy on my Daddy's side did, don't mean I want to go back.

Now I have nothing against Africa,

It's where some of the most beautiful places and people in the world are found.

But I've been blessed to go a lot of places in this world,

And if you ask me where I choose to live, I pick America, hands down.

Now, by and by, we were called Negroes, and after while, that name has vanished.

Anyway, Negro is just how you say "black" in Spanish.

Then, we were called colored,

But sh*t, everybody's one color or another,

And I think it's a shame that we hold that against each other.

And it seems like we reverted back to a time

When being called Black was an insult,

Even if it was another Black man who said it,

A fight would result, cause we've been so brainwashed that Black was wrong,
So that even the yellow niggahs and black niggahs couldn't get along.

But then, came the 1960s when we struggled and died to be called equal and Black,

And we walked with pride with our heads held high and our shoulders pushed back, And Black was beautiful.

But, I guess that wasn't good enough,

Cause now here they come with some other stuff.

Who comes up with this sh*t anyway?

Was it one, or a group of niggahs sitting around one day?

Feelin' a little insecure again about being called Black

And decided that African American sounded a little more exotic.

Well, I think you were being a little more neurotic.

It's that same mentality that got "Amos and Andy" put off the air,

Cause' they were embarrassed about the way the character's spoke.

And as a result of that action,

A lot of wonderful Black actors ended up broke.

When we were just laughin' and havin' fun about ourselves.

So I say, "f*ck you if you can't take a joke."

You didn't see the "Beverly Hillbilly's" being protested by white folks.

And if you think,

that cause you think that being called African American set all Black people's mind at ease.

Since we affectionately call each other "niggah,"

I affectionately say to you, "niggah Please."

How come I didn't get the chance to vote on who I'd like to be?

Who gave you the right to make that decision for me?

I ain't under your rule or in your dominion

And I am entitled to my own opinion.

Now there are some African Americans here,

But they recently moved here from places like Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Zaire.
But, now the brother who's family has lived in the country for generations,

Occupying space in all the locations

New York, Miami, L.A., Detroit, Chicago-

Even if he's wearing a dashiki and sporting an Afro.

And, if you go to Africa in search of your race,

You'll find out quick you're not an African American,

You're just a Black American in Africa takin' up space.

Why you keep trying to attach yourself to a continent,

Where if you got the chance and you went,

Most people there wouldn't even claim you as one of them

As a pure bread daughter or son of them.

Your heritage is right here now,

No matter what you call yourself or what you say

And a lot of people died to make it that way.

And if you think America is a leader on inequality and suffering and grievin'

How come there so many people comin' and so few leavin'?

Rather than all this 'find fault with America' f*ck you promotin',

If you want to change something, use your privilege, get to the polls!

Commence to votin'!

God knows we've earned the right to be called American Americans and be free at last.

And rather than you movin' forward progress, you dwelling in the past.

We've struggled too long; we've come too far.

Instead of focusing on who we were, let's be proud of who we are.

We are the only people whose name is always a trend.

When is this sh*t gonna end?

Look at all the different colors of our skin-

Black is not our color. It's our core.

It's what we been livin' and fightin' and dyin' for.

But if you choose to be called African American and that's your preference..

Then I 'll give you that reference

But I know on this issue I don't stand alone on my own and if I do, then let me be me

And I'd appreciate it if when you see me, you'd say,

"There goes a man who says it loud

I'm Black. ..I'm Black. I'm a Black American, and I'm proud

Cause I love being an American.

And I love being Black. I love being called Black.

Yeah, I said it, and I don't take it back."

Venue for an Artist

Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution

By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I want to say one other challenge that we face is simply that we must find an alternative to war and bloodshed. Anyone who feels, and there are still a lot of people who feel that way, that war can solve the social problems facing mankind is sleeping through a great revolution. President Kennedy said on one occasion, "Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind." The world must hear this. I pray to God that America will hear this before it is too late, because today we're fighting a war.

I am convinced that it is one of the most unjust wars that has ever been fought in the history of the world. Our involvement in the war in Vietnam has torn up the Geneva Accord. It has strengthened the military-industrial complex; it has strengthened the forces of reaction in our nation. It has put us against the self-determination of a vast majority of the Vietnamese people, and put us in the position of protecting a corrupt regime that is stacked against the poor.

It has played havoc with our domestic destinies. This day we are spending five hundred thousand dollars to kill every Vietcong soldier. Every time we kill one we spend about five hundred thousand dollars while we spend only fifty-three dollars a year for every person characterized as poverty-stricken in the so-called poverty program, which is not even a good skirmish against poverty.

Not only that, it has put us in a position of appearing to the world as an arrogant nation. And here we are ten thousand miles away from home fighting for the so-called freedom of the Vietnamese people when we have not even put our own house in order. And we force young black men and young white men to fight and kill in brutal solidarity. Yet when they come back home they can't hardly live on the same block together.

The judgment of God is upon us today. And we could go right down the line and see that something must be done--and something must be done quickly. We have alienated ourselves from other nations so we end up morally and politically isolated in the world. There is not a single major ally of the United States of America that would dare send a troop to Vietnam, and so the only friends that we have now are a few client-nations like Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and a few others.

This is where we are. "Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind," and the best way to start is to put an end to war in Vietnam, because if it continues, we will inevitably come to the point of confronting China which could lead the whole world to nuclear annihilation.

It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence. And the alternative to disarmament, the alternative to a greater suspension of nuclear tests, the alternative to strengthening the United Nations and thereby disarming the whole world, may well be a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation, and our earthly habitat would be transformed into an inferno that even the mind of Dante could not imagine.

About Me: A Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. adamantly opposed violence. Just as he abhorred the mistreatment of black Americans and engaged in civil disobedience to end racial prejudice and inequality, he frequently spoke out against the US military involvement in Vietnam. On April 4, 2008, the US will commemorate the fortieth (40) anniversary of his assassination.

Hood Notes

Big Business Bailout

In an extraordinary move, the Federal Reserve announced on Sunday (03-16-08), several days before its regularly scheduled Open Market Committee Meeting, steps to "bolster market liquidity and promote orderly market functioning." The steps include a new lending facility that allows big investment banks to secure short term loans. The Fed is apparently willing to accept any old collateral for these loans, including questionable subprime mortgages.

According to the Fed statement, the new lending facility will open for business on Monday and will last at least six months, longer if conditions warrant. In addition, the Fed lowered its "discount" rate from 3.5 percent to 3.25 percent. The "discount" rate is the interest rate the Fed charges financial institutions for short term loans.

The Fed also announced it had approved JP Morgan Chase's acquisition of its 85-year-old competitor, Bear Stearns, an investment banker, for $2 a share. The Fed is providing the financing for the deal valued at $236.2 million. The central bank has agreed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns' less liquid assets, i.e., its bad investments.

The federal government is portraying this as a move to prop up the U.S. economy and possibly save the global financial system from a meltdown. In fact, this is the government bailing out big business, contrary to the principles of a free enterprise system in which the government does not intervene to save large or small failing companies.

Under the theory of pure capitalism, the system indiscriminately metes out rewards and punishments for the decisions made by individuals and businesses. The federal government appears quite willing to allow individuals with subprime mortgage loans to lose their homes, while it employs extraordinary measures to bailout big businesses. This is corporate welfare.

News You Use

Is Wright Wrong?

By Dot

Following an ABC News report, which highlighted sound bites from some of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons, mainstream media played the more controversial ones ad nauseam; the ceaseless repetition was reminiscent of the Dr. Howard Dean scream during the 2000 Democratic Party primary. Thanks to the media, the scream doomed Dean's bid for the presidency.

This week Senator Barack Obama delivered an eloquent speech in an attempt to squash the controversy and appease white America. In doing so, I think, he threw his long-time pastor and spiritual mentor under the bus. Below are some of Rev. Wright's most controversial sound bites.

Speaking of Senator Hillary Clinton's relative advantage over Senator Obama, given her skin color, Rev. Wright proclaimed, "Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home. Barack was. Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary! Hillary ain't never been called a 'nigg*r!' Hillary has never had her people defined as a non-person. Who cares about what a poor black man has to face every day in a country and in a culture controlled by rich white people?"

Given his remarks on former President Bill Clinton, Rev. Wright does not see him as a friend of black Americans. According to Rev. Wright, "Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain't. Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty."

In his Sunday sermon after September 11, 2001, Rev. Wright preached about blowback -- doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. He roared, "We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant. Because the stuff we have done overseas has now brought right back into our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

In a 2003 sermon concerning the US' mistreatment of black Americans, Rev. Wright declared, "The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

All of these sound bites were lifted from sermons that taught some biblical lesson. For decades, Rev. Wright preached at Trinity United Church of Christ, which is located on Chicago's south side. Senator Obama has been a member of the church for nearly 20 years. The title of Senator Obama's best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope," comes from one of Rev. Wright's sermons.

I happen to believe Rev. Wright is right. You be your own judge. Go online and listen to his sermons!

Disgruntled wants to know: On March 19, the US commemorated the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. More than four thousand US soldiers have died, thousands more have been wounded - their lives permanently altered, and the nation has spent an unknown sum in prosecuting this conflict. We do not know how many Iraqis have died and been wounded, nor do we fully appreciate the extent of the devastation visited upon this ancient country and culture. This week we learned that the Pentagon has just concluded a review of more than half a million Iraqi documents seized in 2003. No evidence linking Saddam Hussein with al Qaida was found. The US, based on the sexed up intelligence cited by the Bush administration, went to war against Iraq because Saddam's al Qaida connection and his regime's possession of weapons of mass destruction. When will the US government admit it made a serious mistake in destroying a nation and murdering innocent people that did nothing to deserve shock and awe? More important, when will US citizens hold those in its government accountable?

Disgruntled feels: Deception! A few weeks ago, many of us marched in Jena, Louisiana and Washington, DC demanding justice and an end to racial injustice and profiling on behalf of the Jena Six and others. We also railed against the appearance of nooses as some racists struck back with that age-old scare tactic. Nooses and the subject of lynching even appeared on the evening news and in golf magazines. Fast-forward a few weeks later and miraculously racism is dead; long live its killer. Well, maybe not dead, but it is no longer politically correct to speak of it. After all, we now have a viable black candidate running for the Democratic Party's nomination for president. As if by magic, Senator Barack Obama's candidacy has achieved Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of a color-blind society. Suddenly, racism is a thing of the past, and we should let sleeping dogs lie. These are truly strange times, if you believe that lie. If one is not careful, one can be misled by silver-tongued hucksters that trade in deception. These include greedy businessmen and slick politicians.

Disgruntled says: Being a spiritual person, I eschew organized religion. My mother, the half-breed daughter of a Mississippi circuit rider and devoted churchgoer, until late in life, believed devils filled her church's pews on Sunday. While these parishioners sang, clapped and shouted on Sunday - ostensibly filled with the Holy Spirit - they broke most of the Ten Commandments the other six days of the week. In keeping with what my mother learned and passed on, I know the Most High dwells within me and in everything that surrounds me. My place of worship is wherever I am. As we celebrate Easter this weekend, I am most grateful for the many blessings I have received, including my mother's teachings that helped me become a spiritual being.

DISHing It Up Hot!

On the Moral Hazard of Hypocrisy!

By Dot

Over the course of the past two weeks, several things stand out in sharp relief, because they raise the issue of moral hazard and involve more than a bit of hypocrisy.

Last week, the Federal Reserve bailed out Bear Stearns. Then, on Sunday, when most white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) are in church, it approved the fire sale of Bear to JP Morgan. According to George W. Bush and company, which supposedly worships at the altar of market capitalism, this sort of government intervention in the market does not create a moral hazard. In other words, unlike individuals that receive food stamps and/or draw unemployment benefits, businesses will not expect handouts from the government the next time they get into trouble. Rather than act as an incentive for reckless behavior and bad decision-making, the bailouts with spur businesses to be smarter in the future, unlike lazy individuals looking for handouts.

The investment banks and insurance companies that the federal government is 'rescuing' made huge profits with their investment schemes, which created the current financial crisis. When companies in Asian countries made similarly bad investment decisions, the US-backed IMF provided assistance with conditions that the countries impose strict reform measures that included allowing insolvent companies to fail. Now, the Bush administration does just the opposite during the US financial crisis.

The real moral hazard here lies in the US saying one thing and doing something entirely different.

Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes & Telephone Calls

Email postchat@aol.com...The Street on Welfare...By E. J. Dionne Jr...Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about how brilliant capitalists are, how much they deserve their seven-figure salaries and how government should keep its hands off the private economy. The Wall Street titans have turned into a bunch of welfare clients. They are desperate to be bailed out by government from their own incompetence, and from the deregulatory regime for which they lobbied so hard. They have lost "confidence" in each other, you see, because none of these oh-so-wise captains of the universe have any idea what kinds of devalued securities sit in one another's portfolios.

Email www.cipa.apex.org..Eight years ago, just a day before retiring as one of the world's most important economic officials, International Monetary Fund managing director Michel Camdessus surprised - and maybe even shocked - a global conference audience in Bangkok. A world that lets wealth concentrate, Camdessus declared, is asking for colossal trouble. "The widening gaps between rich and poor within nations," the departing IMF executive advised, "are morally outrageous, economically wasteful, and potentially socially explosive. It is not enough to increase the size of the cake. The way it is shared is deeply relevant." Ignore the obligation to share, Camdessus warned, and the world will surely witness "confrontation, violence, and civil disorder."