IMF errors may cost lives: Social thinker<\/p>\n
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters): Social thinker Alvin Toffler warns
\nLatin American nations that free markets are not the gospel truth
\nand that International Monetary Fund medicine can costs lives.<\/p>\n
The futurist and author of best-sellers like \"Future Shock\"
\nand \"The Third Wave\" told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday
\nthe IMF prescribed \"essentially the same medicine to every
\ndisease.\"<\/p>\n
\"To go into Indonesia (earlier this year) and to say that they
\nshould raise interest rates in order to attract capital was not
\nonly stupid and arrogant, it got people killed,\" he said,
\nreferring to attacks on the Chinese minority.<\/p>\n
\"And that's not the only place -- around the world they leave
\na trail of social unrest,\" said Toffler, who was attending a
\nmanagement forum in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n
For the past decade Latin American nations have toed the IMF
\nline and opened their economies to world competition, slashed
\npublic spending, cut subsidies, and reduced the size of
\ngovernment by selling state-run companies.<\/p>\n
The IMF-prescribed polices have spurred growth, but caused
\nwidespread unemployment and widened the gap between rich and
\npoor. In the current global financial tumult set off by the Asia
\ncrisis last year, the IMF has urged Latin American nations to
\ndeepen reforms, despite growing signs of social fatigue and
\npolitical discontent.<\/p>\n
As for regional integration now advancing at full steam in
\nLatin America, tearing down trade barriers without taking into
\naccount each nation's social needs in terms of employment and
\neducation is also a risky proposition, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The idea of doing it all simultaneously in the fastest
\npossible way may not be correct,\" said Toffler. \"Each country has
\nits own unique set of problems.\"<\/p>\n
Nations in the Western Hemisphere plan to set up a Free Trade
\nArea of the Americas from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego by 2005.<\/p>\n
\"I believe very strongly in the free market, but I believe in
\nit as an instrument, not as a theology,\" Toffler said.<\/p>\n
\"Many countries have large peasant populations that are
\nuneducated, like the northeast of Brazil or in China. If you
\ncan't educate those people, you can do nothing,\" he stressed.<\/p>\n
Rather than pursuing the embattled export-oriented model of
\nthe \"Asian tigers\" for development or the European example for
\nintegration, Latin American states should take full advantage of
\ntheir social and cultural differences instead.<\/p>\n
The industries of the future will thrive on diversity and will
\nfocus on small-market niches. Even large companies setting up
\nshop in Latin America should create their own smaller units to
\ncater to those market segments, he said.<\/p>\n
Toffler also advised Latin nations to concentrate on high-
\ntechnology products, resist the temptation to use cheap labor as
\na magnet to attract direct investment, and participate in joint-
\nventures with foreign firms that can ensure the transfer of
\ntechnology and revert brain drain.<\/p>\n
The author, whose \"third wave\" concept refers to a new
\nindustrial era based on knowledge and information rather than
\ntangible assets, said low wages will only work for a while.<\/p>\n
Companies first set up shop in Japan before moving to Korea
\nand other Asian countries on the low-salary trail. Likewise,
\nfirms coming to Latin America seeking cheap labor may migrate in
\nthe future to Africa, he said.<\/p>\n
And, in an era in which \"each interval of time is worth more
\nmoney than the previous,\" companies may even return to rich
\ncountries where high technology can ensure fast delivery.<\/p>\n
\"Technology is cheaper than labor,\" he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/imf-errors-may-cost-lives-social-thinker-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }