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From: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: capitalism vs. democracy???
Message-ID: <895@mmintl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Dec-85 10:49:24 EST
Article-I.D.: mmintl.895
Posted: Mon Dec 16 10:49:24 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Dec-85 19:19:49 EST
References: <286@frog.UUCP> <28200382@inmet.UUCP>
Reply-To: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Organization: Multimate International, E. Hartford, CT
Lines: 35

In article <28200382@inmet.UUCP> nrh@inmet.UUCP writes:
>>When <random third world leader> approaches the Chairman of Chase
>>Manhattan Bank for a loan, it is the banker who has the upper hand.
>
>Larry,  I don't think you understand what's going on here.  The statement
>is trivially true (whenever I offer you a deal, I have the "upper hand"
>because you may refuse it or not, but I can't (having already offered it)).
>
>>Thus, David Rockefeller has the ability to drastically affect the
>>fortunes of millions of people the world over.  Was he elected by
>>them?  No.
>
>Nope.  The person who sought out David Rockefeller was not some random
>swine who was appointed by the gods to be able to assume a debt in the
>name of the country, but the head of some government or other.
>
>Such governments typically claim to be democracies, and if they act
>anti-democratically by selling their economic future to David 
>Rockefeller (who is, by the way, not the only bidder) then it is
>the governments you should criticize, not the moneylenders.
>
>By the way, the US government has some impact on all this, by making it
>profitable to lend to third world nations through various incentives.
>David Rockefeller can ignore these, but others would take his place.

Another point is that David Rockefeller does not have nearly as much power
in this situation as you suggest.  If he can't justify his decision to the
Board of Directors on economic grounds, he is likely to get kicked out.
(Making such decisions on economic grounds is so automatic for management
that this generally doesn't become an issue.  What does become an issue is
the actual financial results.)  This kind of constraint means that the
actual power is much less than the apparent power.

Frank Adams                           ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
Multimate International    52 Oakland Ave North    E. Hartford, CT 06108