by Piyaporn Hawiset
5 December 2001
As to whether or not the events in the United States on September 11, 2001 should not or should not be seen as globalisation's high-water mark", one can easily see that as a basic, simplistic model, globalisation is a good concept, but it has to be equitable for everyone, at least in theory. The events of September 11 forced the wealthier nations to take a serious look at why and how seemingly educated people could spend years planning, preparing and actually execute a plan that included their own deaths just to get back at something they hate. The answers are obvious that the existing models for economic development and growth are flawed.
Most of the world's ordinary people, not the pro-American capitalsist, perhaps, have felt for a long time that the American way of doing business is a bit too brutal for most. Apart from the labour-cost factor, human beings are totally left out of the business model, and I it is this that is the cause of so much hatred and resentment not only to Americans but to corporations and financial institutions around the world.
A good example that comes to mind is the way economists and analysts merely look at macroeconomic numbers and make judgement on countries and societies. When Thailand was downgraded to join Indonesia and the Philippines because its macroeconomic numbers had deteriorated, Thailand nevertheless did not resort to kidnapping foreign tourists for ransom, and nor to chopping each other's heads off in a dispute, as seems to be the practice in the more uncivilised Philippines and Indonesia. If foreign investors do not feel comfortable, please go.
Scumbag analysts continually criticise the Thai government's policy about public-debt levels approaching 60 per cent of GDP. Do these analysts have any clue about the real size of Thailand's GDP? One only has to look at the bi-weekly lottery. Most would agree that the volume of the underground lottery dwarfs the official one, but it is not measured in any of the GDP caculations. Some estimates put Thailands underground and largely illegal economy at bigger than the official, open economy. But it, too, is not included in the official GDP figures.
Take a look at money-lending; underground money-lending and loan sharking exceeds that of financial institutions combined. Most local companies keep two sets of books, one for paying taxes and one for keeping track of how much they actually make. If analysts were correct about most things, Thailand would have gone belly up a few years ago already. On the contrary, home and car sales are doing well. Need one say more?
Humans form societies, which in turn form countries, which in turn shape the world. As long as shareholders exclude humans from profit and growth targets, there will be more September 11 events.