Teach-In raises economic awareness, readies protest

By Mike Rosenfeldt
FOR THE POST

When Ohio University students and Athens residents shop at local stores, they might not realize the scale of the global economic powers these businesses are up against.

Takaaki Suzuki, assistant professor of political science, spoke Friday afternoon at Casa Cantina during the International Monetary Fund Teach-In that examined these international forces. The Appalachian Peace and Justice Network invited Suzuki to explain the IMF and its effect on the global economy.

In 1944, The World Bank Group and IMF were created at the Bretton Woods Conference, he said. The World Bank guarantees credit and gives loans to the 177 countries that are members. The World Bank also funds structural adjustment programs, which compel Third World and other nations to go along with IMF demands. Non-cooperation can lead to a cut-off of credit because other lenders follow the lead of the World Bank and IMF.

There are recent concerns of a "growing globalization of market regulation, eroding states' abilities to make autonomous decisions," Suzuki said.

IMF and World Bank conditions include increasing interest rates to combat inflation, eliminating regulation on foreign ownership of resources and businesses and eliminating tariffs on imports, according to a handout given at the teach-in.

While foreign businesses are given an upper hand to benefit corporate elite, these conditions have a negative effect on small businesses and the poor. Losing domestic control and increasing competition creates difficulties for small businesses.

"Keeping the government's houses clean doesn't have to come at the expense of the poor," Suzuki said.

The APJN is organizing a group to protest the IMF and World Bank Ministers in Washington, D.C., April 16 and 17. APJN Program Coordinator Mara Giglio said she saw an effective aim in the actions against the IMF.

"I was moved by the energy and spirit of these non-violent protestors," Giglio said. "The IMF is another arm of corporate control."

Junior Nate Beard said he sees the IMF as harmful for the local economy.

"Local businesses have a big opportunity to bloom and the IMF is a restraint on that. They defeat the purpose of trying," Beard said.

For more information on the group going to Washington, D.C., contact The APJN at 592-2608 or apjn@frognet.net.