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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1983)
Portland Observer, February 23,1983 Page 3 Joli S o u th w all, flrot diroctor of tho Simon Aduh Servie« Cen- tsr, visita wtth oM Monde during conter '• opon houee. (Photo: Richard Brown) Aaron Mitchefl and Son Plumbing * Experienced Plum ber * Licensed and Bor\ded Established in business for 25 years Havp lived in the Portland Area for 40 years WE STAND BEHIND ALL JOBS 1703 N.E. Alberta 288-4040 REP. ED LEEK Leek meets voters 25% Ed Leek, Slate Representative from District IS, will hold a com munity forum at the St. Andrews Community Center, on Saturday, February 26, 10a m. -I I a.m. Topics o f discussion will include: Is a sales tax in your best interest; understanding the T ri-M e t tax; ex tension of unemployment benefits; ERA for the State of Oregon. o ff all New & Used Vacuum Cleaners Third world nations' debt threatens crisis (Continued from page I column 6) from its 146 member-nations and lends money to help them meet their foreign debts. The current lending pool, which is supposed to last through 1985. is $66 billion, but the fund is down to $15 billion. The IM F last week voted to in crease the lending pool by 46.5 per cent. The developing nations advo cated doubling; Japan suggested 65 percent and the U .S . held out for the lowest amount—40 percent. The U .S. quota is 20.7 percent, which gives the U .S . veto powet over IM F policy decisions. This con tribution does not increase the feder al budget because the contribution is actually a line o f credit IM F can draw on and when funds are drawn the U.S. Treasury receives interna tional reserve assets that earn in terest. In ad dition , the U .S - has been the IM F's second largest user, drawing on IM F funds 25 times since 1960. a total o f about $6.5 billion. Even if the IM F meeting results in a call for increased funding, the plan will face trouble in Congress. The House Banking Committee has already announced that it will a t tempt to tighten regulations on U.S. commercial banks’ foreign loans in exchange for the IM F increase. Debt restructuring A group of financial experts and congressmen are proposing a plan that would convert developing na tions* loanr to long-term low-inter est loans to avert the possibility of default. They propose to ceate an international organization that would buy the developing country’s loan from the banks at 90 cents on the dollar. In exchange, the banks would receive long term bonds, due in 10 to 20 years, at lower interest rates. The country would pay the loan to the organization over the same period o f time and the organization would use the loan to pay off the banks. If $300 billion in short-term loans were turned into 20- to 30-year loans at 6 percent interest, this would save the developing nations $13 to $20 billion a year. Opposition comes from the banks, which would lose 10 cents on the dollar but would have safer loans. The fear that a government bailout would further “ nationaliza tio n " o f the banks and interferes with the banks' “ independence." is not a man or a nation but an eco nomic doctrine that inflation can be stopped by shutting o ff the money tap." In 1947-1951, a global recession was averted by spending vast amounts of money in Europe under the Marshall plan; in 1974-78 heavy borrowing by m iddle-income de veloping nations ended the U.S. re cession of 1974. “ The overall movement in both cases was toward a more equal world and reduced international tensions," Jha said. "Perhaps this is what the 'old' nations no longer want and monetarism is a veil to cloak their true political aims." EUREKA ELECTRIC CO 140 N.E. Broadway»287-9420 Naw world economic order In October of 1979, when he ad dressed the United Nations to report on the 6th Summit Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Na tions, Fidel Castro, chairm an o f that movement, proposed that $300 billion (at 1977 real value, now ap proximately $400 billion) be distrib uted in $25 billion annual payments for investment in underdeveloped countries. This would be in the form o f donations and long-term , low- interest credits. This money could be used for development according .o the nation's own industrialization ind social policies, and for educa tion, health care and food produc tion. This would be accompanied by a New W orl Economic Order which would give T h ird W o rld nations control over their own wealth, and establish equity in world trade to en sure developing nations receive a fair price for their exports. The Third W orld debt is a result o f the economic policies o f the Western developed nations. Failure to solve this problem will drive the entire world's economy to a co l lapse. Prem Shankar Jha o f India wrote: “ The high interest rates that are driving the Third World toward an economic breakdown are not an act of God. Nor are they ordained by the immutable laws of econom ics. They have been forced up by the concerted action o f the advanced countries which since 1979 have been following monetarist policies designed to reduce the growth o f money supply in order to reduce in flation. “ The ultimate criminal therefore WHAT IF ELECTRICITY CAMEINACAN? r r » » ’ V /A ’ 1 C.W Imagine you could walk into a store and buy elec « G 1 tricity in a can. I T r r r r r r t » » month, Then when you zou know wanted to light a K l L O W A T ^ H i .) le power room, dry your Control how much clothes, cook your icityyouuse, dinner, or do any of a you begin to see how thousand jobs electric you can hold your ity can do, you’d simply electricity costs go to your cupboard, down. open a can or two, and use So the next time some electricity. you turn on a switch, Interesting thought, isn’t it? dry your laundry, or After a while, you’d know about bake a cake in an electric oven, think how many cans oi electricity you use what it would be like if you bought each month. And since you’d have to your power in a can. buy more cans when you ran out, you’d You just might see the value of elec probably be careful about how much tricity in a whole new light. electricity you use. CKAIUTS «IT JEFFERSON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER MARCH 3-4-5, 8:00 P.M. Adulta S3, Students & Senior Cltizana . *2 . Ticket» Stevena & Sona Lloyd Cantor. Motor & Frank, Downtown; Jerierson, 2:30 - 4 : 3 0 . . . Monday - Friday. THE PEOPLE AT PACIFIC POWER net toll f («•Mr« S
