As I have described in previous columns, multinational corporations have a disproportionate amount of power in the United States. They control almost all the mainstream media outlets and make up the most influential and rewarded lobbies in Washington, D.C.
Companies such as Bechtel, Halliburton and General Electric also receive enormous contracts from the U.S. government in exchange for electronic equipment, infrastructure construction and weapons. These contracts often are artificially inflated and disproportionately awarded to companies with not-so-subtle links to the government. This type of corruption has been exposed by the contracts awarded to Halliburton in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Not only has Halliburton received more lucrative contracts than any other contractor - despite numerous claims of systemic deficiencies in Halliburton's accounting and billing operations by the Defense Contract Audit Agency - but also Vice President Dick Cheney was the former CEO of this company. And according to a Sept. 26 report by CBS, Cheney still retains stock options and deferred salary payments from the company.
This example is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Contracts between governments, corporations and international banks all over the world have been historically corrupt and aimed at the enrichment of large corporations. Furthermore, the cozy relationship between these entities forms the basis of a global empire controlled by the United States.
An empire is usually considered a military entity, and the U.S. Empire certainly has this aspect - exemplified most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq. Typically, the United States controls countries in a more legitimate way. It uses the global capitalist system and its two main components corporations, and international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
I have in the past explained how corporations manipulate developing countries by exploiting their cheap labor and extracting their resources. International financial institutions play an equally vital role in maintaining the subservience of developing countries to U.S. interests.
The IMF is supposed to ensure the macroeconomic stability of a country. This means creating conditions such as a balanced budget and a non-intrusive government, which are necessary for foreign investors to extract safely natural resources and to exploit cheap labor. The IMF makes its loans contingent on a country pursuing measures such as trade liberalization, reduced government expenditures - often in areas such as education and health care - and the privatization of state-run industries. While these measures provide the stability desired by foreign investors, they often exacerbate problems of poverty and unemployment, which are the real roots of social instability.
The supposed goal of the World Bank is the elimination of poverty. It undertakes massive construction projects in developing nations such as the creation of hydroelectric dams, airports and industrial parks. Although these projects could be beneficial, once again, they do not address the real roots of poverty such as a lack of education and employment.
In his book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman
John Perkins recounts his time as an employee for the U.S. consulting firm Chas T. Main. This firm was contracted by the World Bank to report on the potential economic growth that would result from the completion of projects in developing countries.
In the book, Perkins alleges that Main encouraged him to inflate his economic projections, which he did. With this arrangement, his firm and the U.S. based contractors made piles of money while developing countries such as Ecuador, Indonesia and Panama became saddled with huge debts to the World Bank when their development projects did not live up to the inflated expectations.
Perkins admits in the book that he knew his work and the resulting debt were integral to the subjugation of these nations. Once they were in debt to U.S.-dominated institutions - the World Bank and IMF - they were forced to provide geopolitical favors to the United States. These favors came in the form of construction of military bases on their soil, favorable votes in the United Nations and support for U.S. wars.
Through manipulative control of international institutions, support of unjust business practices by U.S. firms, and outright military and political coercion, the U.S. empire is undermining sovereignty, democracy and human rights from Central America to the Middle East to Southeast Asia.
The United States must begin using the World Bank and IMF actually to address the roots of poverty. These institutions should initiate massive public works projects similar to those employed by Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Citizens of developing countries should be put to work building schools, roads, and hospitals, and thereby providing employment and development. These institutions must focus on improving education and health care instead of requiring budget cuts in those areas.
The U.S. government and its subsidiaries should cease their imperialistic actions around the world. There is a growing backlash against these types - not least of all in our own country.
- Danny Burridge is a senior political science major. Send him an e-mail at db134102@ohiou.edu. 17
Archives
Danny Burridge
