???The Role of Legal Infrastructure Enhancement in

Promoting Economic Development in Africa

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Uploaded by caseschooloflaw on Nov 11, 2010

November 4, 2010
Frederick K. Cox International Law Center
Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Strengthening Africa's Participation
in the Global Economy

Ernest Aryeetey, Julius Court, Machiko Nissanke and Beatrice Weder

Report from expert consultative meetings organized by the United Nations University and the African Economic Research Consortium

Executive Summary

: Underlying Issues; Key Lessons for a Successful Outward-Oriented Development Strategy

I. Introduction

II. Globalization and Africa: The Need for a Strategic Approach

III. Recommendations for Strengthening Africa's Participation in the Global Economy

: (A) Economic Policies; (B) Institutional Foundations

VI. Supportive Measures from Developed Countries

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

This policy brief is intended to assist African governments in efforts to strengthen their participation in the global economy in ways that bring widespread and sustainable benefits to their peoples. It stems from two issues. First, the forces of globalization are perhaps the most important factors that affect the current environment for economic development. Second, there are lessons from Southeast Asian experiences that policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa could adapt to their own contexts. These lessons stem both from Southeast Asia�s era of rapid growth as well as from the current economic crisis. In this report, we highlight three underlying issues and eight key lessons.

Underlying Issues

1. Participating in the global economy provides immense opportunities.

This has been shown by the success of countries with an outward-oriented strategy. By contrast, inward-looking development strategies lead to marginalization and condemn countries to slow growth. Pursuing an outward-oriented strategy is even more crucial for most African countries because their domestic markets are particularly small.

2. It also entails significant risks.

Participating in the global economy also poses significant challenges for the economic management of fragile economies and can lead to major problems. In particular, as shown by the recent Southeast Asian experiences, the risks of liberalization are particularly high for capital accounts due to the massive size and fluctuating nature of financial flows. Although few countries in Africa are facing the scale of inflows relative to the size of their economies that precipitated the Asian crisis, key lessons concern the importance of developing sound financial systems, appropriate sequencing, avoiding overly rigid exchange rate regimes and caution in financial opening.

3. Successful participation requires a strategic approach that is actively pursued.

It is vital that African countries actively engage the forces of globalization. But the specific nature and scale of the benefits and costs depend on the forms of integration. A strategic approach is needed.

First, integration is multi-dimensional, involving among others the aspects of trade, investment, capital flows and technology. The optimal level of openness may differ for each aspect, which itself depends critically on the stage of development in each particular market. This leads to questions regarding the best policy mix (towards trade, foreign direct investment and capital flows) to achieve integration.

Second, there seem to be certain prerequisites necessary for countries to manage the risks and to ensure orderly liberalization. This has significant implications regarding the most appropriate pace, sequencing and time-frame for reforms.

Third, international economic interactions are currently characterized by fractured globalization. In particular, trade is concentrated in regional blocs. Therefore, African countries should place a high priority on trying to generate economic dynamism with neighbouring countries. Another implication is that countries� strategies towards trade and towards attracting investment should be targeted towards those non-African regional blocs with which the country has the strongest potential complementarities.

Key Lessons for a Successful Outward-Oriented Development Strategy

1. Ensure a stable macroeconomic environment.

Macroeconomic stability is an old lesson, but one which remains fundamentally important. Africa�s growth "tragedy" is partly attributable to governments� failure to achieve stability on key macro-economic issues such as maintaining low inflation; keeping budget deficits manageable; maintaining an appropriate and stable real exchange rate; and maintaining stable and appropriate real interest rates. Although many African countries have made significant improvements in these areas, there is a need to consolidate and further improve macro-economic fundamentals.

2. Liberalize trade, but with care.

In order to participate more in international trade, African countries will need to further liberalize their trade regimes. But liberalization has fiscal and balance of payments implications stemming from the difficulty of finding alternative secure sources of revenue. Also, premature de-industrialization could set in if trade liberalization is carried out without regard to the competitiveness of otherwise successful domestic enterprises. Therefore, in designing credible and sustainable trade reforms, more care will need to be taken regarding the sequencing, pace and phasing of trade liberalization. Countries should start with export liberalization and promotion, while import liberalization should be implemented steadily over a longer period.

3. Realise the opportunities of regional dynamism.

Africa�s market is equivalent in economic terms to that of Belgium, yet it is fragmented into over forty different countries. Bearing in mind the fact that much international economic interaction is regional rather than global in nature, there would seem to be great potential for African countries to promote regional interaction and markets as a stepping stone towards participating more actively in global markets. The first step is to work towards trade and payments liberalization between neighbouring countries in order to generate regional dynamics. Building regional infrastructure networks in roads and telecommunications would also help.

4. Focus on the primary sector

The performance of the primary sector will be crucial because this sector provides Africa's main source of foreign exchange earnings. A crucial immediate task for most countries in Africa is to rebuild the primary commodity export sector, while also proceeding with strategies to promote export diversification. A vital consideration is that the primary sector should not be penalised.

Governments could also actively intervene in expanding and diversifying primary exports. Creating or supporting institutions for research and development as well as education and training in this sector should be given priority. Infrastructual investments to overcome power failures, water shortages and poor rural road networks are also essential.

5. Some protection and selective promotion policies may be helpful....

Governments could also intervene to promote upgrading of exports and encourage inward investment. Selective promotion measures for consideration include export-processing zones (EPZs), bonded warehouses, and duty exemption and drawback schemes. Also, protection can be justified in order to promote infant industries. Thus, temporary and strictly time-bound protection and promotion for certain industries can be justified if industries are selected in view of countries� evolving comparative advantage.

6. But they can be dangerous if the institutional preconditions are weak

However, in addition to the importance of sound policy foundations, selective measures can only be effective if the necessary institutional foundations exist. In fact, attempting selective measures without the appropriate foundations can actually be harmful. Therefore, African countries should concentrate on building sound policy and institutional foundations. The institutional foundations include government commitment to economic development, communication between the public and private sectors, an effective bureaucracy and low risk of corruption.

7. Reinforce the institutional preconditions for outward orientation and growth

There is increasing acceptance of the value of institutional reform in improving Africa�s economic performance in general, and its external performance in particular. By institutions we refer to the formal and informal rules of the game that govern the behaviour of state and market agents as well as their interactions. Institutions are vital, among others, at four levels:

At a political level, it is important to have institutions that lead to commitment and credibility. There are two key lessons here. First, shield top economic agencies from political pressures and follow their advice. Second, develop sub-regional free-trade agreements as a means of demonstrating commitment, as well as of realizing other benefits.

At a public level, it is desirable to have institutions that lead to an efficient and non-corrupt public service. Important measures include:

merit-based recruitment and promotion;
appropriate wages;
limits on political appointments and insulation from political pressures;
streamlined structures and bureaucratic practices; and,
efforts to combat corruption (most managers identify corruption as the number-one obstacle to doing business).

Regarding the interaction between the public and private levels, it is important to have a bureaucracy that is responsive to the business community but still independent. Information-sharing through business councils is one useful mechanism to improve this responsiveness.
At the level of private agents, the importance of secure property and contract rights cannot be overstated. There is a real need to improve the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary and to establish the rule of law.

Overall, there is substantial evidence that institutional failure in Africa is a critical obstacle to better growth and external performance. In particular, surveys identifying local entrepreneurs� views on the obstacles to business in Africa highlight the unpredictability of changes in laws and policies, the unreliability of law enforcement, the impact of discretionary and corrupt bureaucracies, and the danger of policy reversals due to changes in governments. Unless governments eliminate these kinds of obstacles it is unlikely that business, domestic or international, will flourish in Africa.

8. Developed countries can help by:

Radically transforming aid. Aid will have to be substantially transformed if it is to serve as a useful instrument for mediating Africa�s future relationship with the world. The key challenge is how to facilitate the effective transfer of ownership to countries in Africa. Donors could help through substantial reduction in donor procurement restrictions and inappropriate intrusion into domestic affairs as well as in taking longer-term perspectives. They should also be more selective in concentrating their aid towards countries that demonstrate ownership and commitment � that have or are actively moving towards the economic policy and institutional foundations for development.
Reducing the debt burden. There is an overwhelming case that significant further reductions in the external debt of debt-distressed countries would improve growth prospects in Africa, particularly if the resources provided are additional.

Guaranteeing open markets. One of the most effective mechanisms to help African countries integrate into the global economy would be for OECD countries to guarantee open markets for African exports and commit themselves to help strengthen Africa�s participation in the world economy.

I. Introduction

The objective of this policy brief is to assist African governments in efforts to strengthen their participation in the global economy in ways that bring widespread and sustainable benefits to their peoples. This document highlights some of the key factors that African countries will need to address if they are going to realise the opportunities and negotiate the challenges posed by globalization. It also outlines some broad practical measures that would help improve the situation with regard to these factors. The brief is not intended to be a comprehensive blueprint, but instead to provide a reference for discussions at the specific country level.

The recommendations in the brief are based on:

an assessment of the trends in the globalization process and their specific implications for Africa;
a review of the latest academic thinking regarding economic performance in general and external performance in particular;
a review of the causes of Africa's economic marginalization and of its structural adjustment experience;
a review of the potential lessons contained in the impressive external performance of Southeast Asia over the last thirty years, as well as the lessons for Africa contained in the Asian economic crisis.

The rest of this section provides a brief overview of these issues.

The globalization of the world economy is perhaps the most important trend that affects the current environment for economic development. It offers great opportunities for poor countries to accelerate their economic development. But, it also poses new and substantial challenges for economic management.

Within this context, there has been a tendency to contrast Africa�s growth "tragedy" over the last three decades with the economic "miracle" of East Asia. There are certainly likely to be lessons from the East Asian experiences that policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa could adapt to their own situations. Lessons can be learned both from the era of rapid growth in East Asia as well as from the ongoing economic crisis.

In particular, the Southeast Asian nations Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand would seem to offer the most relevant lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa. Southeast Asia and Africa had similar levels of income in the 1960s and 1970s. This can be seen in Graph 1, which highlights the changes in GDP per capita in Southeast Asia and Africa since 1970. The two regions also had relatively similar social and political conditions at that time. The graph powerfully illustrates the sustained growth in Southeast Asia for twenty-five years as well as the marked decline in Africa�s fortunes since the early 1980s.

Source: Calculated from World Development Indicators (World Bank, 1997).

One of the most obvious differences in the performances and economic structures between the two regions has been the extent of participation in the global economy. The decline in Africa�s share of world exports, its continued concentration in primary commodities and its inability to attract inward investment have led to widespread concern over the increasing economic marginalization of many countries in Africa. In contrast, countries in Southeast Asia have not only accelerated the process of integration in the world economy but also upgraded their linkages. This points to the advantages of following an outward-oriented development strategy. But the ongoing Asian crisis highlights the severe challenges for economic management presented by the globalization of the world economy.

Explanations of the increasing marginalization of Africa identify a broad variety of factors. These include: (i) geographical conditions such as weather, climate, natural resource endowment and landlockedness; (ii) policy factors and related variables such as human and physical capital, fiscal and monetary policy, savings and investment, exchange rate competitiveness, and trade regimes; and, (iii) institutional factors, for example political commitment and credibility, bureaucratic quality, law and order. However, as governments cannot change the geographical conditions, we concentrate on the policy and institutional realms.

The brief is divided into three more sections. Section II outlines the forces that are driving the globalization process and identifies some key underlying issues for countries in Africa. Section III highlights measures that might help African countries to enhance their integration into the global economy. Section III(i) focuses on economic policy issues and Section III(ii) focuses on institutional measures. Section IV outlines recommendations for external partners.

II. Globalization and Africa: The Need for a Strategic Approach

Globalization and the Importance of an Outward-Oriented Strategy

Globalization is perhaps the most important trend shaping the current environment for economic development. The main modes (and therefore indicators) of this global economic integration are international trade, foreign direct investment and capital flows. Globalization is indicated by the fact that the rate of growth of each of these indicators has been faster than the growth of overall world output. In order to make the most of these opportunities and to also manage the risks, the first step is to understand the nature of the forces driving the global economy and the implications for economic management in Africa.

There are a number of factors that appear to be driving the process of globalization. First, rapid advances in communication and transportation technology have reduced the costs of moving goods, money, people and information. Second, globalization relates to the expanding geographical scope of business activities of private transnational corporations and financial institutions. Third, it refers to the increased extent to which markets for goods, services, and factors of production are effectively integrated across national borders. Fourth, it is concerned with the higher degree of uniformity in policy and institutional environments that set the rules of the game for economic actions and interactions on the part of private agents based in various countries. The interaction of these factors has undoubtedly led to an accentuated tendency of the world economy towards greater interaction and integration between national economies. It seems realistic to assume that despite current turbulence, this tendency will continue to increase over the medium term.

Globalization can provide immense opportunities for countries to accelerate the development process. These opportunities centre on access to world markets, finance and technology. By pursuing outward-oriented strategies to realise these opportunities, countries such as Korea, Malaysia and Thailand in Asia and Mauritius in Africa have doubled their national incomes in just over twenty years. Pursuing an outward-oriented strategy is even more crucial for most African countries because they are particularly small and poor. As the past experiences of African countries suggest, de-linking from the global economy leads to marginalization and condemns countries to slow growth.

The Vital Need for a Strategic Approach

But, while the benefits from globalization can be significant, they are not necessarily guaranteed. They are dependent on the nature and forms of integration. In this regard, integration has a number of dimensions such as trade, investment, capital flows and technology. The optimal level of openness may differ for each aspect, depending on the stage of development in each particular market. In addition, the risks and costs associated with liberalization can be considerable for small, fragile economies, as they are exposed to external shocks.

Certain prerequisites seem necessary for countries to manage the risks and to ensure liberalization proceeds in an orderly manner. While not downplaying the spheres of international trade and foreign direct investment, recent events indicate that liberalizing capital flows can pose particularly severe risks and costs. Although few countries in Africa are facing the scale of inflows relative to the size of their economies that precipitated the Asian crisis, key lessons for Africa illustrated by the crisis concern the importance of developing sound financial systems, appropriate sequencing, avoiding overly rigid exchange rate regimes and caution in financial opening.

A final issue relates to the observation that the integrated world economy that globalization is popularly assumed to produce has not emerged. What has emerged is a degree of fractured globalization. In particular, trade is concentrated in regional blocs instead of being fully global. The implication stemming from this evidence is that African countries should place a high priority on trying to generate dynamism with neighbouring countries.

III. Recommendations for Strengthening Africa�s Participation in the Global Economy

Background

The explanations for Africa�s marginalization over the last two decades have largely concentrated on the inappropriate domestic policy regimes maintained in most African countries. Based on this view, the advice provided has centred on economic policy reforms, namely stabilisation and structural adjustment policies. There was a firm belief that these reforms would remove impediments to markets and thereby boost external performance and growth.

There is little debate that reform was needed, and there is evidence that growth and export performances have been better in countries that have undertaken and sustained a reasonable measure of macroeconomic reform. But the policy regimes and development situation in Africa remain very fragile. The rates of economic growth in most countries are still well below levels that will have a significant impact on reducing poverty. This leads to two questions: How can policy stance be improved further? Is policy reform sufficient; and if not, what other areas need action?

On the first question, analyses indicate that many African countries still do not have economic policy foundations that are likely to lead to significant improvements in external performance. There is still a great need to consolidate economic policy reforms in a few key areas where there is already a consensus. But there is concern that policy advice has had a concentration on short-term targets that may be detrimental to long term growth prospects in Africa. There is also the linked worry that the overriding way these targets are pursued actually jeopardises the credibility and sustainability of reform.

On the second question, there is acknowledgement that "getting the prices right" in Africa is not sufficient. Even in countries that have undertaken significant policy reforms, these have not led to the expected improvements in economic growth and external performance. There remain a number of constraints in Africa that policy reform alone will not rectify.

This assessment has been coupled with research that illustrates the importance of institutions in economic development. By institutions, we mean the rules and arrangements governing the behaviour of economic, bureaucratic and political actors. In particular, research indicates that Africa has very low institutional quality and is the riskiest continent for investment. Therefore, this report highlights a number of important institutional issues and suggests measures that could help Africa improve the institutional foundations for successful external performance.

It is important to note that policies and institutions interact in a number of ways. First of all, policies are outcomes of the institutional system of policy formulation. Second, policies are implemented within the institutional system of policy execution. Thirdly, and conversely, policy decisions and their outcomes set conditions on the operation of institutions, and thus affect their functioning.

This discussion has three broad but important implications.

First, economic policy choices by African governments towards strategic integration should reflect the existing institutional situation. For many African countries, this entails focusing the state's capability on the most important tasks.

Second, it means that countries with weak institutional capabilities should not adopt "institution-intensive" approaches to policy most countries in Africa should start with policy measures that are easier to implement. The economic policy priorities for strategic integration are highlighted below in the section III(i).

Third, it is clear that policy reform alone is not enough, and that countries will need to significantly improve institutional quality if they are to integrate with the world economy. These issues are addressed in section III(ii).

III (i). Economic Policies

Economic Policy Foundations

There is a significant degree of consensus on the key economic policies that provide a foundation for encouraging development in general and integration with the global economy in particular. Such policies would include:

investment in human and physical capital (education, transport and communication infrastructure);
maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment (for example, maintaining low inflation; keeping budget deficits manageable; maintaining an appropriate and stable real exchange rate; and maintaining stable and appropriate real interest rates);
outward orientation, in particular maintaining a competitive and stable exchange rate.

There is widespread acceptance that the policies highlighted above were a central part of successful outward-oriented development strategies in East Asia. There is also substantial evidence that Africa�s growth "tragedy" is partly attributable to governments� failure to achieve stability on key macro-economic issues. Although many African countries have made significant improvements in macro-economic policy, there is a need to consolidate and augment their macro-economic fundamentals. Many countries in Africa still lack a macro-economic policy stance that would enable them to maximise their external performance.

The key issue is how to achieve the policy foundations given the constraints being faced. Large budget and current account deficits and high inflation, for example, are bad for growth, but there are no simple rules for deciding on the optimal level of deficits. One major area of concern is that the over-riding emphasis on short-term stabilisation policies and the zealous pursuit of rigorous macro-economic targets is actually harming long-term growth prospects in Africa. This particularly seems to be the case regarding the impact on Africa�s levels of investment in human and physical capital. It is essential that reforms are designed and implemented in a more coherent manner and with realistic targets regarding the pace, sequencing and time frame so that they do not impinge on essential government expenditures and investments that are crucial for the country's long-term development.

Trade and Investment Regimes

The trade policy regimes that prevailed between the time of independence and the adoption of structural adjustment programmes in Africa were truly inward-looking both on the import and export sides. These policies led to Africa�s increasing marginalization in the world economy. Anti-export bias stifled the incentives of exporters causing African countries to fail to participate in and benefit from the growth of international trade. Given these historical experiences, it is not surprising to find that trade liberalization carried great weight in the structural adjustment programmes.

The superiority of an outward-oriented regime over an inward-looking one has been increasingly accepted as a key component of a growth-enhancing development strategy. Openness to the global economy provides nations with the potential to exploit comparative advantages and economies of scale as well as the opportunity for the greater utilisation of capacity. Exports provide a source of foreign exchange with which to improve productivity. Foreign direct investment can be a source of employment and can encourage technological upgrading. Openness also enables global technical change to increase domestic productivity via importing. In addition, competitive pressure can stimulate increased efficiency.

However, despite two decades spent in pursuit of "openness," much of Africa continues to be bypassed by the global trends in trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. The region�s share of world trade has declined to about 2 per cent. There has been little export diversification, and Africa�s concentration in primary commodity exports continues. The minuscule FDI that flows into the region is concentrated in the extractive oil and mineral sectors.

In the process of implementation, many reforming countries found it difficult to adhere consistently to trade liberalization. Trade reforms� sustainability and credibility are critical issues in Africa as frequent policy reversals have been observed in many countries. Most of these reversals can be traced, by and large, to fiscal and balance-of-payments incompatibility. Therefore, in designing credible and sustainable trade reforms for Africa, a number of pressing issues concerning the sequencing, pace and phasing of trade liberalization need to be addressed.

First, with extremely narrow tax bases and weak tax-collecting capacity, African governments have been overly dependent on taxes on international trade transactions for their fiscal revenue. There is a real difficulty in finding alternative secure sources of tax revenue and instituting efficient tax-collecting systems in the short to medium term, leading to perpetual fiscal imbalance. This indicates a practical need for liberalization to be implemented steadily over a longer period.

Second, balance-of-payments problems may worsen with deep, generalised and sudden import liberalization as has already been witnessed in many African countries. In view of the need to have a sustainable export revenue base in order to avoid recurrent balance-of-payments crises, reforms could be implemented along two tracks. During the first stage, policies could be geared to export liberalization rather than sweeping competitive tariff reductions. Import liberalization could be carried out in a more gradual fashion over a longer period.

Third, in some countries premature deindustrialization could set in if trade liberalization is carried out without regard to the competitiveness of otherwise dynamic successful domestic enterprises.

Realizing the Opportunities for Regional Dynamism

Africa�s economic and political geography present challenging circumstances for economic development. Many African countries are too small and balkanised to provide substantial economies of scale to support profitable investment and fifteen countries are landlocked. This situation and the regional rather than global nature of much international interaction suggests that countries place a high priority on trying to generate sub-regional and regional dynamism.

Regional integration can only work in the context of more open national economies. The first step is to work towards trade and payments liberalization between neighbouring countries in order to spur inter-country transactions. Liberalization has already led to increasing intra-regional trade within Africa. Another major step in this direction is to integrate national markets into sub-regional markets through building regional infrastructure networks, in roads and telecommunications, for example. Regional project aid could help here.

Furthermore, while financial market development presents a potential channel for integration into the global economy, most economies in Africa are too small to justify the cost involved in setting up stock markets. One of the most viable ways to overcome this problem is for governments to pool resources in developing regional institutions. These could include: regional securities and exchange commissions; regional self-regulatory organisations; regional committees to promote harmonisation of legal and regulatory schemes; development of regional bond or debt markets; regional institutions for pooling information and research; credible regional credit rating agencies; and coordinated monetary arrangements.

Concentrate on the Primary Sector

The strategy towards globalization for African countries should reflect the structure of their economies and their endowments relative to other parts of the world. While some African countries have the basic infrastructure and human capacity to embark on industrialization drives, the majority are at a pre-industrial stage. In addition, Africa faces the highest transport and telecommunications costs in the world. The performance of the primary sector will be crucial since this sector dominates most economies in Africa and provides the main source of foreign exchange earnings. Given the long gestation period of investments in human capital, the primary sector is likely to remain crucial for many years to come.

A crucial immediate task for most countries in Africa is to rebuild the primary commodity export sector. A vital step is to reduce export taxes so that the primary sector is not penalised. But governments could also actively intervene to expand the level and diversify the range of their primary exports. Priority should be given to creating or supporting institutions for research and development, education and training. Infrastructure investment is also essential to overcome a number of supply constraints, such as power cuts, water shortages and poor rural road networks. Other key transport-related obstacles include the lack of all-weather roads and feeder roads necessary for transportation of agricultural produce to major centres, insufficient rolling stock and lack of refrigerated trucks and cold-storage facilities for perishables.

Government should also look towards longer-term strategies to develop primary-processing capabilities. This can lead to the acquisition of new skills and technologies, productivity growth, externalities and scale economies, and provide an important new source of export revenue. If resources are managed on a sustainable basis, natural resource-based industrialization remains a viable development path for many African countries.

Selective Promotion Measures and Protection and the Pre-requisites for Effectiveness

There are a number of ways in which African governments could intervene to encourage exports, manufactured exports in particular, as well as to attract inward investment. Selective promotion measures such as duty exemption and drawback schemes can be used to create free trade conditions for exporters. Other measures for consideration include bonded warehouses and export-processing zones (EPZs), which allow firms to import on a duty-free basis subject to the requirement that their entire output is exported.

There is also a case for temporary and strictly time-bound protection for certain industries. Protection can be justified during liberalization in order to ensure a soft landing for otherwise successful domestic enterprises and avoid de-industrialization. Protection can also be justified on infant industry grounds if industries are selected in view of countries� dynamically evolving comparative advantage.

It is important, however, to emphasise the rigorous pre-requisites if specific measures are to work effectively. First, specific measures can only be effective if sound general policy foundations support them. Second, the implementation of specific measures requires certain levels of skill, finance and information. Thirdly, they need supportive institutional foundations, such as a commitment to economic development, communication between the public and private sectors, an effective bureaucracy and low risk of corruption. Given such rigorous pre-requisites, most countries in Africa should concentrate on building sound economic policy and institutional foundations.

Management of Financial Flows Lessons from the Asian Crisis

Inflows of capital are usually an indicator of success, reflecting a record of prudent macroeconomic management. They can augment domestic savings to finance higher rates of investment than would otherwise be possible, thereby boosting GDP growth. But the crucial issue is whether they are used productively.

The ongoing financial crisis in Asia highlights the serious risks engendered by capital flows. The massive scale of financial flows and "herd" behaviour can lead to inflows that far exceed a developing market's capacity to invest them productively at reasonable risk. Their rapidly reversible nature makes borrowing countries very vulnerable to shifts in market sentiment, which sometimes bear little relation to the nation�s economic fundamentals. In addition, the benefits of free capital movement can be achieved by encouraging foreign direct investment in fixed assets, which is not readily reversible.

It must be noted, however, that few countries in Africa are likely to face the scale of inflows that precipitated the Southeast Asian crisis. Nevertheless, the crisis highlights a number of important financial management issues for Africa. First is the problem of an appreciation of real exchange rates and a loss of competitiveness of traded goods. Second is the excessive and rapid accumulation of foreign debt, from short-term loans in particular. Third is the use of capital for speculation in the property sector and stock markets, resulting in unsustainable rates of asset price inflation.

The current crisis highlights the importance of avoiding overly rigid exchange rate regimes. It also demonstrates again the importance of appropriate timing, speed and sequencing of liberalization of financial systems and capital account transactions. The paramount lesson concerns the importance of developing sound financial systems, and therefore the need to develop effective monitoring, supervisory and regulatory systems. Full-scale liberalization of the capital account and financial sector should be delayed until macroeconomic stability, prudent financial regulations and capable supervision are firmly established.

Management of Aid

As Africa has largely been bypassed by private capital flows, foreign aid has been one of Africa�s most significant external links. Aid reached 11 per cent of GDP by 1994, compared with only 1 per cent in other developing countries. Though foreign aid has been critical in filling the resource gap, aid effectiveness remains low and Africa's aid dependence has increased rather than decreased over time.

Aid programmes are more likely to be successful when the recipient government has the capacity to identify and articulate its own priorities and programmes and the ability to implement, monitor, and evaluate the resulting programmes in the context of its own planning and budgeting. The low effectiveness of aid in Africa is partly caused by lack of ownership of the development agenda and deficiencies in resource allocation and budget management in recipient governments.

Furthermore, high levels of aid have engendered apathy on the part of recipients, which in turn encouraged donor agencies to take over project planning and execution tasks. Aid has been donor-driven rather than being a product of discussions, mutual agreement and genuine commitment. This jeopardises the long-term project benefits resulting from ownership. To reverse the current degree of aid control by donors and the passivity of recipient countries, the latter should return to medium-term planning in which broad criteria for projects/programme spending of aid can be defined. These plans, which could accommodate donors� views, should form the basis of future aid allocation.

Rather than expecting donors to coordinate themselves, recipient governments should take the initiative. There would seem to be a strong case for improving governments' capacity to co-ordinate and manage aid. A central coordinating agency would be a useful first step. Such an agency should also have the capacity for policy analysis, enabling governments to identify and articulate priorities and programmes and to monitor and evaluate them. The next aim would be to strengthen aid distribution and allocation mechanisms.

III (ii). Institutional Foundations

There is an increasing understanding of the importance of institutional factors for development in general. Institutions are defined as the systems of incentives and restraints that govern agents' behaviour and their interactions. These comprise formal rules and laws as well as informal conventions and norms of behaviour. Institutions set the "rules of the game." Institutions affect economic performance because they provide the structure of exchange that determines the cost of transactions. They can improve the levels of investment and growth by processing information, reducing uncertainty and reducing transaction costs.

A useful way of thinking about institutions and their economic effects is to distinguish between different levels where institutions form the basis of interactions between parties:

The Political Level: institutions that regulate government attitudes towards the development process. Desirable outcomes would be commitment and credibility.

The Public level: institutions that align incentives within state agencies, particularly the bureaucracy. The desirable outcome is an efficient and non-corrupt public service.

The Public-Private level: institutions that regulate the interactions between the state agencies and the private sector. The desirable outcome is a bureaucracy that understands the needs of the private sector and that is responsive to the business community but still independent.

The Level of Private Agents: institutions that regulate the interactions between private actors. Desirable outcomes would be secure property and contract rights.

These general areas of institutional analysis can also be used to assess the impact of institutions on external performance. For example, at the political level, the desirable outcome would be political commitment to increasing exports. Research indicates that institutional factors significantly affect external performance. This indicates that enhancing institutional quality is one way of improving external performance. The rest of this section looks at the types of issues that African governments should consider at the four levels indicated.

The Political Level

The key issues are (i) a commitment to developmental policies in general and towards an outward-oriented strategy in particular and (ii) how credible that commitment is. Leaders can indicate their commitment is credible through two mechanisms: reputation and accountability. First, they could establish a reputation for carrying out their development promises. The desire to retain this reputation then provides an incentive to maintain developmental policies. Leaders can also indicate their commitment by establishing mechanisms that make them accountable for their actions. Accepting a democratic political system is one way to try to ensure governments are held accountable for their actions.

The difference in the level of political commitment to outward oriented strategies between East Asia and Africa is often highlighted. Successful regimes in East Asia have established a good reputation by achieving their development objectives. This was partly done by shielding top economic agencies in the bureaucracy from political pressures and by following these agencies� policy advice. In contrast, many analysts argue that one of the primary causes for Africa's development tragedy is the predatory nature of African states. African governments have tended not to be able to put long-term national development priorities over more immediate political or personal goals.

Two lessons for Africa emerge. First, there is an urgent need to shield top economic agencies in the bureaucracy from political pressures and to follow their policy advice. Second, entering into sub-regional or regional free-trade agreements is one way of demonstrating political commitment to an outward-oriented strategy; as well as realizing other benefits.

The Public level

Governments' administrative competence is one of the single most important factors for explaining the differences in growth among developing countries. The quality of institutions at the public level determines how efficient and non-corrupt the public service is and the quality of policy intervention. A motivated and well-paid public service is less likely to use its powers to allocate rents to special interests and friends.

Africa has been found to have particularly low levels of bureaucratic efficiency in cross-regional comparisons. The poor economic management capacity and cumbersome administrative and bureaucratic structures of African bureaucracies have limited the successful formulation and implementation of economic policies and posed a central obstacle to market-oriented reforms. African governments often have been more preoccupied with securing public employment than with promoting the quality of the civil service. Positions in public-sector institutions, including many parastatals and monitoring and regulatory agencies, have been made ineffective due to political appointments, politically controlled funding and multiple objectives. Transparency and accountability of these public institutions have been minimal. There is near-universal agreement on the great need to improve the management of African economies.

The key issue is capacity utilisation, indicating a need to align material conditions and incentive structures so that they favour professionalism and quality in the performance of public officials. Some of the key areas that might help build an efficient and non-corrupt bureaucracy include:

merit-based recruitment and promotion;
appropriate wages;
insulation from political pressures;
limits on political appointments;
streamlined bureaucratic structures and practices; and,
internal controls and restraints, such as anti-corruption commissions.

In particular, corruption has been identified as the most significant obstacle to doing business. Some key measures in combating corruption are:

instituting external mechanisms for accountability;
organising the government's efforts through co-ordination and a focal point;
procedural reforms, such as the need to record decisions;
increasing the pay of civil servants;
publicity for anti-corruption efforts and involvement of the institutions of civil society; for example a free press plays an important role in reinforcing the rule of law; and,
punishing high-level offenders ("frying some big fish") indicates that the government is committed to solving the problem of corruption.

The Public-Private Level

The state and the market are two key players in the development process. The importance of a complementary and positive relationship between them is crucial. In this regard, it is important to have a bureaucracy that is responsive to the business community but is still independent.

In Africa, the relationship between the government and the private sector has been much more adversarial than in East Asia, both in general and with specific reference to transnational corporations. There are signs, however, that the relationship between the private and the public sectors is changing in a number of African countries. The proportion of businessmen in Africa who see the state as their opponent has dropped. In certain countries, such as Uganda, Ghana, Mauritius and Mali, there have been dramatic improvements in the proportion of businessmen who found the state helpful. Surveys show that in certain African countries the years of efforts at improving the economy are starting to pay off -- but they also show that much remains to be done.

One way of improving the relationship between governments and business is through business councils. East Asian countries have built forums in which government officials and industry representatives discussed and designed policies for external performance. The councils� main function is to gain information needed to formulate policies that will enhance the performance of the private sector. However, similar experiments in African countries often have not lead to the same results. If they are to be successful, such deliberation councils need to be embedded in a climate of trust and co-operation between governments and the private sector. They also need a substantial technical capability if they are to effectively use the information supplied.

The Level of Private Agents

In order to enhance economic performance, the institutional framework must guarantee property and contract rights between private agents. Markets cannot develop without effective property rights, and property rights are only effective when two conditions are fulfilled. The first is protection from theft, violence and other acts of predation. The second is protection from arbitrary government actions that disrupt business activities.

In terms of rule of law, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have certainly lacked the conditions for private sector development. For instance, the survey conducted for the 1997 World Development Report shows that formal enforcement of property and contract rights is indeed a problem. Between 70 and 80 per cent of entrepreneurs answered that they thought that theft and crime were serious problems, that they were not confident that the state authorities would protect their persons and property, and that their nations� judiciaries were very unpredictable. Measures to address these issues should form a significant component in promoting external performance by governments in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Although sound formal institutions are a vital foundation of a long-term development strategy, the fact remains that much private sector interaction is based on informal rules. Informal institutions in the private sector, particularly linkages and networks, can help overcome information scarcities and reduce transaction and search costs. There is a valuable case for policy and institutional measures that would be conducive to the upgrading of informal institutions and arrangements into formal and stable ones.

In summary, there is increasing evidence that institutional failure in Africa is an important obstacle to better growth and external performance. In particular, surveys carried out to identify local entrepreneurs� views on the obstacles to business in Africa highlight the unpredictability of changes in laws and policies, the unreliability of law enforcement, the impact of discretionary and corrupt bureaucracies, and the danger of policy reversals due to changes in governments. These problematic factors are, to a substantial extent, attributable to government behaviour. Unless African governments eliminate these kinds of obstacles it is unlikely that business, domestic or international, will flourish.

VI. Supportive Measures from Developed Countries

Transform Aid

It is increasingly clear that aid will have to be massively transformed if it is to serve as a major instrument for mediating Africa�s future relationship with the world. The impact of ODA (official development assistance) is constrained by procurement restrictions and conditions unrelated to development, high transaction costs and poor donor coordination. There is also a need to rethink conditionality, which has not worked well.

There is strong evidence that aid is more effective in countries with sound economic policy and institutional foundations. This implies that donors should be more selective in concentrating their aid towards countries that demonstrate ownership and commitment that have or are actively moving towards the economic policy and institutional foundations for development.

There should be at least two modifications to these recommendations. First, disaster relief should be exempted. Second, in countries with poor foundations, different types of aid should be prioritised. Aid should concentrate in particular on the longer-term issues of basic health and education, and on technical assistance towards improving the policy and institutional foundations.

Reducing the Debt Burden

Total external debt for Africa increased from US$84 billion in 1980 to US$226 billion in 1995, with a debt service ratio of 14.5 per cent, a debt/GNP ratio of 81 per cent and a debt/exports ratio of 241 per cent. Sixteen African countries were categorised as unsustainable and possibly distressed. While these countries are eligible for debt relief under the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) initiative, the real challenge is to find more substantial and wide-ranging approaches to debt relief.

The implications of the debt burden for development in Africa are far-reaching. Many countries have to allocate considerable amounts of budgetary expenditure to external debt servicing. For example, the Tanzanian government has to allocate 30-35 per cent of its budget for debt servicing, which is equivalent to 9 times that allocated to basic education. The debt burden is obviously enormous in relation to Africa�s debt servicing capacity and has become a major inhibiting factor for the recovery of growth and exports.

Easing the burden of unsustainable debt would free government resources for more productive developmental activities, reduce transactions costs (which are a massive burden on policy-makers) and help restore macroeconomic stability and investor confidence. A dollar of reduced debt is therefore likely to be more valuable than an additional dollar of conventional aid. There is an overwhelming case that significant further reductions in the external debt of debt-distressed-low income countries would improve growth prospects in Africa, and particularly if the resources made available are truly additional.

Repeated debt rescheduling has not solved the problems and there is an urgent need to devise new and more effective ways of reducing the African debt burden dramatically. The adoption and implementation of Trinidad Terms, which proposed a reduction of two-thirds in the stock of official bilateral debt, should be the immediate objective of creditor governments. The HIPC initiative should be expanded, its eligibility conditions made more flexible and the completion point of the HIPC criteria advanced.

Guarantee Open Markets

One effective mechanism for integrating African countries into the global economy would be for OECD countries to guarantee open markets for African exports and commit themselves to help reintegrate Africa into the world economy. This is particularly important for key sectors such as agriculture and textiles. This is where Africa's comparative advantage lies, yet these are the most protected markets.

Acknowledgements

The policy brief is the product of research collaboration between the United Nations University (UNU) and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). The UNU work on Asia and Africa in the Global Economy is being co-ordinated by Julius Court (UNU Center). The AERC programme on Comparative Development Experiences in Asia and Africa is being co-ordinated by Machiko Nissanke (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) and Ernest Aryeetey (Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana). Ernest Aryeetey, Julius Court and Machiko Nissanke, the programme coordinators from UNU and AERC, and Beatrice Weder (University of Basle) were the authors of the brief.

The contents of the policy brief are based on the discussions at two meetings co-organized by the UNU and AERC. We are very grateful to the many individuals at these two meetings who provided valuable comments. The issues were first discussed at a conference on Comparative African and East Asian Development Experiences, held from 3-6 November 1997 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Further research papers were then discussed at a conference on Asia and Africa in the Global Economy, held on 3 and 4 August 1998 at the United Nations University Headquarters in Tokyo. We are very grateful to the Government of Japan for contributing towards the costs of these two meeting.

We are also very grateful to the senior management at AERC and UNU. On the AERC side, we would like to thank Delphin Rwegasira (Executive Director), William Lyakurwa (Director of Training), Augustin Fosu (Director of Research) and Benno Ndulu (The World Bank; former AERC Executive Director). On the UNU side, we would like to thank J.A. van Ginkel (Rector) and Abraham Besrat (Vice Rector).

Poll: Americans Pick President Obama Over Mitt Romney for Dinner Date

By Gregory J. Krieg | ABC OTUS News – Tue, Sep 11, 2012

The American public may be divided on "Obamacare," but when faced with choosing a candidate to care for them if illness struck, President Obama is their man. By a 13 point margin - 49-36 percent - registered voters polled by ABC News chose the president over Mitt Romney to nurse them back to health.

When asked who they thought "would make a more loyal friend," the results were about the same. By a 50-36 percent count, respondents said Obama was more likely to stick with them through trying times.

As for suppertime, still more ugly numbers for Romney. Fifty-two percent of registered voters polled by ABC News said they'd rather have Obama visit their homes for dinner. Just 33 percent said they'd prefer Romney at the table.

But it's not a total wipeout for the Republican. On what ABC News poll chief Gary Langer calls the most instructive question - which candidate they'd rather have "as the captain of a ship in a storm" - Romney loses to Obama, but by just three points, 46-43 percent.

"Obama's advantages, in turn, include a persistent lead over Romney in empathy; registered voters by 50-40 percent think Obama better understands the economic problems people are having, and continue to rate him as more personally likeable, by a broad and steady 61-27 percent," Langer reports. "When the two views are tested against each other, empathy independently predicts vote preferences to a far greater degree than does likability."

These latest numbers will only build confidence among Obama and his supporters, as the Democrats appear to be enjoying a significant post-convention bump in the polls. The most recent figures have the president with a growing lead nationally, 50-44 percent, according to an ABC News/Washington Post survey. Romney had been up a single point, 47-46 percent, in a poll taken just two weeks ago.

Paul Ryan on Chicago teachers strike: 'We stand with Rahm Emanuel'

By Chris Moody, Yahoo! News

Political Reporter

The Ticket – Mon, Sep 10, 2012

Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan spoke out against the Chicago Teachers Union strike on Monday, saying he stands behind Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's opposition to the demonstration.

"Mayor Emanuel is right today in saying that this teacher's union strike is unnecessary and wrong," Ryan said in Portland, Ore., according to a pool report transcript. "We know that Rahm is not going to support our campaign, but on this issue and this day we stand with Mayor Rahm Emanuel."

More than 26,000 education professionals in the Chicago area did not attend work on Monday over a contract negotiation dispute with the Chicago Board of Education.

President Barack Obama's administration declined to comment on the strike. Emanuel, elected mayor in 2011, was Obama's chief of staff from 2009 to 2010.

Here are Ryan's full remarks:

If you turned on the TV this morning or sometime today, you probably
saw something about the Chicago teacher's union strike. I'd like to
make a couple of comments about that because it does matter. I've
known Rahm Emanuel for years. He's a former colleague of mine. Rahm
and I have not agreed on every issue or on a lot of issues, but Mayor
Emanuel is right today in saying that this teacher's union strike is
unnecessary and wrong. We know that Rahm is not going to support our
campaign, but on this issue and this day we stand with Mayor Rahm
Emanuel.

We stand with the children and we stand with the families and the
parents of Chicago because education reform, that's a bipartisan
issue. This does not have to divide the two parties. And so, we were
going to ask, where does President Obama stand? Does he stand with his
former Chief of Staff Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with the children and the
parents, or does he stand with the union? On issues like this, we need
to speak out and be really clear. In a Romney-Ryan administration we
will not be ambiguous, we will stand with education reform, we will
champion bipartisan education reforms. This is a critical linchpin to
the future of our country, to our economy, to make sure that our
children go to the best possible school, and that education reforms
revolve around the parents and the child, not the special interest
group. This is something that's critical for all of us.

Within Hours, Mitt Romney Takes Back Everything He Said About Preexisting Conditions

—By Kevin Drum

| Sun Sep. 9, 2012 5:01 PM PDT

On national TV on Sunday morning, with millions of people watching, Mitt Romney told David Gregory that there were parts of Obamacare he actually liked. In fact, he said, one of the goals of his health care plan "is to make sure that those with preexisting conditions can get coverage." A few hours later, with approximately zero people listening, a spokesman quietly "clarified" what he meant:

In reference to how Romney would deal with those with preexisting conditions and young adults who want to remain on their parents' plans, a Romney aide responded that there had been no change in Romney's position and that "in a competitive environment, the marketplace will make available plans that include coverage for what there is demand for. He was not proposing a federal mandate to require insurance plans to offer those particular features."

As it happens, we already have a competitive market for individual insurance. In addition, we already have demand for coverage of preexisting conditions. And yet, the marketplace doesn't make policies available to people with preexisting conditions.

Why? Because policies that cover preexisting conditions are big money losers unless you charge premiums high enough that no one could afford them. Because of that, nobody bothers to offer them in the first place. That's how the free market works. It would be nice if Romney could explain how he intends to square this circle.

It would also be nice if the mainstream press reported the fact that Romney doesn't plan to make sure those with preexisting conditions can get health coverage just as loudly as they reported his original misstatement. I'm not holding my breath.

UPDATE: BuzzFeed passes along yet another clarification. According to an aide, "Gov. Romney will ensure that discrimination against individuals with preexisting conditions who maintain continuous coverage is prohibited."

This has long been Romney's position, and it's not clear if it's meaningful or not. This kind of protection has been the law of the land since 1996 for people with group coverage. And people who lose group coverage already qualify for individual COBRA coverage for 18 months. So the only way Romney's statement means anything is if he's saying he would pass a law that requires insurance companies to offer permanent individual coverage at a reasonable price to people who lose their group coverage. Needless to say, Romney has never actually committed to that particular detail.

UPDATE 2: And keep in mind that even if Romney did commit to this detail, it's still far, far less than Obamacare's preexisting conditions provision, which is what Romney originally implied he supported. Obamacare simply guarantees that you can get health coverage, full stop, no matter what preexisting conditions you may have.

Front page image: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Zuma

Would Mitt Romney preserve parts of ObamaCare?

By The Week's Editorial Staff | The Week – Tue, Sep 11, 2012

After vowing during the primaries to repeal ObamaCare, Romney is in trouble with conservatives this week for suggesting that he actually likes parts of the law

Mitt Romney, who passed a health-care reform package in Massachusetts that helped inspire national Democrats' own health-care overhaul, has repeatedly vowed to conservatives that he will repeal ObamaCare if he's elected president. So on Sunday, when Romney said on Meet the Press that he would keep some elements of President Obama's health-care overhaul, it caused quite a stir. "I'm not getting rid of all of health-care reform," Romney said. "There are a number of things that I like in health-care reform that I'm going to put in place." Among those things: Allowing young adults to stay on their parents' plans, and guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. Shortly after the interview, a Romney campaign spokesman quickly explained that Romney was merely reiterating his intention to replace Obama's law with his own plan, and that Romney would actually only guarantee coverage to people with pre-existing conditions who have maintained continuous coverage. What should we make of Romney's position on ObamaCare?

Romney is not flip-flopping: Romney isn't backing away from his promise to repeal and replace ObamaCare, says Yuval Levin at National Review. He has always sought to protect people with pre-existing conditions. By focusing on those who have kept themselves covered, he's hoping to create "a powerful incentive for the young and healthy to obtain insurance," instead of doing it with a mandate. Political reporters are only treating this as "earth-shattering news" because they haven't bothered to learn what Romney's plan actually is.
"Pre-existing ignorance"

SEE MORE: Mitt Romney's 'good enough' convention speech: 6 talking points

Well, his rhetoric sure has changed: Romney's plan might be the same, says Jonathan Cohn at The New Republic, but his tone is definitely softening. In the primaries, he focused on his promise to scrap Obama's health-care law. Now he's all about persuading moderate, general-election voters that "he's full of concern for people who, because of a medical problem, can't get affordable health care." Gunning for ObamaCare might have been a winner in the GOP primaries, but Romney knows "it may be a political problem now."
"Did Romney flip-flop (again) on health care?"

And Team Romney's response isn't helping matters: Whatever Romney's motivation, says Howard Kurtz at The Daily Beast, he's makes it harder to understand what his position on health care really is. The bottom line is that he appeared to make a striking move to the center on Sunday, only to have his campaign sputter into "what-he-really-meant-to-say mode." That kind of somersault will inevitably feed the narrative that Romney's tendency to change his policy to suit the polls "is itself a pre-existing condition."
"Mitt Romney muddles his message on health care"

SEE MORE: Has the tide turned against Team Romney?

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Romney's Death Squad Ties: Bain Launched with Millions from Oligarchs Behind Salvadoran Atrocities

Romney's Death Squad Ties: Bain Launched with Millions from Oligarchs Behind Salvadoran Atrocities

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is facing new scrutiny over revelations he founded the private equity firm Bain Capital with investments from Central American elites linked to death squads in El Salvador. After initially struggling to find investors, Romney traveled to Miami in 1983 to win pledges of $9 million, 40 percent of Bain's start-up money. Some investors had extensive ties to the death squads responsible for the vast majority of the tens of thousands of deaths in El Salvador during the 1980s. We're joined by Huffington Post reporter Ryan Grim, who connects the dots in his latest story, "Mitt Romney Started Bain Capital With Money From Families Tied To Death Squads." "There's no possible way that anybody in 1984 could check out these families — which was the term that used — and come away convinced that this money was clean," Grim says.
Filed under Mitt Romney, El Salvador, Election 2012, Ryan Grim
Guest:

Ryan Grim, Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief for the Huffington Post. His latest story is "Mitt Romney Started Bain Capital With Money From Families Tied To Death Squads."

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today with new scrutiny Republican candidate Mitt Romney is facing about his record at the private equity firm Bain Capital. The latest controversy surrounding Bain concerns how Romney helped found the company with investments from Central American elites linked to death squads in El Salvador. After initially struggling to find investors, Romney traveled to Miami in 1983 to win pledges of $9 million, 40% of Bain's start up money. Some investors had extensive ties to the death squads responsible for the vast majority of the tens of thousands of deaths in El Salvador beginning during the 1980's. The investors include the Salaverria family, whose former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White, has previously accused of directly funding the Salvadorian paramilitaries. In his memoir, former Bain executive Harry Strachan writes, "Romney pushed aside his own misgivings about the investors to accept their backing." Strachan writes, "These Latin American friends have loyally rolled over investments in succeeding funds, actively participated in Bain Capital's May investor meetings and are still today one of the largest investor groups in Bain Capital." For more, we're joined by Ryan Grim, Bureau Chief for The Huffington Post . He's connecting the dots in the latest story headlined, "Mitt Romney Started Bain Capital With Money From Families Tied To Death Squads". Ryan, welcome to Democracy Now! If you could carefully laid out the story, and set the stage in El Salvador in the early 1980's, what was happening there, the carnage.

RYAN GRIM: Sure. In 1980, there was land reform instituted by the El Salvadoran government that started to parcel up some of the farms, some of the coffee plantations, and the other land holdings of the elite, and they also nationalized the international coffee trade, so they did not nationalize the industry, but just the foreign export of it. So, the oligarchs responded with a vicious and a brutal campaign that included death squads and in the first year or two, killed something like 35,000 people. Over a decade, killed about 70,000 people. The U.N. has since calculated about 85% of the killing was done by these right-wing death squads, so this is not one of those dirty wars where both sides were equally culpable. The leader of this movement, Roberto D'Aubuisson was very public about his support of death squads and that death squads were an important part of what they were doing. He would actually say that the purpose of the death squads was ultimately to diminish violence, because if you could go into a village and go into a couple houses and kill everyone in there, then it would send a message to the rest of the village that they shouldn't join the village, and therefore there would be less of an uprising and the death squads would not have to kill everyone. That was the kind of macabre logic that lasted for slightly more than a decade in El Salvador.

AMY GOODMAN: One of the most well known victims of the death squads of the military of El Salvador is Archbishop Oscar Romero, known as the voice of the voiceless. He was a prominent advocate for the poor, a leading critic of U.S.-backed Salvadoran military government. He was killed by members of a U.S.-backed death squad while delivering mass at a hospital chapel. I want to play an excerpt from the film "Romero," which stars Raúl Juliá who played Archbishop Romero.

Amy Goodman.......Transcript.....

Democracy Now! / Video Report

Published: Friday 10 August 2012

"Some investors had extensive ties to the death squads responsible for the vast majority of the tens of thousands of deaths in El Salvador during the 1980s."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is facing new scrutiny over revelations he founded the private equity firm Bain Capital with investments from Central American elites linked to death squads in El Salvador. After initially struggling to find investors, Romney traveled to Miami in 1983 to win pledges of $9 million, 40 percent of Bain's start-up money. Some investors had extensive ties to the death squads responsible for the vast majority of the tens of thousands of deaths in El Salvador during the 1980s. We're joined by Huffington Post reporter Ryan Grim, who connects the dots in his latest story, "Mitt Romney Started Bain Capital With Money From Families Tied To Death Squads." "There's no possible way that anybody in 1984 could check out these families -- which was the term that [Romney's campaign] used -- and come away convinced that this money was clean," Grim says.

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today with new scrutiny Republican candidate Mitt Romney is facing about his record at the private equity firm Bain Capital. The latest controversy surrounding Bain concerns how Romney helped found the company with investments from Central American elites linked to death squads in El Salvador.

After initially struggling to find investors, Romney traveled to Miami in 1983 to win pledges of $9 million, 40 percent of Bain's start-up money. Some investors had extensive ties to the death squads responsible for the vast majority of the tens of thousands of deaths in El Salvador during the '80s. The investors include the Salaverria family, [whom] former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White, has previously accused of directly funding the Salvadoran paramilitaries. In his memoir, former Bain executive Harry Strachan writes Romney pushed aside his own misgivings about the investors to accept their backing." Strachan writes, quote, "These Latin American friends have loyally rolled over investments in succeeding funds, actively participated in Bain Capital's May investor meetings, and are still today one of the largest investor groups in Bain Capital."

Well, for more, we're joined by Ryan Grim in Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Huffington Post_. He's connecting the dots in the latest 1710133.html">story headlined "Mitt Romney Started Bain Capital with Money from Families Tied to Death Squads."

Ryan, welcome to Democracy Now!

RYAN GRIM: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: If you could, carefully lay out the story, and set the stage in El Salvador in the early '80s, what was happening there, the carnage.

RYAN GRIM: Sure. So, in 1980, there was a—there was land reform instituted by the El Salvadoran government that started to parcel up some of the farms, some of the coffee plantations and the other land holdings of the elite, and they also nationalized the international coffee trade. So, they didn't nationalize the industry, but just the foreign export of it. And so, the oligarchs responded with a vicious and a brutal campaign that included death squads and, in the first year or two, killed something like 35,000 people and, over the course of a decade, killed about 70,000 people. The U.N. has since calculated that about 85 percent of the killing was done by these right-wing death squads, so this is not one of those dirty wars where both sides were equally culpable.

And the leader of this movement, Roberto D'Aubuisson, was very public about his support of death squads and that death squads were an important part of what they were doing. He would actually say that the purpose of the death squads was ultimately to diminish violence, because if you could go into a village and go into a couple houses and kill everyone in there, then it would send a message to the rest of the village that they shouldn't join the revolution, and therefore there would be less of an uprising, and then the death squads would not have to kill everyone. So that—I mean, that was the kind of macabre logic that lasted for, you know, slightly more than a decade in El Salvador.

AMY GOODMAN: One of the most well-known victims of the death squads of the military of El Salvador was Archbishop Óscar Romero, known as "the voice of the voiceless." He was a prominent advocate for the poor, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Salvadoran military government. He was killed by members of a U.S.-backed death squad while delivering mass at a hospital chapel. I want to play an excerpt from the film Romero, which stars Raúl Juliá, who played Archbishop Romero.

ARCHBISHOP ÓSCAR ROMERO: [played by Raúl Juliá] I'd like to make an appeal in a special way to the men in the army. Brothers, each one of you is one of us. We are the same people. The farmers and peasants that you kill are your own brothers and sisters. When you hear the words of a man telling you to kill, think instead in the words of God: "Thou shalt not kill!" No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. In his name and in the name of our tormented people who have suffered so much and whose laments cry out to heaven, I implore you, I beg you, I order you, stop the repression!

AMY GOODMAN: That's a clip from the film Romero of Raúl Juliá, who played Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero. Óscar Romero was gunned down March 24th, 1980. Ryan Grim, talk about how he died and the connection to your story.

RYAN GRIM: Sure. He was assassinated the day after the clip that you played, shot through the heart while delivering mass. And we since know, conclusively, that his assassination was ordered by Roberto D'Aubuisson. D'Aubuisson, 18 months later, would found the ARENA party, which was basically at the time a vehicle for these death squads. There was really no separation between ARENA and death squads. ARENA is still around. It has become more of a conventional Latin American right-wing party, but for its first several years, it was, quite simply, the political organization which was managing the death squads. And so, Mitt Romney, in this context, knew very well what was happening in El Salvador. The U.S. ambassador, Tom White, who you mentioned, had—

AMY GOODMAN: Robert White.

RYAN GRIM: Robert White—had publicly accused six Salvadorans living in Miami of financing, two of them Salaverrias. So, when it was suggested to him by Harry Strachan that he go down to Miami to raise money from the exiles there, he actually said to Strachan, "Make sure that these people are not—you know, are not connected to right-wing death squads." So, it's very clear that he knew the context and he knew—you know, he knew what was going on at the time. But he was having a seriously hard time raising capital for his new enterprise, Bain Capital, and his boss, Bill Bain, told him that he couldn't use any of the investors or clients of Bain & Company, which was the very successful consulting firm, because if Bain Capital failed, he didn't want it to take everything else down with it. It's been reported in a number of places that he failed to raise capital from traditional sources in the U.S. And so, given that, he flew to Miami and, in mid-'84, just he went directly to a bank and met with a number of these families who were involved with death squads and accepted what at the time was a huge amount of money. It amounted to 40 percent of the outside capital that he was able to raise for that initial fund. And as Harry Strachan said, they continued to roll over their investments and, you know, certainly are worth tens and tens of millions of dollars in Bain Capital now.

AMY GOODMAN: Just reading from your piece, Ryan Grim, when Romney returned to Miami in 2007 to launch another venture that needed funding, his first presidential campaign, Romney said, quote, "I owe a great deal to Americans of Latin American descent. ... When I was starting my business, I came to Miami to find partners that would believe in me and that would finance my enterprise. My partners were Ricardo Poma, Miguel Dueñas, Pancho Soler, Frank Kardonski, and Diego Ribadeneira." Can you talk about these men, like Poma, and their relation to the death squads in El Salvador?

RYAN GRIM: Sure. Well, the Poma family was one of the—you know, one of the top families in El Salvador, and they were very tightly intertwined with ARENA. There's no question about that. The Salaverrias, you know, which we mentioned earlier, two of them were specifically named by White as specifically financing death squads. The De Solas are another family that originally invested in Bain. We know that at least four members of the De Sola family invested in Bain. We only know the names of two of them. Now, there is one man named Orlando de Sola, who the Romney campaign, and nobody else, denies was a leader of the death squad movement. There's no question about that. What the Romney campaign has relied on is that they say Orlando de Sola was a black sheep of the De Sola family. He wasn't—you know, and the fact that he was running death squads should not besmirch the four De Sola investors, even though they won't tell us who two of those four were. However, what we found is that one of the two named De Sola investors—his name is Francisco de Sola—was connected in 1990 to the assassination of two left-wing activists.

Now, there was a meeting held in Guatemala that Chris Dodd, the former senator from Connecticut, moderated. He was trying to strike a peace deal between ARENA and the FMLN. And shortly after that meeting, two of the activists who had met with him were assassinated. The Guatemalan government, citing its intelligence sources, concluded that the assassinations were committed by Orlando de Sola, Roberto D'Aubuisson and Francisco de Sola. Now, Francisco de Sola is still alive, and his assistant confirmed to us that he was one of those three people who was accused of these murders. Now, he denied it at the time, and he denies it today, but just the fact that the Guatemalan intelligence services would lump him together with Orlando de Sola and Roberto D'Abuisson, who are, you know, just known as the—basically the two leaders of the death squad movement at the time, dramatically undermines the notion that the people involved with Bain are somehow deeply disconnected or that there's some bright line between the people involved in Bain and the people who were funding and operating the death squads.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Ryan Grim, Mitt Romney's response to your investigation and to these allegations?

RYAN GRIM: What they did is they sent me a paragraph of an article from the Salt Lake Tribune in 1999 that read, "As was Bain's policy with any big investor, they had the families checked out as diligently as possible. They uncovered no unsavory links to drugs or other criminal activity." Now, that's simply impossible to believe. These families were certainly connected to death squads.

Now, Romney told the Boston Globe in 1994 something along the lines of, "We checked out the individual investors and made sure there were no, quote, 'obvious' signs of criminal activity. We didn't check out their in-laws and their cousins." So, those are two inconsistent levels of diligence that Romney is claiming to two separate papers. But if you take the one at the Tribune, which is the article that was sent to me by the Romney campaign, that's simply unbelievable. There's no possible way that anybody in 1984 could check out these families—which is the term they use, these families—and come away convinced that this money was clean.

AMY GOODMAN: You quote Robert White saying, "The Salaverria family [were] very well-known." Now, Robert White was the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador. "The Salaverria family [were] very well-known as backers of D'Aubuisson. These guys were big-money contributors. ... They were total backers of D'Aubuisson and the extremist solution, including death squads." And I wanted to read an excerpt from Greg Grandin's book, Empire's Workshop. He's a professor of Latin American history at New York University. He writes, "The problem was that the military groups had very little popular support due in large part to the fact that they were 'preternaturally violent.' According to Reagan's own ambassador, Robert White, their solution to the crisis was apocalyptic: the country must be 'destroyed totally, the economy must be wrecked, unemployment must be massive,' and a 'cleansing' of some '3 or 4 or 500,000 people' must be carried out," he says. And he his quoting Robert White. Ryan Grim?

RYAN GRIM: Sure. And I spoke also with the Sergio Bendixen, who is a pollster who did a lot of work in the country in the '80s for Univision and is now—coincidentally, he became a pollster for Hillary Clinton, and he's now working with the Obama campaign. He knew D'Aubuisson, and he knew lot of the people who were involved with these death squads, and he would—and he said that—and this is what I've heard from other people that are, you know, familiar with the Miami exile community, that this is not something that they would hide. Like you said, they were persuaded that they were freedom fighters, that they were on the side of justice, and that if it meant that you had to kill, you know, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, those were evil people who were supported by Castro who wanted to bring about tyranny, etc., etc., and so everything that they were doing was justified by that.

And Mitt Romney even hinted at that in his 2007 talk to the Miami crowd, when he came down to raise money for his campaign. He said, you know, "Not only did these people invest in me, but they taught me a lot. And what they taught me is that these guerrillas were horrible, and they kidnapped one of their brothers and killed him, and they tortured" — Miguel Dueñas, he mentions — "They kidnapped and tortured Miguel Dueñas." And so—and there's no question that atrocities were certainly committed by both sides, but you can see in that quote that Romney is partly buying into this notion that the violence was justified. And he would not be at all be alone in the Republican Party at that time, or the Democratic Party. As you said, these death squads had the backing of the United States government.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, we're talking about, as you said, tens of thousands of people. And, in 1989, the government bestowed—the Salvadoran government bestowed the—well, this was in 2009, but remembering 20 years ago the killing of the six Jesuit priests in 1989, and then there was the killing of the four American nuns, all of these part of the casualties of, as you said, the Salvadoran military and paramilitary overwhelmingly doing the killing. Now, interestingly, we started with Óscar Romero's death, March 24th, 1980, killed by the right-wing death squads in Salvador. President Obama visited Honduras—visited El Salvador and went to the grave of Archbishop Óscar Romero.

RYAN GRIM: And that was an acknowledgment that what the United States and its allies in El Salvador did in the 1980s was wrong. That was—it wasn't exactly, but it was, you know, tantamount to an apology for all of the death and destruction that was brought about in the name of anti-communism. You know, Archbishop Romero is now known as one of the great heroes and martyrs of the 20th century.

Now, at the same time that we're talking about Romney's association here, we ought to mention that the current occupant of the White House has—you know, operates drones that kill people on a fairly regular basis. So, you know, there is—you know, there's, unfortunately, still no shortage of killing around the globe.

AMY GOODMAN: And interestingly, the question will be, will the Obama administration make something of this initial Bain investment capital? And will the Romney administration—and will the Romney campaign raise the issue of President Obama and his kill list and the operating of drones that are killing many in Yemen, in Pakistan, etc.?

RYAN GRIM: Right. It will be interesting to see. And if the Obama campaign does do anything with it, I would expect that it would be—it would be done in the Latino community to help drive support for Obama there, because, you know, as you said, there are thousands and thousands and thousands of refugees who are here today because of the violence from there, and, you know, when they find out that the oligarchs who were funding that violence also helped get Romney's Bain Capital off the ground, that could influence the way they vote.

AMY GOODMAN: Are these families still donating to Romney's current presidential campaign as they did to his first effort?

RYAN GRIM: I didn't find any of them doing so. And Romney had a strange use of the phrase when he went down to Latin America. He called them Americans of Latin American descent. I don't know that they have become Americans in the sense of the United States of America. And if they haven't gotten U.S. citizenship, then they can't donate directly to U.S. presidential campaigns. So, I searched the few names that we do know, and they didn't come up as donors to his presidential campaign. But, as Harry Strachan said, they have become—they continue to be significant investors in Bain Capital. And throughout the '80s and '90s, Bain Capital made just absolutely extraordinary returns, something like 88 percent annual return over two decades, which is just an absolutely astounding amount of money. And if you apply that to a $9 million initial investment, you get an absolute fortune.

AMY GOODMAN: Ryan Grim, I want to thank you for being with us, Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Huffington Post_. His latest 1710133.html">story, "Mitt Romney Started Bain Capital with Money from Families Tied to Death Squads." We'll link to it at Democracy Now! This is Democracy Now! Next up, we're going to the Syria-Turkish border. Stay with us.

Bush Knew More About Bin Laden's Plans Than We Realized

By Adam Clark Estes | The Atlantic Wire – Tue, Sep 11, 2012

Now, 11 years later, new details of the attack on the World Trade Center continue to emerge from the government's vault of classified documents and the journalists who've gained access. This year, the reporter with the jaw-dropping scoop is Kurt Eichenwald, a former Timesman and present contributing editor at Vanity Fair. After reading more than one tweet with the simple instructions "Read this," we clicked on the link to Eichenwald's powerful op-ed, due to be published in The New York Times on September 11. In it, Eichenwald goes into teeth-grinding detail about how the Bush administration had even more advance notice about Osama Bin Laden's attack than we previously realized. You should read it, too.

With the infamous August 6 White House briefing as a focal point, Eichenwald walks through the months and years of warnings leading up to the September 11 attacks. Some of these are events and reports that remain classified, but Eichenwald says he's "read excerpts from many of them, along with other recently declassified records, and come to an inescapable conclusion: the administration's reaction to what Mr. Bush was told in the weeks before that infamous briefing reflected significantly more negligence than has been disclosed."

Again, we already knew that Bush had some advance warning. We just didn't realize how much. This passage from Eichenwalds piece reads like a nightmare:

An intelligence official and a member of the Bush administration both told me in interviews that the neoconservative leaders who had recently assumed power at the Pentagon were warning the White House that the C.I.A. had been fooled; according to this theory, Bin Laden was merely pretending to be planning an attack to distract the administration from Saddam Hussein, whom the neoconservatives saw as a greater threat. Intelligence officials, these sources said, protested that the idea of Bin Laden, an Islamic fundamentalist, conspiring with Mr. Hussein, an Iraqi secularist, was ridiculous, but the neoconservatives' suspicions were nevertheless carrying the day.
In response, the C.I.A. prepared an analysis that all but pleaded with the White House to accept that the danger from Bin Laden was real.

That was in June of 2001. Three months later, the White House didn't have the luxury of avoiding reports about Bin Laden any more.

The 10 Investments That Made Paul Ryan a Millionaire

By Walter Hickey | Business Insider – 7 hours ago

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Thanks to the personal finance disclosure that members of congress are required to submit — and the folks at the Center for Responsive Politics who maintain a database of the documents — we were able to look into the investment decisions of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who as of last week, is now the official Republican vice presidential nominee.

According to the documents, Ryan has benefited from a number of trusts and inheritances that make up most of his wealth, but his investments over the years have cemented his net worth somewhere between $927,000 and $3.2 million.

We think that this is one of the rental properties Ryan bought. (Google Streetview)1. A brief stint as a landlord made Ryan some early cash.

As a freshman representative, Ryan bought three rental properties in his hometown of Janesville, Wisc., in Feb. 1998 He paid between $100,000 and $250,000 for the properties, financing them with a mortgage from Anchorbank SSB.

He collected between $15,000 and $50,000 per year in rent from tenants, and in 2000 bought a fourth rental property. By that point the properties were worth between $250,000 and $500,000.

He flipped the real estate in 2001.

2. Ryan Limited Partnership, an investment group, has made Ryan a lot of money.

Ryan owned a 21.37% stake in RLP well before he joined Congress, and the asset has grown from a worth of $45,358 in 1998 to somewhere between $100,000 and $250,000 in 2011.

That partnership has diversified its portfolio over the years, and has made a brisk trade in stocks and mutual funds. Dividends alone were worth $5,000 to $15,000 last year, although they were higher prior to the recession.

Current RLP assets include Altria Group, Amazon.com, Apple, Google, McDonald's, Philip Morris, Starbucks and Visa.

Wikimedia Commons3. One of his best moves was striking gold on Home Depot stocks.

Ryan owns a one-fifth stake in Ryan-Hutter Investment Partnership, and that group made huge gains on Home Depot.

We know that RHIP owned between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of the stock in 1998. Over the course of 2002 — when the stock sold between $50 and $24 per share — RHIP unloaded 4,000 shares of the stock, grossing between $96,000 and $200,000.
Then, on December 9, 2002, RHIP sold 5,000 shares of the stock, gaining around $120,000.

They also sold between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of shares in 2005.

Altogether, Ryan — with his 20% stake — has grossed between $46,200 and $74,000 from sales of Home Depot stock alone.

4. Ryan made a ton of money from Ryan-Hutter's other investments too.

Ryan-Hutter is an investment partnership that Ryan has held a stake in for two decades, and its from this, plus Ryan Limited Partnership, that Ryan has earned most of his personal wealth.

In 1998, the partnership was worth at least $168,000 but only paid out between $1,600 and $7,000 to Ryan annually. But now, the vast portfolio has gained a lot of value. It's worth between $250,000 and $500,000 and pays out $5,000 to $15,000 annually to Ryan. Even more, at the height of the economy, just before the economic crisis, Ryan was pulling between $15,000 and $50,000 annually from it.

Jamie Q Photography5. Ryan's real money comes from steep investments in his wife's family's businesses.

Ryan's wife is an heiress to a family that is very powerful in the Oklahoma area. After getting married, Ryan's net worth soared compared to his bachelor days.

One investment he and his wife share is a 10% stake in the Blondie & Brownie gravel company. He and his wife made between $5,000 and $15,000 from that investment in 2009, and the stake was most recently estimated to be worth between $100,000 and $250,000.

6. One of his other investments is in Red River Pine LLC, a company with timber interests.

Ryan has loaded up on natural resource investments, like Red River Pine LLC.

Despite the fact that the national economy has been down in the past few years, the worth of these interests has only gone up.

In 2001, the stake in Red River Pine was worth only $15,000 to $50,000. Now, according to his 2011 filings, it could be worth up to $100,000.

7. Paul Ryan also has a stake in the oil industry

Ryan's wife's family has a substantial interest in the Little Land Company, formerly known as the LOCL Land Oil Company.

Ryan's stake is worth 0.08%. But don't let that tiny number fool you — the Ryan family stake in the firm is worth up to $100,000.

8. The Ava O Ltd mineral and mining company is another big investment for Ryan.

Ryan retains a 7.69% share in the Ava O Ltd company, a company with mining rights and other enterprises.

In 2001, Ryan's share was worth only around $15,000 to $50,000. By now, it's worth somewhere between $100,000 and $250,000. And in 2011 Ryan accumulated between $15,000 and $50,000 in royalties from mineral rights in Oklahoma alone.

9. He's also made a large amount of money from an investment in the Fidelity Contrafund.

In 2001, Ryan saw the tech bubble collapsing firsthand with a portfolio that was luckily shielded largely from that crash.

As the market was going down in 2001, Ryan and his wife made an investment worth more than $15,000 in the Fidelity Contrafund, which tries to identify underperforming blue-chips and other stocks.

It was a really good call.

Now, Ryan's stake in the Contrafund is worth $50,000 to $100,000. The fund has consistently outperformed the market over the past ten years.

According to his disclosures, Ryan also has money in the PIMCO RealReturn Fund, a Schwab Government Money Mart account and a number of funds with T. Rowe Price.

10. Ryan is also heavily invested in a bunch of tech companies.

He's personally got between $2,000 and $30,000 tied up in Apple, and is involved in several mutual funds that are also heavily invested in the company.

According to his disclosures, Ryan's also got up to $15,000 worth of Google stock, and similar amounts in Oracle and IBM.

Ryan also sold a bunch of HP stock — worth up to $15,000 — around the time it peaked in 2010, and sold off a bunch of Intel stocks that same year.

Romney's Bain Capital invested in companies that moved jobs overseas

By Tom Hamburger, Published: June 21The Washington Post

Mitt Romney's financial company, Bain Capital, invested in a series of firms that specialized in relocating jobs done by American workers to new facilities in low-wage countries like China and India.

During the nearly 15 years that Romney was actively involved in running Bain, a private equity firm that he founded, it owned companies that were pioneers in the practice of shipping work from the United States to overseas call centers and factories making computer components, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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July 16, 2012 8:00 pm

Mitt Romney must face his Bain past

Mitt Romney's White House credentials rest on a simple foundation – he has the business nous to turn the US economy around. It is awkward therefore that he keeps backing away from his chief qualification. As the founder of Bain Capital, Mr Romney helped to pioneer the private equity business with which we are now familiar. It has its plus and minus points. By trying to wish away the latter Mr Romney is playing into the hands of the Obama campaign. Time is short. But it is not too late for the Republican candidate to reclaim what he has implicitly disowned. Indeed, his viability depends on it.

Mr Romney's biggest error is to pretend Bain had nothing to do with outsourcing– a term conflated with offshoring – while he was in charge. Some of the most notable acts of offshoring by Bain-controlled companies took place after 1999 when Mr Romney moved to Utah to resuscitate the 2002 Winter Olympics. By insisting on 1999 as the cut-off point for his tenure at Bain, Mr Romney has made two missteps. First, as the Boston Globe showed last week, he continued as chairman, chief executive and sole owner of Bain Capital until 2002. His role may have been titular. But the fact his name is included on 62 separate Bain filings to the SEC after 1999 is uncomfortable. In politics if you are explaining, you are losing.

More seriously, by drawing the line at 1999, Mr Romney has made it clear he disowns any subsequent Bain investment involving offshoring. To be sure, he also thereby escapes association with the 2001 bankruptcy of a steel company in which he had originally invested – an episode highlighted by the Obama campaign. But Mr Romney is embarrassed by any hint of offshoring. A candidate can run but he cannot hide. If Mr Romney had painted a target on his back that said "shipping jobs overseas" he could not have helped his opponent more.

Unless Mr Romney embraces the logic of the global economy he will be condemned to the losing side of a mercantilist argument. If offshoring is a bad thing, so is onshoring – and indeed, so by extension is globalisation. By accepting this logic, Mr Romney betrays his integrity and the basis of his agenda, which assumes globalisation is a good thing that America can better exploit. It is an argument worth owning. Alas his campaign has embraced the reverse by accusing Mr Obama of being "outsourcer-in-chief".

Finally, Mr Romney continues to resist calls to release his tax returns. To date, he has published only one year (2010) and estimates for another (2011). His secretiveness contrasts with most candidates, including his father, George Romney, who released more than a decade's worth. Perhaps the years after 2000 would show how much Romney junior profited from companies with global operations. All the more reason then to tout, rather than run away from, his experience of a cross-border world. Either Mr Romney has the business savvy and character to be president or he does not. At the moment the doubts linger.

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The Gateway To Africa

Friday, 04 March 2011 07:20

Leah Scott of Appleby discusses how to structure investments into Africa so they are tax-efficient and safe

When a foreign multinational decides to expand its foreign investments into Africa, it often considers using an offshore holding company in a jurisdiction with a good tax treaty network with African countries, in order to help reduce withholding taxes on dividends, interest and royalties, and in some instances, gains subject to tax, in the counterparty territories.

Mauritius, with its modern democracy and its established track record of political stability, is a proven route for international investors wanting to do business in Africa. Mauritius has business friendly legislation, a diversified economy with good growth rates, successful fiscal and monetary policies and no exchange regulations.

There are specific advantages for setting up investment vehicles in Mauritius for foreign direct investment in Africa, some of which are discussed below.

Treaties and other Agreements

Mauritius currently has double taxation agreements (DTAs) with Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe. It has also has signed DTAs with Malawi, Nigeria, Tunisia and Zambia, with a further eight treaties awaiting ratification. Mauritius also boasts access to a number of bilateral agreements with several African countries. In addition to the DTAs and bilateral agreements, Mauritius has signed Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPA) with 15 African member states.

It is also of note that Mauritius is the only international financial services center that is a member of all the major African regional organizations such as the African Union, the South African Development Community (SADC), The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, (COMESA) and the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC). Its membership in these regional organizations, and being a signatory to all the major African conventions, can make Mauritius the best offshore financial service centre for establishing any Africa fund or holding company.

Tax Minimizaton

Capital gains tax, where imposed in Africa, is generally levied at a rate ranging from between 30 to 35%. However, with the DTAs in force, Mauritius restricts taxing rights of capital gains to the country of residence of the seller of the assets. Since there is no capital gains tax in Mauritius, the potential tax savings for the Mauritius incorporated entity are significant.

The majority of African states impose some withholding tax on dividends paid out to non-residents. These rates vary from between 10% to 20%. The DTAs in force in Mauritius limit withholding tax on dividends. The treaty rates are generally 0%, 5% or 10%, thereby creating a potential tax savings of between 5% to 20% depending on the investee country. In respect to capital gains tax, the DTAs guarantee the maximum effective withholding tax rate should changes occur in the fiscal policy in the countries on investment.

Mauritius GBCs

Mauritius now has in place a new simplified regulatory regime that distinguishes between Mauritian companies conducting business in Mauritius and those conducting business outside Mauritius. These companies are known as Global Business Company 1 (GBC1), and Global Business Company 2 (GBC2). The focus of this article will be on the GBC1 company.

The substantial advantage offered by the GBC 1 Company is that it may be structured to be tax resident in Mauritius, and may thereby access the multiple DTAs that Mauritius has. This makes it extremely attractive to invest in one of these countries through a Mauritius GBC1 Company as taxation treaties provide that profits can then be withdrawn from that country either without the imposition of withholding tax or subject to a substantially reduced rate of withholding tax.

A GBC1 company is liable to corporate tax at a rate of 15%; however, it may claim a foreign tax credit in respect of the actual foreign tax paid or 80% presumed foreign tax credit, whichever is higher. As such, a GBC1 company has a maximum effective corporate tax rate of 3%. Capital gains are exempted from tax in Mauritius.

A GBC1 company is the best vehicle to use when overseas income is predominantly in the form of interest and capital gains, royalties and dividends,and when the benefits that arise from the double taxation agreements are required.GBC1 companies can only conduct business with Mauritian residents with the consent of the Financial Services Commission. All business activities must be conducted in a currency other than the Mauritian rupee.

These companies are subject to compliance and reporting regimes similar to those of Hong Kong or UK companies.Licenses are granted on a case by case basis by the regulatory authorities in Mauritius, in respect of companies seeking to benefit from GBC1 status.This application process requires,among other things, the submission of a detailed business plan and disclosure of ultimate beneficial ownership.

GBC1 companies have commonly been used by foreign investors to structure investments and projects with those countries that have DTAs with Mauritius. It is clearly a viable structuring option that should be considered when contemplating investing in the more high risk jurisdictions.

MAP: Here Are All Of The Big Chinese Investments In Africa Since 2010

Mamta Badkar|Aug. 13, 2012, 11:51 AM|7,265

Chinese investments in Africa have raised many eyebrows, as competitors like the U.S. argue that it's motivated by Beijing's desire to exploit the continent's resources.

Earlier this year China promised $20 billion in investments to various African countries, and U.S. secretary of state Hilary Clinton said in a speech that African countries should consider partnerships with more responsible countries as against countries that exploit resources, in an unmistakable reference to China.

This prompted Chinese state news-agency Xinhua (via the Guardian) to write, "Whether Clinton was ignorant of the facts on the ground or chose to disregard them, her implication that China has been extracting Africa's wealth for itself is utterly wide of the truth."

Given the recent debate we drew on this map from Stratfor to highlight Chinese investments offers in Africa since 2010. From Stratfor:

"While China has proposed $750 million for agriculture and general development aid and about $50 million to support small- and medium-sized business development in addition to the aforementioned projects, it has been criticized for the extractive nature of its relationship with many African countries, as well as the poor quality of some of its construction work.

However, since many African countries lack the indigenous engineering capability to construct these large-scale projects or the capital to undertake them, African governments with limited resources welcome Chinese investments enthusiastically. These foreign investment projects are also a boon for Beijing, since China needs African resources to sustain its domestic economy, and the projects in Africa provide a destination for excess Chinese labor."

We first spotted the map on The Big Picture:

Stratfor

Don't Miss: The Massive Chinese-Built Ghost Town In The Middle Of Angola >

China National Offshore Oil

Corporation (CNOOC)

Industry:Oil and Gas

Stock Code: -- --

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), founded in 1982, is the third-largest oil company in China after China National Petroleum Corporation and Sinopec. It is also the largest offshore oil and gas producer, focusing on the exploitation, exploration and development of offshore crude oil and natural gas.

CNOOC mainly engages in oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, and sales. It has four major production areas in China: Bohai Bay, Western South China Sea, Eastern South China Sea and East China Sea. It is authorized to cooperate with foreign partners for oil and gas exploitation in China's offshore areas. CNOOC also has certain upstream assets in other regions in the world, such as Africa and Australia.

CNOOC's crude oil produced overseas is sold on the international market through its wholly owned subsidiary, China Offshore Oil (Singapore) International Pte. Ltd.

Headquartered in Beijing, CNOOC has a total staff of 51,000 and a registered capital of 94.9 billion yuan. CNOOC is a state-owned oil company with 70 percent of its shares owned by the government.

Headquarter Address:

No.25, Chaoyangmen Beidajie, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China

Main Telephone:

(86-10)84521010

Website:

http://en.cnooc.com.cn

CNOOC gas field starts production in South China Sea

China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd.) said Monday that a gas field of the company in the South China Sea has commenced production with a current daily output of 30,000 cubic feet.

CNOOC inks deal with Qatar to explore offshore block: A subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) inked an agreement with Qatar Petroleum to explore an offshore block of the Gulf country, the Qatar News Agency reported Tuesday.

CNOOC 1H net profit falls 55% on lower crude oil prices: China's CNOOC Limited, the listed subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation said its net profit dropped 55% from a year ago to 12.4 billion yuan, or 0.28 yuan per share, in the H1.

CNOOC denies involvement in US firm bribery case: China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Saturday denied involvement in a bribery case of a U.S. firm, which admitted to the U.S. authority it had bribed some Chinese firms, including CNOOC.

China discovers new offshore oilfield: China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd.) announced Thursday that the company has discovered a new oilfield in north China's Bohai Bay.

The Chinese in Africa

Trying to pull together

Africans are asking whether China is making their lunch or eating it

Apr 20th 2011 | NAIROBI | from the print edition

ZHU LIANGXIU gulps down Kenyan lager in a bar in Nairobi and recites a Chinese aphorism: "One cannot step into the same river twice." Mr Zhu, a shoemaker from Foshan, near Hong Kong, is on his second trip to Africa. Though he says he has come to love the place, you can hear disappointment in his voice.

On his first trip three years ago Mr Zhu filled a whole notebook with orders and was surprised that Africans not only wanted to trade with him but also enjoyed his company. "I have been to many continents and nowhere was the welcome as warm," he says. Strangers congratulated him on his homeland's high-octane engagement with developing countries. China is Africa's biggest trading partner and buys more than one-third of its oil from the continent. Its money has paid for countless new schools and hospitals. Locals proudly told Mr Zhu that China had done more to end poverty than any other country.

He still finds business is good, perhaps even better than last time. But African attitudes have changed. His partners say he is ripping them off. Chinese goods are held up as examples of shoddy work. Politics has crept into encounters. The word "colonial" is bandied about. Children jeer and their parents whisper about street dogs disappearing into cooking pots.

Related topics

Once feted as saviours in much of Africa, Chinese have come to be viewed with mixed feelings—especially in smaller countries where China's weight is felt all the more. To blame, in part, are poor business practices imported alongside goods and services. Chinese construction work can be slapdash and buildings erected by mainland firms have on occasion fallen apart. A hospital in Luanda, the capital of Angola, was opened with great fanfare but cracks appeared in the walls within a few months and it soon closed. The Chinese-built road from Lusaka, Zambia's capital, to Chirundu, 130km (81 miles) to the south-east, was quickly swept away by rains.

Business, Chinese style

Chinese expatriates in Africa come from a rough-and-tumble, anything-goes business culture that cares little about rules and regulations. Local sensitivities are routinely ignored at home, and so abroad. Sinopec, an oil firm, has explored in a Gabonese national park. Another state oil company has created lakes of spilled crude in Sudan. Zimbabwe's environment minister said Chinese multinationals were "operating like makorokoza miners", a scornful term for illegal gold-panners.

Employees at times fare little better than the environment. At Chinese-run mines in Zambia's copper belt they must work for two years before they get safety helmets. Ventilation below ground is poor and deadly accidents occur almost daily. To avoid censure, Chinese managers bribe union bosses and take them on "study tours" to massage parlours in China. Obstructionist shop stewards are sacked and workers who assemble in groups are violently dispersed. When cases end up in court, witnesses are intimidated.

Tensions came to a head last year when miners in Sinazongwe, a town in southern Zambia, protested against poor conditions. Two Chinese managers fired shotguns at a crowd, injuring at least a dozen. Some still have pellets under healed skin. Patson Mangunje, a local councillor, says, "People are angry like rabid dogs."

There is anger and disappointment on the Chinese side too. In the South African town of Newcastle, Chinese-run textile factories pay salaries of about $200 per month, much more than they would pay in China but less than the local minimum wage. Unions have tried to shut the factories down. The Chinese owners ignore the unions or pretend to speak no English.

They point out that many South African firms also undercut the minimum wage, which is too high to make production pay. Without the Chinese, unemployment in Newcastle would be even higher than the current 60%. Workers say a poorly paid job is better than none. Some of them recently stopped police closing their factory after a union won an injunction.

"Look at us," says Wang Jinfu, a young factory-owner. "We are not slave drivers." He and his wife came four years ago from Fujian province in southern China with just $3,000. They sleep on a dirty mattress on the factory floor. While their 160 employees work 40 hours a week, the couple pack boxes, check inventory and dispatch orders from first light until midnight every day of the year. "Why do people hate us for that?" says Mr Wang.

Indeed, China has boosted employment in Africa and made basic goods like shoes and radios more affordable. Trade surpassed $120 billion last year (see chart 1). In the past two years China has given more loans to poor countries, mainly in Africa, than the World Bank. The Heritage Foundation, an American think-tank, estimates that in 2005-10 about 14% of China's investment abroad found its way to sub-Saharan Africa (see chart 2). Most goes in the first place to Hong Kong. The Heritage Foundation has tried to trace its final destination.

One answer to Mr Wang's question is that competition, especially from foreigners, is rarely popular. Hundreds of textile factories across Nigeria collapsed in recent years because they could not compete with cheap Chinese garments. Many thousands of jobs were lost.

Mixed blessings

Quite a bit of criticism of China is disguised protectionism. Established businesses try to maintain privileged positions—at the expense of consumers. The recent arrival of Chinese traders in the grimy alleys of Soweto market in Lusaka halved the cost of chicken. Cabbage prices dropped by 65%. Local traders soon marched their wire-mesh cages filled with livestock to the local competition commission to complain. "How dare the Chinese disturb our market," says Justin Muchindu, a seller. In Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital of Tanzania, Chinese are banned from selling in markets. The government earlier this year said Chinese were welcome as investors but not as "vendors or shoe-shiners".

Another answer, according to China's critics, is that the Chinese are bringing bad habits as well as trade, investment, jobs and skills. The mainland economy is riddled with corruption, even by African standards. International rankings of bribe-payers list Chinese managers near the top. When these managers go abroad they carry on bribing and undermine good governance in host countries. The World Bank has banned some mainland companies from bidding for tenders in Africa.

China's defenders reply that its detrimental impact on governance is limited. African leaders find it surprisingly hard to embezzle development funds. Usually money is put into escrow accounts in Beijing; then a list of infrastructure projects is drawn up, Chinese companies are given contracts to build them and funds are transferred to company accounts. Africa, for better and worse, gets roads and ports but no cash. At least that is the theory.

A third answer is that China is seen as hoarding African resources. China clearly would like to lock up sources of fuel, but for the moment its main concern is increasing global supply. Its state-owned companies often sell oil and ore on spot markets. Furthermore, its interest in Africa is not limited to resources. It is building railways and bridges far from mines and oilfields, because it pays. China is not a conventional aid donor, but nor is it a colonialist interested only in looting the land.

The ambiguities in China's relationship with Africa have created fertile ground for politicians. Opposition parties, especially in southern Africa, frequently campaign on anti-China platforms. Every country south of Rwanda has had acrimonious debates about Chinese "exploitation". Even in normally calm places like Namibia, antipathy is stirring. Workers on Chinese building sites in Windhoek, the capital, are said to get a "raw deal". In Zambia the opposition leader, Michael Sata, has made Sino-scepticism his trademark.

Keeping an eye on the investment

Much of this is wide of the mark. Critics claim that China has acquired ownership of natural resources, although service contracts and other concessions are the norm. China is also often accused of bringing prison labour to Africa—locals assume the highly disciplined Chinese workers in identical boiler suits they see toiling day and night must be doing so under duress.

Even so, the backlash is perhaps unsurprising. Africans say they feel under siege. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs from one of the most successful modern economies have fanned out across the continent. Sanou Mbaye, a former senior official at the African Development Bank, says more Chinese have come to Africa in the past ten years than Europeans in the past 400. First came Chinese from state-owned companies, but more and more arrive solo or stay behind after finishing contract work.

Many dream of a new life. Miners and builders see business opportunities in Africa, and greater freedom (to be their own bosses and speak their minds, but also to pollute). A Chinese government survey of 1,600 companies shows the growing use of Africa as an industrial base. Manufacturing's share of total Chinese investment (22%) is catching up fast with mining (29%).

In part this spread is happening because Africans have asked for it. Some countries made industrial investments a precondition for resource deals. In Ethiopia two out of three resident Chinese firms are manufacturers. Yet the Chinese did not need much pushing. They have always wanted to do more than dig up fuel when investing abroad. They hope to build skyscrapers in Tokyo, run banks in London and make films in Hollywood. In Africa they can learn the ropes in a region where competition is weak. The continent—soon to be ringed with Chinese free-trade ports—is a stepping stone to a commercial presence around the globe.

To this end, the government in Beijing is encouraging all sorts of activity in Africa. Construction is a favourite, accounting for three-quarters of recent private Chinese investment in Africa. The commerce ministry says Chinese companies are signing infrastructure deals worth more than $50 billion a year. For investment in African farming, China has earmarked $5 billion. A lot of Africans view this anxiously.

Perhaps the most significant Chinese push has been in finance. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has bought 20% of Standard Bank, a South African lender and the continent's biggest bank by assets, and now offers renminbi accounts to expatriate traders. Other mainland banks have opened offices too, and from their sleek towers they make collateral-free loans to Chinese companies. In theory Africans are eligible to borrow on the same terms, but this rarely happens.

The government in Beijing, which controls the banks, is alert to such criticism. China's image in Africa is sullied by more than just cowboy entrepreneurs, admits an official. Many of the government's own practices could be improved.

Suspect above all is the type of transfer that China offers to African countries. Most loans and payments are "tied"—ie, the recipient must spend the money with Chinese companies. (Japan, Spain and others followed a similar model until fairly recently.) But tied aid leads to shoddy work. With no competition, favoured firms get away with delivering bad roads and overpriced hospitals. Creditors and donors often set the wrong priorities.

Worse, the Chinese government is anything but transparent about its money. Aid figures are treated as state secrets. China Exim Bank and China Development Bank, the main lenders, publish no figures about their vast loans to poor countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo was persuaded at the last minute by international advisers to scale back a Chinese lending facility from $9 billion to $6 billion.

Firm friends

Politics can be even murkier than finance. For years China has been chummy with African despots who seem to be reliable partners. Publicly, China presents its support for odious incumbents as "non-interference" and tries to make a virtue of it. Africans are less and less convinced.

Relations get especially tricky for the Chinese when strongmen fail to maintain stability. In Zimbabwe in 2008 Robert Mugabe's sabotage of elections set off civil upheaval. Chinese investors fled, yet the ascendant opposition still linked them to the dictator. In Sudan Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges, has long been a Chinese stalwart. But following a referendum in January, the oil-rich south of his country has seceded. Rulers in Beijing are belatedly trying to befriend his enemies.

Africans are not helpless in their business relations with the Chinese. Some, admittedly, have not been strong in their dealings: a usually bossy Rwanda lets Chinese investors run riot. But African governments by and large get reasonable deals; and some, like Angola, are masterful negotiators. Its president publicly told his Chinese counterpart, "You are not our only friend." Brazilians and Portuguese are numerous in Luanda, the capital, and Angolans frequently play them off against the Chinese. Angola once banished a Chinese state oil company after a disagreement over a refinery. The company came crawling back a year later, offering more money.

China tries to lead the way in Africa

Increasingly, however, it is the Chinese who play Africans off against each other. Growing policy co-ordination between African embassies in Beijing is a useful first step in improving African bargaining power. The World Bank and the IMF are valuable advisers. But no matter how hard African governments try, they cannot cope with the sheer volume of new enterprises. Rules exist to protect employees and the environment, but institutions are too weak to enforce them. Labour inspectors in Lusaka, who monitor sweatshops, have use of only one car and recently it was broken for four months. In the meantime Chinese engineers built an entire cluster of garment factories from scratch.

For aeons the prospect of China and Africa coming closer together had seemed otherworldly. W.H. Auden wrote:

I'll love you, dear, I'll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street.

Sweet-and-sour salmon now regularly croon in sub-Saharan streets. Africans are embracing new opportunities made in China yet remain wary of all the pitfalls.

Western countries too will want to observe the progress of Chinese privateers who cross the Indian Ocean: men like Danny Lau, a 31-year-old from Shanghai, who a year ago followed a group of friends to Zambia, where he is now a successful coal trader and dabbles in property. In a few years, he says, they will move on to a richer continent. What they learn in Accra and Brazzaville will travel with them to Vancouver and Zagreb.

Climate change and food systems resilence in Sub-Saharan Africa

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/

This volume explores the linkages between resiliency to climate disasters and farm biodiversity - practices that enhance biodiversity allow farms to mimic natural ecological processes, enabling them to better respond to change and reduce risk. It demonstrates the possibility of harmonizing agricultural production with the well-being of the biosphere – and that this can be achieved in Africa, our biosphere's least developed continent, and the continent which is likely to suffer most from climate change.

The work presented in this volume stems from a Conference on Ecological Agriculture held in Ethiopia in 2008. The different chapters capitalize on assessments and experiences such as: lessons learned from Asia's Green Revolution on agricultural communities; trends in African agricultural knowledge, science and technology; trade policy impacts on food production; conditions for success of water interventions for the African rural poor; and climate change implications for agriculture and food systems. Case studies share the practical experiences, lessons and successes from across Africa, demonstrating that it is possible to produce food sufficiently and at the same time, care for the biosphere.

Folks,

If you mess your behind and someone cleans it for you, who do you blame? Will you take offense on your help? Is this from Mitt Romney, not another flip flop taking a dive on missed and confused thinking......???......What is your take......???

Government is the institution (tool) from where Public/People voices/needs are channeled and demands are met in a shared Plan of Action, manufactured and delivered to people/public in a timely manner.

Having realized the force and power at which the Government can do and reach out effectively, it is evident that the war is between the rich and the poor of the world.......The Rich becomes more greedy and want everything for themselves and don't care or want to share with the poor but engage those they recruit or accept to be their agents on commission........ With this type of practice, there is no balance……..it is the reason America was in serious cricis on the verge to collapse when President Obama became the President.

It was not easy, the problems President Obama found was humongous; it could not have been resolved within 4 years. Former President Clinton confirmed that to the world…..that no President could have achieved what President Obama did in just 4 years……..and yes, it will require atleast more than 2 more years for the situation to fizzle down and be effective because President Obama (who understands better the Pythagoras' theorem of the mathematics of building a Nation and the world under peace and unity while engaging everyone and where everyone matters irrespectively) has put what it takes as road map on the Recovery Act to put America and the world on the path to Progressive Development and growth.

Success of America cannot be done in isolation, segrigation or discriminate under divisiveness of Faith, Creed, Nationality, Tribal linage, color or class…………

It is therefore unfortunate and illogical that we are presently pulling strings on the war between the rich and the poor; drugging us behind from where we have come from, in such that, the rich fight, are set to box and own to control the Government by whatever means for themselves to do what they want and not what the rest of the people/public want.........because of their Comfort Zones, it is why they want to fully control the Government for their own special interest........

Now Folks, this is the reason why they hate President Obama who is the middle-man for a fair game; who want to give both rich and poor a fair share of (Give and Take) in the game of the National public service delivery to all people and when the going gets tough.....it should be placed on a people/public platform or through a referendum to solicit for intelligent logical thinking of opinions and ideas for fair shared sacrifice..........where everyone shares in the burden of sacrifice……..to avoid going back or taking others to slavery for masters of selfish and the greedy …… therefore, do you think this leaves the Blacks people of the world who time and again suffered under the marginalization, intimidation, discrimination and segregation of the 1% rich who think for self greed and feel the rest should be treated unfairly, inhumanly and that the disadvantaged and the poor are fit to shoulder the burden of the 1% rich and must forever live in some sort of miseries.....in poverty, in sufferings, and in the slaughter houses........With poor education or no education facilities…..???

What do you think is fair between the Rich GOP Republicans and the ordinary disadvantaged people and the poor of the world???.........Why do you think the rich do not want to pay their fair share of TAXES.....aaaaaaaand they target and want African Wealth Resources for free while killing at will and stands on the way for Africa's Democracy and engage the African corrupt Governments with handouts…..so that African Government becomes dysfunctional…….It is what is an in thing here why they do not want THE GOVERNMENT to fairly deliver to all people, they claim they are the job creators and it is not the Government who creates jobs……and yet they stick their firm beliefs that they want FREE BUSINESS ENTERPRISING........To do what they want and are able to pay huge sums of money for Political campaign to favor those who must put their interest first; why they pay huge sums of money to their CEOs, Lobbyist with law background, and also pay to Offshore businesses and outsource jobs under Chinese/Asianic Commission Agency to scramble to Africa......???

Wake up People…….Wake up…….. and ask yourselves, which Religion advocates or teaches people to kill each other for selfishness and greed ????

The problem affecting America in all spheres be it Political, Economical, or Social affairs; is not a problem of America alone, (taking into consideration that America is a Nation of all Nationals from all over the world)……..It is a Global problem intertwined affecting the whole regions of the world…….It inclusively becomes a problem of Africa, Asia, Europe, Arab Republic, the Caribbean Islands, the Bahamas and Mexico; just the whole world…

…..

We shall not be fooled by the Republican Corporate Special Interest that are after monopolizing livelihood and survival for themselves and for selfishness and greed; it is not right……We must play fair to all, ……… Have your say people ……Each individuals vote counts……..It is the people who are the bosses of their own destiny, and it is all our concern for better livelihood and survival for all that we all must vote with our conscious…..Voters must decide to vote Responsible Public Servants who will serve with integrity to put America the Light that shall Shine the World favorably..........

Thank you all and stay engaged...........!!!

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

Dr. Boyce Watkins On The Conflict Over Income Inequality, Dr. King's Radical Economic Message

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6CnWp8DDZ8

Uploaded by rolandsmartin on Jan 23, 2012

There's a growing conflict between rich and poor in America. A poll this month from the Pew Research Center finds that about two thirds of the public -- that's 66 percent -- believe there are very strong or strong conflicts between the rich and the poor. That's up 19 points since 2009. When you break that down -- that increase, if you will, Black folks believe there are conflicts between rich and poor. That increased by 8 percent, but for White Americans, the increase was 22 percent. This conflict over "income inequality," as the Democrats call it, or "class warfare," as the Republicans see is, is already a major theme of the 2012 election.

This battle has been going on in America for years, and one of the foremost generals in that war was a man we honor this month, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet, why have we chosen to portray Dr. Kling as a soft, gentle, go-along-to-get-along civil rights leader, as opposed to the radical force for change?

Syracuse University professor Boyce Watkins -- he reminded us this week that Dr. King was way more than just the man of peace we remember. He was a[n] uncompromising warrior for economic justice.

Dr. Boyce Watkins joined Roland Martin on Washington watch to discuss the conflict over income inequality and Dr. King being a radical force for change.

#1 of 2. Republican Gov. Deal Remove Blacks, 30 Deaths 1994-2009, D.A. David Miller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWeP_j0N90Y&playnext=1&list=PL1078A5CC35A140AA&feature=results_main

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWeP_j0N90Y

Uploaded by George Boston Rhynes on Jan 11, 2012

January 11, 2012

SUBJECT: Keeping Rev. Martin L. King Jr., dream alive in the State of Georgia and Quitman 10 news worthy information Ignored including a branch of the NAACP being started in Brooks County Georgia. How could this be excluded from the history of South Georgia?

We make mockery of Rev. Martin L. King Jr., when we ignore Voting Rights and Voter suppression in the State of Georgia. I was 100% certain within my mind that Georgia Governor Nathan Deal would remove the majority Black African Americans Representation on the Brooks County Board of Education. Moreover, I have NOT seen one item in the Executive Order showing that these Outstanding Board Members had any negative impact on the daily operation of the Brooks County School System.

HISTORY OF QUITMAN-BROOKS COUNTY MUST BE REVIEWED BY ALL AMERICANS! THIS CASE JUST MAY HIGHLIGHT WHAT HAS BEEN NEEDED HERE IN SOUTH GEORGIA FOR OVER A CENTURY. WE KNOW THAT OUR GOD HAS ALWAYS MADE A WAY OUT OF NO WAY AND IN THE END THIS SOUTH GEORGIA AREA WILL EVENTUALLY BROUGHT FORWARD TO THE REALITIES OF TRUTH, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY FOR ALL CITIZENS HERE IN SOUTH GEORGIA.

1. the TRUTH made a real reality in Brooks County Georgia and South Georgia in General in 2012....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLdDUec48pE&feature=plcp&context=C362f...

The Importance of Education for African Americans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETXx5xFKlQ0&feature=related

Uploaded by PolNerdsofAmerica on Aug 15, 2010

My thoughts on the importance of education in the African American community.

Rachel Maddows destroys Gov. Walker about Paul Ryan's lies on the GM plant in Wisconsin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR2Ks8xlaPE&feature=relmfu

Published on Aug 30, 2012 by mrfreedomdemocracy1

WHAT A BUNCH OF LIARS!!!

You have a lot to learn. Being also Italian and having lived in France,we refer to Italy or France as "la Repubblica Italiana" and "La Republique Francaise", but when we study history we refer to these countries as Democracies ... This is the same which is written in the "OFFICIAL FEDERAL BOOKLET" you have to study to become an American citizen ... AMERICA IS A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY. PERIOD!!! BTW DEMOCRACY FROM GREEK = THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE, REPUBLIC FROM LATIN = THE PUBLIC THING

mrfreedomdemocracy1in reply to Scott Chalmers (Show the comment)2 weeks ago 7

Jon Stewart: Freedom Packages (Libya). America: War for the Rich, Taxes for the Poor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VC52Wt2yFw

Uploaded by mrfreedomdemocracy1 on Mar 22, 2011

Jon Stewart Rips U.S. Attack On Libya: 'Don't We Already Have Two Wars?'

Daily Show: Oliver - America's Freedom Packages
John Oliver demonstrates how America's freedom packages will turn any country's civil war into a catastro-tunity.

Rachel Maddow rips Republican Governors on the budget. TAXING POOR

M.E. Dyson debates Pat Buchanan over Obama-Dobson argument

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JGlh4TNM0A&feature=related

Uploaded by shibbolethed on Jun 25, 2008

from Hardball with Chris Matthews, June 24, 2008.

Michael Eric Dyson, Sociology Professor from Georgetown and prolific author and scholar on African American, theological, and cultural issues, debates conservative Pat Buchanan on the recent issue Focus on the Family chief James Dobson has taken with Barack Obama's (gasp!) advocation of the separation of church and state when it comes to the interpretation of the Constitution and the issue of abortion.

Best black vs white debate on youtube - REP DAT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irdUmJN_Rc0&feature=related

Uploaded by Leweydagga on Mar 5, 2009

http://repdat.net
http://twitter.com/repdat

please visit our site and thanks for all the comments i never censor any of them

Panetta concerned Asia disputes could expand

By LOLITA C. BALDOR | Associated Press – 1 hr 43 mins ago

TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday he is concerned the territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific region could spark provocations and result in violence that could involve other nations, such as the United States.

Speaking to reporters on his plane en route to a weeklong trip in the region, Panetta said he will urge countries here to find a way to peacefully resolve their problems. He arrived Sunday in Tokyo, the first stop of his trip.

"I am concerned that when these countries engage in provocations of one kind or another over these various islands that it raises the possibility that a misjudgment on one side or the other could result in violence and could result in conflict and that conflict would then, you know, have the potential of expanding," Panetta said.

The defense chief said his conversations with the Japanese and Chinese would echo what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told them earlier this month — that they must find a process for settling the disputes. The U.S., he said, does not take a position with regard to the disputed lands.

He said he will strongly urge the Chinese to participate in the process so they can take part in a forum to resolve the issues.

Violent protests against Japan erupted across China this weekend over uninhabited islands. Although Japan has controlled the islands — called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese — for decades, the Chinese were angry that the Japanese government purchased the East China Sea islands from their private owners.

China saw the purchase as an affront to its claim and as further proof of Tokyo's refusal to negotiate over them.

There also have been recent flare-ups over territorial battles between China and many of its other neighbors, as well as between Japan and South Korea.

Japan and South Korea are at odds over an islet claimed by both, and China stoked anger over its increasingly assertive stance regarding its claims over resource-rich waters to the south and east.

"We're going to face more of this," Panetta said. "The countries are searching for resources, there (are) going to be questions raised as to who has jurisdiction over these areas."

This will be Panetta's third trip to Asia in 11 months, reflecting the Pentagon's ongoing shift to put more military focus on the Pacific region. The trip will also include a stop in New Zealand.

Panetta's visit to Japan is also likely to include discussions about the deployment of V-22 Ospreys there. Thousands of people have protested the hybrid aircraft's planned use, saying they are unsafe.

The Pentagon plans to deploy 12 of the aircraft, which take off and land like a helicopter but fly like a plane. U.S. officials have assured Japanese leaders the Ospreys are safe.

China in focus as Clinton heads to South Pacific

By MATTHEW LEE | Associated Press – Thu, Aug 30, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will try to reassert American interests in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of China's growing influence as she kicks off a six-nation trip that will take her from the South Pacific to Russia's Far East.

Clinton left Washington on Thursday on a trip that will keep her half a world away from U.S. politics at the height of the presidential conventions. But her travels will put her at the center of rising tensions over territorial disputes involving China and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea.

Clinton visits Beijing at the midpoint of the 11-day tour that begins in the remote Cook Islands, where she will be the first secretary of state to visit the South Pacific island chain that's home to just 10,000 people. On the main island of Rarotonga, she will attend an annual gathering of officials from Australia, New Zealand and the tiny nations scattered across the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. officials said Clinton will stress America's commitment to the sprawling yet sparsely populated area. It is threatened by rising waters, which are attributed to climate change, and faces a choice of whether to continue tight ties with the West or embrace burgeoning Chinese investment and power.

From there, Clinton heads to Indonesia, the seat of the secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose members are sharply divided over how to deal with China's expansion and conflicting claims over territory in the South China Sea.

A summit of regional leaders in July failed to reach consensus on how to handle the disputes. Clinton will press them to find common ground and hash out a framework for negotiating with China, U.S. officials said.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will make his first visit to China as Pentagon chief in a few weeks.

After visiting China, where she will raise the South China Sea issue along with matters such as the unrest in Syria and Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs, Clinton will stop in East Timor, Brunei and then represent the U.S. at a summit of leaders from Pacific Rim countries in Vladivostok, Russia.

Clinton will be the first secretary of state to travel to East Timor when she makes a brief stop in Dili, the capital.

In another U.S. diplomatic first, the well-traveled Clinton will become the only secretary of state to touch ground in all 10 members of ASEAN when she holds talks in the small oil-rich nation of Brunei.

Clinton made history in December by going to Myanmar, which is emerging from decades of isolation.

After Brunei, Clinton will move on to Vladivostok to stand in for President Barack Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which is expected to center on trade and food security. In meetings with foreign leaders, Clinton also will discuss Syria, Iran and North Korea, and will lay the groundwork for the upcoming U.N. General Assembly, officials said.

Panetta seeks closer Sino-U.S. ties as China military expands

By David Alexander | Reuters – 2 hrs 9 mins ago

TOKYO (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will look for ways to deepen U.S. military relations with China during a visit to Asia this week, even as he works to bolster U.S. alliances in the region as part of a strategic shift that Beijing views with concern.

Panetta, who arrived in Tokyo on Sunday on his third trip to Asia since becoming defense secretary, will discuss the realignment of U.S. military basing in Japan and expanding ballistic missile defense cooperation before heading to Beijing to try to deepen and broaden military-to-military ties.

He wraps up his visit with defense cooperation talks in New Zealand.

Senior U.S. and Chinese defense officials have made an effort to push their military relationship forward since it resumed a year and a half ago after a bitter break over U.S. arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breakaway province.

But despite high-level visits by top officials, relations between the Pentagon and the People's Liberation Army are marked by wariness and mistrust.

"This is a relationship that has in the past been characterized by a lot of ups and downs and an on-again, off-again cycle that reflected the lack of a solid foundation ... sufficient to weather the type of turbulence that's natural in a relationship that's as broad and complex as the one that we have with China," a senior defense official said on condition of anonymity.

"We're not there yet in terms of where we'd like to be in our military-to-military relationship, but visits like the one that Secretary Panetta is going to have ... sustain the forward progress that we've been able to make over the past several months."

U.S. defense officials pressed for a restoration of military-to-military ties with China because of concerns about the direction of Beijing's military modernization efforts, including anti-ship missiles, stealth aircraft and its first aircraft carrier.

Many of the weapons worry U.S. military leaders because they appear to be aimed at countering U.S. strengths and denying U.S. access to waterways in the region.

U.S. defense officials believe that by engaging in cooperative efforts with the Chinese military, the two sides will gain greater familiarity with each other's operations and develop transparency and communications channels that can help avoid misunderstandings that could lead to conflict.

But Dean Cheng, a China analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, said it wasn't clear exactly what the upside to renewed ties has been.

"The relationship is not in the deep freeze, but there is at best limited evidence of any kind of progress," he said. "The Chinese military remains averse to transparency as the West understands it and remains hostile to things like U.S. military ships transiting China's EEZ (exclusive economic zone) without prior permission."

The push for deeper ties comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region, with China locked in disputes with U.S. allies like Japan and the Philippines over potentially resource-rich islands in the East and South China Seas. The United States has urged the parties involved to settle their disputes peacefully, a point Panetta said he would raise in Beijing.

'WE DON'T WANT PROVOCATIVE BEHAVIOR'

"The United States does not take a position with regards to territorial disputes, but we do urge not just China but the other countries that are involved to engage in a process in which they can peacefully resolve these issues," Panetta told reporters on his plane en route to Tokyo.

He said he would encourage China to engage in the dispute resolution process promoted by ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in an effort to try to resolve the disagreements peacefully.

"What we don't want is to have any kind of provocative behavior on the part of China or anybody else result in conflict," Panetta said. "And my purpose will be to urge that they engage in the effort by the ASEAN nations to try to work out a format for resolving these issues."

China's claims over much of the South China Sea, including the Spratly and Paracel islands, have put it at loggerheads with Vietnam, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. A similar dispute has set China against Japan in the East China Sea.

China has been irked by the U.S.-backed proposals for a multilateral approach to resolving such disputes, preferring to negotiate separately with each of the far less powerful Asian claimants.

The U.S. defense secretary said he hoped to talk to Chinese defense officials about cooperating on a range of additional issues where the two countries have common interests, including nuclear proliferation, freedom of navigation, piracy, trade and humanitarian assistance.

"These are all areas where we can work together to try to provide security support for the Asia-Pacific region that will enhance the ability of that region to be able to prosper in the future," Panetta said. "Those are some of the areas that I'd like to work on."

But even if Panetta is successful in moving U.S.-China cooperation to a new level, it is still not clear the relationship would deliver the kind of communications U.S. officials hope is possible.

"Part of the question is what we want out of the mil-mil (military-to-military) relationship. If it is simply to have a channel available, then it is succeeding," Cheng said. "If, however, it is to have a channel of communications that can avert a crisis or tamp down escalation at critical moments, that is unlikely to happen under any circumstances.

"The PLA's procedures and organization, including the important role of political officers, does not match against how the US tends to operate."

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

Romney hits Obama on looming "fiscal cliff"

By Steve Holland | Reuters – 1 hr 24 mins ago

BELMONT, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama on Saturday of standing by while a looming budgetary calamity unfolds in Washington as he sought to regain his footing after a tough week on the campaign trail.

Romney leaped into the debate over the "fiscal cliff," the potential for an end-of-the-year uproar when some $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts kick in unless Obama and Congress reach a deficit-reduction deal to avert them. Bush-era tax cuts also expire at year's end.

The Washington debate mirrors the campaign battle between Obama and Romney. Democrats want to make up the shortfall by increasing taxes on wealthy Americans while Republicans favor spending cuts.

"Political gridlock threatens to plunge us back into recession, but instead of seeking bipartisan solutions, President Obama is passively allowing us to go over a fiscal cliff," Romney said in his weekly podcast.

The White House said in releasing a breakdown of the cuts on Friday that it was congressional Republicans who are standing in the way of a deal because they refuse to accept a more balanced approach.

The White House and Congress, Democrats and Republicans, including Romney's vice presidential running mate, Paul Ryan, agreed on the automatic cuts under an August 2011 deal.

Romney, who has vowed to build up the U.S. military if elected on November 6, has singled out for criticism the $54 billion in defense cuts that would kick in at year's end. He says this is no time to shrink the Pentagon's budget.

"What kind of commander-in-chief forces Americans to choose between massive tax hikes that will undermine the economy and massive cuts to our military that will undermine national security?" said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

Romney is ending a rough week during which he fell behind Obama in the polls and came under criticism from Democrats and some Republicans for making a campaign issue of the deaths of four Americans killed by Muslim protesters at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

The candidate took the day off on the campaign trail on Saturday. He spent part of the afternoon watching one of his grandson's soccer games. Romney travels to Colorado and California on Sunday.

(Editing by Xavier Briand)

Wisconsin will seek to enforce union law while appealing ruling

Reuters – 9 hrs ago

(Reuters) - Wisconsin's controversial law that limited the rights of many public-sector union workers should stay in place while the state appeals a judge's ruling that found parts of the measure unconstitutional, the state's attorney general said on Saturday.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said he would appeal Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas' ruling striking down parts of the law approved by the Republican-led Legislature last year.

"We also will be seeking a stay of Friday's decision pending appeal in order to allow the law to continue in effect as it has for more than a year while the appellate courts address the legal issues," Van Hollen said in a statement.

Republican Governor Scott Walker pressed for the sweeping changes to union rules as part of a package to eliminate a state budget deficit.

The proposals sparked massive union-backed protests at the state Capitol in Madison and efforts to recall Walker. Walker easily survived a recall election in June and has become a champion for fiscal conservatives.

Colas' ruling stemmed from challenges brought by unions that represent Madison school teachers and Milwaukee city employees. The immediate effect of his ruling is unclear.

Colas ruled that eliminating collective bargaining rights for municipal employees including teachers violated the workers' right to free speech, association and equal protection.

He also found that the law's requirement that Milwaukee city workers make pension contributions violated a home-rule provision in the state constitution.

The law has forced most public-sector union workers, including teachers, to pay more for health insurance and pensions, limited their pay raises, made payment of union dues voluntary and forced unions to be recertified every year.

There have been several legal challenges to the law. A federal judge in March blocked the provision that dealt with voluntary collection of dues and annual recertification votes.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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N. PA • 1 hr 58 mins agoReport Abuse

We need fixing......... Bigtime.

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Scott 50 secs agoReport Abuse
hmmm.... so the 1% and those on top are making 250% more since the 80's on average while middle class wages have remained stagnant, Union membership was dropped to 12% and you all want to blame them? Keep asking yourself where your wages and benefits have gone, while CEO's continue getting double digit raises. Wake up. Republican leadership wants labor representation GONE.

Romney: 'I'm Not Going to Worry About the Campaign'

ABC OTUS News – Fri, Sep 14, 2012

Republican candidate talks to George Stephanopoulos about remarks regarding recent embassy attack.

Mitt -- your Dad & Barack & Biden relased 12 years of tax returns!

Where are yours?

What the hell are you hiding?

DillonDee11 day ago 9

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John 3 mins 46 secs agoReport Abuse

If Romney loses it will be because he is so out of touch with normal Americans, like the majority of republicans. Stop telling me my life will be better if you and your rich friends have lower taxes. Even many republicans are too smart to believe that crap in 2012...

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dino • 1 day 21 hrs agoReport Abuse

Jobs left this country for one reason: WAGES. China pays $1.60 an hour. I never heard of someone getting laid off due to taxes or regs. Those jobs are not coming back either. $30 an hour for installing hubcaps? no way no how. Americans better get ready for a real surprise. Quit thinhking you are... More

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MJ 7 hrs agoReport Abuse
Actually, Dino, most manufacturing jobs were lost to technological innovation, not wages. Certainly, some jobs shifted geography because of wages, but the idea that all the US manufacturing jobs went overseas is false. It's just fodder for political posturing.

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film381 • 1 day 20 hrs agoReport Abuse

I sure as hell don't want a President that cares not about the important things ...such as his own campaign. He could very well think the same about the public...oh wait...he already does that

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donaldb • 1 day 21 hrs agoReport Abuse

they blew it by saying they were coming after the ssi, and medcare, voucher for the seniors! way to go ..o, but giving money to the mid east is better thing to do!! they love us wright!!

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Linda 8 hrs agoReport Abuse

Ya all will be standing in lines hoping to see a doctor if he's elected...good luck..might get what you wish for.

Romney: 'I'm not concerned about the very poor'

Feb

2012

11:48am, EST

By: Now Alex Wagner

The NOW panelists discuss Mitt Romney's gaffe from Wednesday morning when he said he is not concerned about poor Americans.

By NBC's Mark Murray

Follow @mmurraypolitics

All political candidates -- just like all non-politicians -- make verbal gaffes.

On Monday, for example, Republicans jumped on President Obama for saying the word "interesting" when a woman asked him a question about her unemployed husband. (In that exchange, Obama asked the woman to send her husband's resume to him.)

Romney defends remark

But in politics, what becomes damaging is when a verbal gaffe fits a pre-existing narrative. And that's what happened today when Mitt Romney uttered the words: "I'm not concerned about the very poor."

In an interview this morning, CNN's Soledad O'Brien asked Romney about perceptions that he doesn't understand the needs of average Americans. In response, Romney said:

This is a time people are worried. They're frightened. They want someone who they have confidence in. And I believe I will be able to instill that confidence in the American people. And, by the way, I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it.

I'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling and I'll continue to take that message across the nation.

When O'Brien followed on Romney's I'm-not-concerned-about-the-very-poor comment, the presidential candidate responded:

The challenge right now – we will hear from the Democrat Party the plight of the poor, and – and there's no question, it's not good being poor and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor.

But my campaign is focused on middle income Americans. My campaign – you can choose where to focus. You can focus on the rich. That's not my focus. You can focus on the very poor. That's not my focus.

(In fact, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, the largest benefits of Romney's tax plan go to the wealthy, not the middle class.)

Romney's comment about not being concerned about the poor is his latest statement that his rivals -- either Democratic or Republican -- could use to portray Romney as being out of touch with average Americans.

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Wanabidii Place

Sunday 16 September 2012

[wanabidii] Romney hits Obama on looming "fiscal cliff".......Romney/Ryan Lost It.....!!!

Strengthening Africa's Participation
in the Global Economy

Contents

Poll: Americans Pick President Obama Over Mitt Romney for Dinner Date

Paul Ryan on Chicago teachers strike: 'We stand with Rahm Emanuel'

Within Hours, Mitt Romney Takes Back Everything He Said About Preexisting Conditions

Would Mitt Romney preserve parts of ObamaCare?

Romney's Death Squad Ties: Bain Launched with Millions from Oligarchs Behind Salvadoran Atrocities

Bush Knew More About Bin Laden's Plans Than We Realized

The 10 Investments That Made Paul Ryan a Millionaire

Romney's Bain Capital invested in companies that moved jobs overseas

By Tom Hamburger, Published: June 21The Washington Post

Mitt Romney must face his Bain past

Leah Scott of Appleby discusses how to structure investments into Africa so they are tax-efficient and safe

MAP: Here Are All Of The Big Chinese Investments In Africa Since 2010

Don't Miss: The Massive Chinese-Built Ghost Town In The Middle Of Angola >

The Chinese in Africa

Trying to pull together

Africans are asking whether China is making their lunch or eating it

Panetta concerned Asia disputes could expand

China in focus as Clinton heads to South Pacific

Panetta seeks closer Sino-U.S. ties as China military expands

Romney hits Obama on looming "fiscal cliff"

Wisconsin will seek to enforce union law while appealing ruling

Romney: 'I'm Not Going to Worry About the Campaign'

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Sunday 16 September 2012

[wanabidii] Romney hits Obama on looming "fiscal cliff".......Romney/Ryan Lost It.....!!!

Panetta concerned Asia disputes could expand

China in focus as Clinton heads to South Pacific

Panetta seeks closer Sino-U.S. ties as China military expands

Romney hits Obama on looming "fiscal cliff"

Wisconsin will seek to enforce union law while appealing ruling

Romney: 'I'm Not Going to Worry About the Campaign'

Strengthening Africa's Participation in the Global Economy

Contents

Poll: Americans Pick President Obama Over Mitt Romney for Dinner Date

Paul Ryan on Chicago teachers strike: 'We stand with Rahm Emanuel'

Within Hours, Mitt Romney Takes Back Everything He Said About Preexisting Conditions

Would Mitt Romney preserve parts of ObamaCare?

Romney's Death Squad Ties: Bain Launched with Millions from Oligarchs Behind Salvadoran Atrocities

Bush Knew More About Bin Laden's Plans Than We Realized

Related Content

The 10 Investments That Made Paul Ryan a Millionaire

Romney's Bain Capital invested in companies that moved jobs overseas

By Tom Hamburger, Published: June 21The Washington Post

Mitt Romney must face his Bain past

Leah Scott of Appleby discusses how to structure investments into Africa so they are tax-efficient and safe

MAP: Here Are All Of The Big Chinese Investments In Africa Since 2010

Don't Miss: The Massive Chinese-Built Ghost Town In The Middle Of Angola >

The Chinese in Africa

Trying to pull together

Africans are asking whether China is making their lunch or eating it

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Strengthening Africa's Participation
in the Global Economy