Banks demand austerity measures against “profligate” countries

25 February 2010

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/pers-f25.shtml

With the eruption of the European sovereign debt crisis, a new category has emerged in the bourgeois press—“profligate countries.” Commentaries routinely brand entire populations—beginning with the Greeks but extending well beyond—as having been living beyond their means. They must now suffer the consequences.

The near-universal prescription of liberal as well as conservative politicians and commentators is an unprecedented assault on the jobs, wages and living standards of the working class and the gutting of pensions, health care, education and other basic social services.

Dapatkah Kretek Menjadi Produk Khas Indonesia?

Karim Raslan
16/02/2010 – 08:48

http://inilah.com/news/read/celah/2010/02/16/347802/dapatkah-kretek-menjadi-produk-khas-indonesia/

KETIKA rakyat Indonesia menyaksikan industrinya merosot dikalahkan oleh mesin-mesin ekspor dari China, beberapa pekan terakhir ini, saya ingin menulis tentang sejumlah produk khas Indonesia.

Pencarian ini membawa saya pada sebuah perjalanan ke Bandung dan bertemu merk pakaian UNKL347 milik Dendy Darman yang begitu digandrungi anak muda, hingga ke Tumanggong dengan radio kayu karya Pak Singgih Kartono yang ramah lingkungan.

BI Butuh Gubernur yang Bisa ‘Berkelahi’

Ramdhania El Hida – detikFinance
Senin, 22/02/2010 16:24 WIB

http://www.detikfinance.com/read/2010/02/22/162451/1304514/5/bi-butuh-gubernur-yang-bisa-berkelahi

Jakarta – Bank Indonesia (BI) dinilai membutuhkan sosok yang bisa ‘berkelahi’ untuk membela dan mengangkat moral pekerja BI di tengah banyaknya masalah politik yang membelit bank sentral saat ini.

“BI yang dibutuhkan itu figur yang mengangkat moril pekerja di BI karena masalah politik di BI dan bisa berkelahi untuk membela BI,” ujar Ekonom Standard Chartered Bank Fauzi Ichsan usai Talk Show ‘Membedah APBN 2010′ di Gedung Kementerian Keuangan, Jalan Wahidin, Jakarta, Senin (22/2/2010).

Beli Produk Domestik

Dana Rp 500 Triliun Bisa Menahan Gempuran Produk Impor
Jumat, 19 Februari 2010 | 03:29 WIB

http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2010/02/19/0329422/beli..produk.domestik.

Jakarta, Kompas – Untuk menahan gempuran produk China dan dari negara-negara anggota perjanjian perdagangan bebas, pengusaha menuntut agar anggaran belanja barang pemerintah sebesar Rp 500 triliun bisa digunakan untuk membeli produk dalam negeri.

Hanya cara itu yang bisa memperkuat daya beli pasar domestik dan menangkal kerusakan industri dalam negeri akibat perjanjian perdagangan bebas (FTA).

Global Development Finance: External Debt of Developing Countries

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/gdf2010.pdf

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, 2010
Global Development Finance 2010: External Debt of Developing Countries is a continuation of the World Bank’s publication, Global Development Finance, Volume II (1997 through 2009) and its precursor, World Debt Tables (1973 through 1996). The report provides statistical tables showing the external debt of 128 developing countries that report to the World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System (DRS). In addition to the book, users can subscribe to the full Global Development Finance database, which is available on the Web as GDF Online or by purchasing the GDF CD-ROM. The Little Data Book on External Debt 2010 provides a quick reference to the data. For more information on the GDF database, CD-ROM, and print publications go to: http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/.

Greece under European Union diktat

11 February 2010

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/pers-f11.shtml

For the first time since the introduction of its common currency, the European Union has made a country subject to its diktat. The European Commission intends to rigorously supervise the brutal austerity programme by which the Greek government plans to cut its budget deficit from 13 to 3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product within two years.

The basis for the virtual dictatorship of the EU bureaucracy is a plan submitted in January by the Greek government to the European Commission. The plan envisages an overall reduction in public expenditure of 10 percent, public service wage cuts and job cuts, a two-year increase in the retirement age, cuts in the health service, and higher taxes, including a tax surcharge on fuel.