GlobLog - March 2004
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14:53 - GLASHUS: Vänsterpartierna och facket gottar sig åt det låga förtroendet för storföretagen, och rationaliserar sitt motstånd mot liberala reformer med detta misstroende. Så tråkigt det måste vara för dem att läsa dagens SOM-undersökning, som visar att bland de få institutioner som åtnjuter lägre förtroende än storföretagen återfinns - de politiska partierna och facket. Ett uppdrag för förtroendekommissionen!

13:48 - KERRY´S PROTECTIONIST PLANS: John Kerry has explained that US companies who outsource jobs are traitors to the nation. Now he has revealed how he will punish the traitors. They have been able to defer taxes on the profits they make overseas until they are repatriated. If Kerry is elected president he would stop this and tax them straight away. A decent way of stopping a strange tax subsidy on outsourcing? Not really. The strange thing is that the US, as one of few countries, insists on taxing profits made abroad. And if Kerry would tax them even harder it would mean three bad things: The US would tax production for foreign markets harder than production for the American market (US companies in India who produce for the Indian market would still be able to defer taxes). This is an export subsidy – something the American government always attacks when used by other governments, and would create tensions at the WTO. It would also mean that fewer people in India and other places would get good jobs. And American goods and services for the American market would be made more expensive, and therefore US companies would lose in the competition against companies from other countries, and therefore many would move their headquarters abroad. (And what would Kerry do then? “Don’t go, or I’ll call you traitors again!”)

Kerry has one sensible suggestion – a tax holiday which would lower taxes for just long enough to allow American companies to return old profits to the US. But just when you thought there was some economic rationality involved, Kerry explains that he would use these money to subsidise job creation in manufacturing and other industries affected by outsourcing. This is just corporate welfare, a way of protecting bad companies and rewarding inefficiency. I thought this was the man who was supposed to stand up to the special interests - but he must have meant "stand by the special interests".

16:29 - BILINGUAL: Starting today, I will write in Swedish on issues of domestic concern, but stick to English in most cases. I hope this won´t confuse you, my global and capitalist friends. As Aphra Behn observed, "Money speaks sense in a language all nations understand."

16:18 - BORGERLIGHETENS SJÄLVMÅL: Det har presenterats två motstridiga undersökningar om övergångsregler mot de nya EU-länderna. Enligt SIFO är 65% emot dem, men enligt Agenda/SVT är 60% för dem. Här lurar ingen stor paradox. Som man frågar får man svar. SIFO frågade om östeuropéer skulle få komma hit och arbeta på samma villkor som andra. Agenda frågade om vi bör införa övergångsregler för att hindra "social turism". I det läget är det borgerliga partier, särskilt folkpartiet, som gör bort sig genom att få debatten att handla mer om social turism än om fri rörlighet. Som jag skriver i en artikel i den liberala pressen idag är öppningen för övergångsregler alltså inte bara ett moraliskt misstag, utan också ett taktiskt sådant. Med borgerliga opportunister som dessa behöver vi inga socialdemokratiska valstrateger.

15:29 - RE: SPAIN: I have received several critical comments on my argument that Spain allowed Islamist terrorists to highjack the election. They say that the voters turned left because of the Aznar government’s untruthful attempt to blame it on ETA. And since Zapatero’s socialists campaigned on withdrawing the troops from Iraq, to do so is not a way of giving in to the terrorists.

16:09 - POWER & PLUNDER: History shows that there is no greater threat to society than its rulers. In a report launched today, Transparency International includes a list of the most corrupt politicians during the last 20 years. Here is the top five, and the amount of money they stole from their people:

1. Mohamed Suharto (Indonesia, 1967–98) stole $15 to 35 billion.

2. Ferdinand Marcos (the Philippines, 1972–86), stole $5 to 10 billion.

3. Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire, 1965–97), stole $5 billion.

4. Sani Abacha (Nigeria, 1993–98), stole $2 to 5 billion.

5. Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia/Yugoslavia, 1989–2000) stole $1 billion.

10:29 - OUTRAGEOUS ON OUTSOURCING: The fact that European and American firms outsource services like call centers, accounting and research to countries like India has led to furious attacks from important politicians. US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has said that these companies are traitors to the country, like Benedict Arnold (who conspired with the British during the American revolution), and this Monday German Chancellor Schröder called them ”unpatriotic”. This is not merely ugly nationalist insults, it is also economically illiterate.

09:25 - SIMILARITIES: It´s strange that no commentator has mentioned the similarity between the murdered Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and the villain in Lord of the Rings, Saruman. They are not merely alike in their looks, but also their fundamentalist religion and their brutal summons to murder civilians for their own political objectives. I respect those who complain that Israel´s killing of Yasin is counter-productive and might lead to more violence - there is a big risk - but not those who weep for a brutal murderer.

Terrorist 1: Yassin Terrorist 2: Saruman

16:51 - ASKED FOR THE FIRST TIME: The Iraq war was more popular in Iraq than in almost any other country in the world. Almost half of the Iraqis supported the war in a survey conducted by Oxford Research International. That’s less of a paradox than some think. Oppression, torture and murder are seldom popular among those who are oppressed, tortured and murdered. 56 percent of the Iraqis said that life was better now than before the war, less than 19 per cent said it was worse. More than 70 per cent said that they wanted a democracy – and in an election only 1.7 percent would vote for Saddam Hussein’s the Baathist party. Judging by some reactions, Saddam would get more votes in some European countries.

14:15 - LIBERAL LOSERS: In the election of 2002 I voted for folkpartiet, Sweden´s "social liberal" party. That was probably a mistake. Last night their members of parliament decided to support a transitional restriction on labour from the new EU states. Their idea is that an Estonian or Hungarian need a work permit to work here, but they say that any job will do if it is enough to earn the worker a living. But who is to decide what is enough? Shouldn´t the worker do that? No, folkpartiet suggests that this is to be done by Migrationsverket (Swedish Migration Board) - an institution specialised in throwing asylum seekers out of Sweden. It is still a much more liberal suggestion than the social democratic government´s, but when the social democrats have to be the benchmark to show that the liberals are still liberal, we´re in trouble.

10:14 - HUNGARIAN HEROS: Sweden and almost all the other old EU states have decided to impose transitional restrictions on workers from the new EU states. In Sweden´s case an obvious breaking of promises by the ever more nationalist social democrats (possibly aided by some opposition party oblivious to its own principles - we don´t know yet). Now Hungary has decided to respond - by restricting labour immigration from the old member states. I am not generally in favour on restrictions on movements, but this is a brilliant response, a strong demonstration that New Europe will not let itself be harassed by the Old without a fight. Bravo!

11:11 - THE SPANISH TRAGEDY MADE WORSE: The first tragedy in Spain was the murder of more than 200 innocent people on March 11. Something that really must teach Europeans to work together against cross-border terrorism. The second tragedy was the election yesterday. For the first time islamist terrorists - or so it seems - have been able to determine an election in a democracy. And the result will be that Spanish troops withdraw from Iraq. Whatever we may think of that decision, it is always - ALWAYS - counterproductive to give in to terrorists. Even lunatics understand incentives.

17:08 - SOCIALIST HEALTH CARE EXPOSED: Elias, 4 years old, is deaf since birth, and the Swedish region of Jämtland will only give him implant for one ear – even though he needs two to hear properly. In other words, his parents have been forced to pay enormous amounts of taxes for other people and their problems, but when they really need help for their own son, they don’t get it. So now they pay for it themselves? No way, says the social democrat in charge of health care in Jämtland. Noone should be allowed to get extra help from the Swedish health care system, just because they want to pay for it. And since there is no private market for these implants in a country where most care is organised publicly, it means that Elias will never be able to hear properly. That is the tragic reality of socialist health care.

15:42 - CUT-AND-PASTE-JANNE: Did you see Janne Josefsson´s attack on the charity Stadsmissionen in Uppdrag granskning on Swedish television yesterday? I understand why the chairman, Antonia Ax:son Johnson, didn´t grant Josefsson an interview, because he is notorious for cutting and pasting to distort the material. But I thought that she should have said that she accepted a live interview, in the studio, to explain the strange transactions. Today I heard from someone who was there: Johnson did say yes to a live interview, but Josefsson just deleted her statement to make it look like she refused to comment. Interesting, but not at all surprising.

10:46 - TAX REBELLION: I’ve written before about the bizarre redistribution system between the Swedish regions – a way of punishing growth and good policies and subsidise stagnation. I’ve also written about the people in Stockholm who have started a protest against it. Now almost 8 000 people have joined this tax rebellion ("Save Stockholm"). The fact that it is not mentioned much in the news any more makes it even more important to protest. Just do it!

10:24 - POCKET SHOP UPDATE: And latest news is that my book is now on sale at the Pocket Shop stores. Apparently there were only technical reasons for the delay - not political, as rumours had it. Thanks to all who asked for it. I can really recommend a visit to Pocket Shop - cheap and good books. And not all of them anti-capitalist...

13:50 - POCKET SHOP: I have been told that Pocket Shop, a Swedish chain of book stores, has refused to sell my book In Defence of Global Capitalism for political reasons. But this appears to be a misunderstanding. They have now told me that their only concern was that the book lacked a particular marking on the cover, which they need. If that is really their only problem, my book should be on its way to the Pocket Shops right now. Because there is a new edition of the book out, with that marking. If you happen to pass by one of their stores, why don´t you ask them if they´ve got it!

08:52 - INTERNATIONAL WOMEN´S DAY: All over the world, women have fewer rights and opportunities than men, because of ancient traditions and prejudices. What can we do about that? Change our attitudes of course. But how do such changes occur? Nothing has been more important than modern individualist attitudes, and globalisation, which spreads them across borders. Japanese women began to demand equality when they joined their men on businesstrips to the West, and saw the freedom for women there. Today people in more traditional cultures can see foreign TV shows with women in the roles as doctors, teachers and lawyers, and that broadens your ideas on what´s possible. Furthermore, the existence of modern labour markets and business opportunities gives women the opportunity to compete and get a more equal share, and with an income of your own, you are not completely dependent on your husband. Just wishful thinking? Take a look at the graph below, from Tuesday´s posting, on the correlation between women´s position and globalisation. Feminists should be pro-globalisation and pro-capitalism.

16:36 - AHLMARK STRIKES BACK: Today Timbro publishes Det är demokratin, dumbom, a new book by Per Ahlmark, former deputy prime minister and Sweden´s most eloquent pro-democracy champion. Ahlmark scrutinizes the "third totalitarian ideology" - radical, political islamism. And he attacks the UN and those who apologise for the oppressive regimes in the Middle East, and asks why Arabs shouldn´t be entitled to freedom. A must-read, guaranteed to outrage the Swedish left as usual. So far the book is only in Swedish, but the rest of you can read this.

11:35 - GLOBALISATION MEASURED: The fourth edition of the A T Kearney/Foreign Policy Globalization Index is out now. This is a very useful guide that tries to measure globalisation in terms of personal contact, technology, political engagement and economic globalization. Despite the fall in crossborder investments, globalisation is still strong. For the third year in a row, Ireland is the most global nation, due to the country´s high levels of economic and personal links with the rest of the world. Then we find Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Canada and the United States. Sweden is down eight places, to 11th place, above all due to a fall in trade and investments. The index also reveals several interesting correlations that will shock anti-globalists. Just look below at the correlation between globalisation and women´s position according to the UN´s Gender-related Development Index.

15:46 - FEAR ITSELF: Recently I was at a The Economist/Stockholm Network conference in London on corporate irresponsibility and scandals. My point was that we have most to fear from fear itself. Here are my remarks, and here is another speech I´ve given on this subject.

11:40 - JUSTICE AT THE OSCARS: Lord of the Rings won a record-tying 11 Oscars! Justice at last. My only disappointment was that Andy Serkis’ Gollum wasn’t nominated as best supporting actor... Interesting also that the French Canadian "The Barbarian Invasions" won best foreign-language film – apparently a strong story about failed left-wing ideals, political correctness as an equality of dismal result, and the lack of choice and compassion in socialised health care.