vox
25th April 2002, 05:27
Capitalist apologists like to tell us that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. However, if one uses Deep Throat's advice and follows the money, we find that this isn't really the case.
Freedom House (http://www.freedomhouse.org/) found that, in the post-Cold War era, Third World democracies increased. This is generally taken to be a good thing, but not by corporations.
Using the data from Freedom House, the New Economy Information Service (http://www.newecon.org/) found that "the democracies' share of developing country exports to the U.S. (excluding oil) fell from 53.4 percent in 1989 to 34.9 percent in 1998....Of this 18.5 percentage point loss, 10.8 percentage points were picked up by countries ranked as 'Not Free,' and 7.7 percentage points were gained by countries ranked as 'Partly Free.'"
You can read the executive summary of the report (http://www.newecon.org/D-Dexecsummary.html) or download the entire report, in PDF format, from a link on that page.
Why would this be? Chicago Tribune economics correspondent R.C. Longworth explains that "wages tend to be lower in dictatorships than in democracies, giving businesses in dictatorships an advantage on selling exports abroad. The investment question is more complex, but the [NEIS] report suggest[s] a combination of factors—lower wages, easier environmental laws, bans on labor unions—that give dictatorships an edge." (Taken from an article by Paul Street (http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/feb2000street.htm).)
The evidence is clear.
So, the next time you hear someone ranting on about how capitalism and freedom go hand in hand, you might want to ask them why capitalist corporations prefer to do business with countires that are not free.
vox
Freedom House (http://www.freedomhouse.org/) found that, in the post-Cold War era, Third World democracies increased. This is generally taken to be a good thing, but not by corporations.
Using the data from Freedom House, the New Economy Information Service (http://www.newecon.org/) found that "the democracies' share of developing country exports to the U.S. (excluding oil) fell from 53.4 percent in 1989 to 34.9 percent in 1998....Of this 18.5 percentage point loss, 10.8 percentage points were picked up by countries ranked as 'Not Free,' and 7.7 percentage points were gained by countries ranked as 'Partly Free.'"
You can read the executive summary of the report (http://www.newecon.org/D-Dexecsummary.html) or download the entire report, in PDF format, from a link on that page.
Why would this be? Chicago Tribune economics correspondent R.C. Longworth explains that "wages tend to be lower in dictatorships than in democracies, giving businesses in dictatorships an advantage on selling exports abroad. The investment question is more complex, but the [NEIS] report suggest[s] a combination of factors—lower wages, easier environmental laws, bans on labor unions—that give dictatorships an edge." (Taken from an article by Paul Street (http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/feb2000street.htm).)
The evidence is clear.
So, the next time you hear someone ranting on about how capitalism and freedom go hand in hand, you might want to ask them why capitalist corporations prefer to do business with countires that are not free.
vox