politics for the 99%

Published on Russia Today RT, June 26, 2014.

China is moving forward with a plan to create its own version of the World Bank, which will rival institutions that are under the sway of the US and the West. The bank will start with $100 billion in capital.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will extend China’s financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan. The $100 billion in capital is double that originally proposed, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

A member of the World Bank, China has less voting power than countries like the US, Japan, and the UK. It is in the ‘Category II’ voting bloc, giving it less of a voice. In the Asian Development Bank, China only holds a 5.5 percent share, compared to America’s 15.7 percent share and Japan’s 15.6 share.

At the International Monetary Fund, China pays a 4 percent quota, whereas the US pays nearly 18 percent, and therefore has more influence within the organization and where loans go.

“China feels it can’t get anything done in the World Bank or the IMF so it wants to set up its own World Bank that it can control itself,” the FT quoted a source close to discussions as saying.

To date, 22 countries have expressed interest in the project, including oil-rich Middle Eastern nations, the US, India, Europe, and even Japan, the FT reported … //

… Funds will be reserved for emerging market members who are often bypassed by institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

Bank preparations will likely be finalized at the 6th annual BRICS summit on July 14-16, when the five world leaders convene in Brazil.
(full text).

Links:

When $15 isn’t really $15, on Socialist Worker, June 26, 2014;

Interview with Melinda Gates: Simple Things Can Have a Huge Effect, on Spiegel Online International, Interview Conducted by Samiha Shafy and Mathieu von Rohr, June 26, 2014 (Photo Gallery): The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private global development organization in the world. In a SPIEGEL interview, Melinda Gates explains the couple’s start in philanthropy, the challenges of combatting disease in conflict zones and the unique responsibility of the wealthy …;

Who Will Save Iraq? on Worker’s Action, by Shamus Cooke, June 24, 2014;

Reclaiming Communism, on Against The Grain, June 24, 2014 - download AUDIO, 54.52 min: It’s a dead idea, or so we’re told, now discarded in the dustbin of history. But political theorist and media scholar Jodi Dean believes communism remains a powerful ideological force; she argues that the left should claim the term without apology. Dean also discusses the successes and limitations of Occupy Wall Street, and advocates revamping the party as an organizational form;

The forgotten Fifth Comintern Congress (June-July 1924): Bridge between Lenin and Stalin, about a new study by Joel Geier, on John Riddell (marxist essays and commentary), June 23, 2014;

Independent National Communard Council Created in Venezuela, on venezuelanalysis, by EWAN ROBERTSON, June 6, 2014;

National struggles by oppressed peoples are generally progressive, on John Riddell, by Eric Blanc, June 5, 2014;

National liberation and Bolshevism reexamined: A view from the borderlands, on John Riddell, by Eric Blanc, May 20, 2014;

The Truth about Venezuela: A Revolt of the Well-off, Not a Terror Campaign, on Worker’s Action, by Mark Weisbrot, March 22, 2014;

Revolt of the Rich, on The American Conservative, by MIKE LOFGREN, August 27, 2012: Our financial elites are the new secessionists – It was 1993, during congressional debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement. I was having lunch with a staffer for one of the rare Republican congressmen who opposed the policy of so-called free trade. To this day, I remember something my colleague said: “The rich elites of this country have far more in common with their counterparts in London, Paris, and Tokyo than with their fellow American citizens” …;

Native American Indians Spiritual Vocal Shamanic/Relax Music, 119.51 min, uploaded by Ultimate Relax Club, Nov 24, 2013.