Monday, October 24, 2011

The World Bank Bandwagon

While I have not read the original document, early reports on calls from the Vatican's Department of Justice and Peace for a new world bank, of sorts, is another manifestation of the confusion that follows when people who do not understand economics get involved in economic policy. From CNBC:
The 18-page document, "Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority," was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions. ...

"If no solutions are found to the various forms of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social, political and economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundations of democratic institutions, even the ones considered most solid," it said.

It called for the establishment of "a supranational authority" with worldwide scope and "universal jurisdiction" to guide economic policies and decisions.

I cannot believe what I'm reading, and I'm hoping that it is not as bad as this. It's actually embarrassing. The notion of a new world bank is a terrible idea. Regulations lead to Crony Capitalism, creating so many of the economic problems we see today. Regulations created the housing bubble, distorted prices and other market indicators. Those in power have a vested interest in picking winners and losers, a far worse scenario than the so-called 'chaos' of the free-market, which is, of course, not chaos at all. Seriously, the U.N. is supposed to oversee this project? Which pure as the wind-driven snow individuals would manage this byzantine boondoggle?

It should be noted that this world bank business does not represent 'official' Church teaching. The bureaucrats working at the Department of Justice and Peace are not in the least immune from the common, repeatedly tried and failed economic fallacies that have all but brainwashed most European minds, a fact made painfully clear with the breaking of this story.

No comments:

Post a Comment