Hollosi Information eXchange /HIX/
HIX HUNGARY 1021
Copyright (C) HIX
1997-06-07
Új cikk beküldése (a cikk tartalma az író felelőssége)
Megrendelés Lemondás
1 Soros Foundation - Marshall Plan - (mind)  21 sor     (cikkei)
2 Re: A Critique of the Soros Foundation (mind)  10 sor     (cikkei)
3 Re: A Critique of the Soros Foundation (mind)  86 sor     (cikkei)

+ - Soros Foundation - Marshall Plan - (mind) VÁLASZ  Feladó: (cikkei)

Joe Szalai wrote:
>
> I always thought that the Marshall Plan had more to do with politics than
> with fashion.  Wasn't it devised to make Western Europe a bulwark against
> communism?  Of course it was!  And now that communism is gone from Eastern
> Europe, those countries can fend for themselves.

   Wrong, Joe! As always, your marxist orientation misleads you. The
Marshall Plan became political (anti-communist)  "only" after Stalin
refused to accept aid for countries under its occupation.

 .....

> years.  However, many corporations have assets that are far greater than that
.
(The amount of foreign investment in Hungary).

   So what, Joe? Is there some meaningfull insight in this sentence?
Being 'anti' simply to  be 'anti' has never  helped anything or any-
body. You need much more to be constructive.
                                               Amos
+ - Re: A Critique of the Soros Foundation (mind) VÁLASZ  Feladó: (cikkei)

At 06:47 AM 6/3/97 -0400, Johanne wrote:

>Joe and I are probably equally opposed to *corporatism.* Me, because I am
>opposed to anything in which individuals' identities and needs are
>submerged in mass organizations.

This sounds so strange from someone who used to be in tha Navy (Marines?).
Or is it there that you found out?

Gabor D. Farkas
+ - Re: A Critique of the Soros Foundation (mind) VÁLASZ  Feladó: (cikkei)

At 07:52 PM 6/4/97 -0700, Gabor Fencsik wrote:

<snip>
>Looking at the massive billions Germany is spending to bring the
>infrastructure of the ex-DDR up to snuff, it is clear that Eastern Europe
>could use massive capital investment in industry, transportation,
>communication, and many other areas.  None of this will come from any
>Marshall Plan-type aid.  That sort of thing is not fashionable any more.

I always thought that the Marshall Plan had more to do with politics than
with fashion.  Wasn't it devised to make Western Europe a bulwark against
communism?  Of course it was!  And now that communism is gone from Eastern
Europe, those countries can fend for themselves.

<snip>
>Hungary and the rest of Eastern Europe received precious little
>support from the West since 1989, and what they received was mostly
>help of the wrong kind.  Much of the aid ended up in the pockets of
>Western consultants whose only identifiable output was yet another
>feasibility study of some kind.  There is a story about a consultant
>who came to Budapest with a grant to help Hungarians convert from the
>Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet.  I am sure the story is apocryphal, but
>perhaps it is not that far from the truth.

Hungary and the rest of Eastern Europe also received, and continue to
receive, direct foreign investment.  And although Hungary has received the
lion's share of investment, it really isn't very much.

In the "World Economic Outlook" (May 1997), published by the International
Monetary Fund (by far my favourite organization, ... NOT!) the following
figures on direct investment are given.

The first column gives the figures for the cumulative (1991-1996) direct
investment (in millions of U.S. dollars) in countries in transition.  The
second column gives the cumulative (1991-1996) per capita inflows in U.S.
dollars.

Albania--------------    248 -----    71
Armenia--------------     36 -----    10
Azerbaijan-----------    898 -----   120
Belarus--------------     54 -----     5
Bulgaria-------------    588 -----    65
Croatia--------------    587 -----   123
Czech Republic-------  6,368 -----   617
Estonia--------------    859 -----   558
Georgia--------------     34 -----     6
Hungary-------------- 12,767 ----- 1,256
Kazakstan------------  2,997 -----   180
Kyrgyz Republic------    146 -----    31
Latvia---------------    614 -----   239
Lithuania------------    244 -----    65
Macedonia------------     70 -----    32
Moldova--------------    191 -----    43
Mongolia-------------     31 -----    13
Poland---------------  4,862 -----   126
Romania--------------  1,379 -----    61
Russia---------------  6,205 -----    42
Slovak Republic------    687 -----   128
Slovenia-------------    650 -----   325
Tajikistan-----------     59 -----    10
Turkmenistan---------    337 -----    81
Ukraine--------------  1,163 -----    23
Uzbekistan-----------    190 -----     8

The publication also mentions that, "in terms of destination, the central
and eastern European and Baltic countries attracted more than 70 percent of
the cumulative foreign direct investment inflows into the transition
economies during the 1991-96 period, with Hungary and the Czech Republic
alone accounting for close to 50 percent of total inflows."

>What Hungary needs now in the way of Western help is a not another
>Marshall Plan.

Not that they have to worry about another Marshall Plan.  It ain't gonna
happen!

>I think what would be most helpful is a whole lot
>more personal and professional face-to-face contact with Westerners.

Sort of like a "velvet capitalist revolution", eh?  Well, it may happen,
but most, if not all, of these countries in transition will have a second
class capitalist economy for a long, long time.  On the surface it seems
that Hungary is doing well with almost 13 billion invested in the last six
years.  However, many corporations have assets that are far greater than that.

Joe Szalai

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