25 ITALIAN SENATORS DEMAND A NEW BRETTON WOODS CONFERENCE "TO CREATE A NEW INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM"
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Rome, Oct. 29 (EIRNS)--On October 19, one quarter of the Italian Senate introduced a motion to bind their government to seek a summit to save the world from the "devastating effects" of today's speculation-driven global economic system. They call for replacing it with a new system which promotes the "real economy." These 25 senators, led by Sen. Riccardo Pedrizzi of the Alleanza Nazionale, mostly represent Christian and conservative opposition parties, but include Senators from two parties in the governing coalition as well.
This Italian Senate motion has been officially presented to the Interparliamentary Group for the Jubilee 2000. This group, acting to implement Pope John Paul II's call for 2000 to be the year for debt forgiveness for impoverished nations, will bring 5,000 members of parliament from every nation in the world to Rome, on Nov. 4-5.
The Senate move came one week after Lyndon LaRouche, the leader of the international fight for a "New Bretton Woods," visited Rome. In his meetings with Senators and other influentials, and in testimony before an informal hearing of Italian Chamber of Deputies Foreign Relations Committee, LaRouche elaborated the concepts embraced in the Senate motion.
The Italian action, though more public, reflects the thinking of an rapidly-increasing portion of the world's leaders. LaRouche and Executive Intelligence Review are key factors in promoting sober reflection and resolute action on what to do after the crash on global financial markets.
The motion reads:
IT IS THE VIEW OF THE ITALIAN SENATE
That, for months the international markets have been affected by total instability and volatility;
That, the financial crises of the 1990s which have hit Asia, Latin America and Russia, have revealed the weakness of the international monetary and financial system; they, in fact, do not represent isolated or fortuitous cases, but are manifestations of a systemic crisis;
That, the financial globalization has led to a complete deregulation of the markets, above all of the most aggressive and speculative sectors, like the "derivatives" financial products;
That, in the past 10 years in particular, there has been a split between the real and the financial economy, which gave birth to a gigantic speculative bubble which reached at least the amount of $300 trillion, against a GDP worldwide of about $41 trillion;
That, this process has provoked devastating effects not only for the economies but also for the levels of life and the quality of life particularly of the populations of the countries of the development sector and extremely negative effects on the levels of production and employment, with social consequences which are very worrisome also in the industrialized countries;
That, there is no reason to believe that, without regulation, the process of expansion of the speculative bubble can come autonomously to a stop, simply confiding in the market and in its rules;
That, in front of this situation the international community has tried to reinforce "the architecture of the international financial system," to make to world economy less vulnerable to the devastating financial crises and at the same time to make possible that all the countries could enjoy the benefits of the globalization, contributing to the amelioration of these countries' growth perspectives and to the diminution of the poverty of the people in the developing countries;
That, in a communique of April 16, 2000, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, has underlined the importance of a "major transparency of the economic policy, as a guarantee of a better functioning of the economy of the states and of the international financial system." The Monetary Committee has also called for "the realization of other measures to promote a major transparency of the policies of the IMF and of those of its members states";
Considered:
That, the realization of rules, internationally recognized, of easy application in the most speculative and crucial sectors, would allow better economic results;
That, we could deal with this situation only by convoking a new conference at the level of heads of State and Government like the one which took place in Bretton Woods in 1944, with the aim to create a new international monetary system and to take all the necessary measures to eliminate the "speculative bubble," such as: rules for the control of the currencies' exchange rates, by introducing fixed parities, which could be modified only through the decisions of the sovereign governments, and analysis of the exchange-rate conditions of the economies of the emerging countries; analysis of the emerging market crises; forms of control of the capital movements; the introduction of measures like the Tobin Tax, aiming to limit the speculative operations like the derivative transactions; the creation of new credit lines explicitly oriented towards investments in the sectors of the real economy; the definition of great infrastructure projects of continental dimension; the participation of the private sector in the prevention and solution of the crises;
That, various countries are compelled to adapt themselves to a system characterized by floating exchange rates and that the strong instability and the seriously dangerous desequilibria of the exchange rates of the strong currencies constitute a reason of preoccupation, particularly for the small economies based on the export of raw materials;
Considered:
That, it is indispensable to take into consideration the repercussions of the macroeconomic and structural policies followed by the countries with strong currencies;
That, strong fluctuations of the exchange rates of the small and middle size open economies risk to have a high economic cost, mainly for the weak currencies and the poorest countries;
That, in the context of the present situation it is useful to evaluate not only the advantages coming from the liberalization of the movements of capitals, but also the risks that such a globalization represents;
That, the experience of the recent crises confirms that the coherence of the macroeconomic policy and of the policy of the currencies exchanges, the good administration of the debts and an efficient control of the financial systems are indispensable elements to reduce the frequency and the gravity of the same crises;
Binds the Government:
To adopt concrete measures to contribute to the stability of the international financial system and to assure a rational sharing of the benefits which the world open economy could provide, above all for the developing countries, besides assuring the adjustments of the monetary policies;
To undertake in particular the initiative to propose the convocation of a new international conference at the level of heads of States and Governments, similar to the one organized at Bretton Woods in 1944, with the aim to create a new international monetary system and to take all the measures necessary to eliminate the mechanisms which led to the formation of the speculative bubble and to promote programs to restart the real economy;
To bring this proposal to the Strasburg Parliament, the European Commission and to all the institutions of the European Union responsible for the EU economic policies, and through bilateral agreements, in the individual European governments and parliaments.
