Engineering the Global Economy

Somewhere on my hard drive, there is a diagram that shows the "innovation cycle".  I don't remember if that's what they called it, but the cycle is that as new "clean environment" technologies are developed, regulations are changed to force you to buy them - thereby creating a demand for them.  The demand then spurs further development for more technologies creating a supposedly virtuous (depending on whose pockets are being padded) cycle of innovation and clean environment. 

Those crappy curly horrible light bulbs are a classic example.  The light is so terrible that I'd rather sit in the dark than use them.  They are expensive and they have mercury in them so they can't be thrown in the trash with everything else but supposedly they are "innovative".  There was nothing wrong with the light bulbs we've been using for a hundred years.  They are cheap, environmentally sound as all components are recyclable and they provide good light.  The point is that the supply and demand model for clean technologies is completely artificial.  The demand for the new light bulbs is created by regulation rather than the need in the consumer market for a better product with the irony being that the alleged reason for the new light bulbs is protection of the environment when they are worse for the environment than the old light bulbs.   What that tells you is that it is the economy that is being engineered and the issue of the light bulbs is of secondary importance. 

Some years ago, when I was researching the Club of Rome, I found a transcript of a speech given by Alexander King at the first Holst Memorial Lecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology in Eindhoven, Netherlands in 1977.  Alexander King was both a member of the Club of Rome and the Scientific Director of the Organization for Co-operation and Economic Development (OECD).  The title of the report is:

The Role of the Engineer and the Engineering Sciences in Future Society

This report provides the background thinking for the New Economy of the global system and he talks about the role of engineers in designing the future:  

The following is an excerpt from page 8 -

[invention of the telephone]... it was during this period that the basic characteristics of engineerings began to be formulated.  Sadi Carnot, who enunciated the second law of thermodynamics expressed clearly the qualities to be expected of the engineer. 'To know how to appreciate in each case at their true value, the considerations of convenience and economy which may present themselves; know how to discern the more important from those which are only accessories; to balance them properly against each other in order to obtain the best results by the simplest means; such should be the leading characteristics'. 

Engineering has been defined as the art of applying mathematics and science to the economic use of materials and the forces of nature with judgment based on study and experience.  The term economic should be interpreted broadly in terms of the optimum use of capital, materials, energy and human skills, but with appreciation of moral, ethical and aesthetic values in the satisfaction of human needs.

That description is the essence of systems thinking and systems design. Every design decision regarding reorganization and redefining roles is based upon a cost-benefit-risk calculation.   The flaw in the thinking occurs when the engineers move into the social arena to design systems that impose external force on people to make the design work.  Appreciation for moral, ethical and aesthetic values are secondary considerations behind optimization of capital, materials, energy and human resources.  The result of using engineers for social systems is an immoral and unethical system - that is optimally efficient - a "lean, mean, killing machine".  

The tendency might be to think that because this speech was given in 1977 by a Scotsman who worked for an international organization, that his ideas are irrelevant to today.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, Alexander King was ahead of his time.  On page Page [14 (15)]  he mentions a 1971 report prepared by D.H. Brooks titled Science, Growth and Society - a New Perspective, OECD.  I looked for the report and found a report prepared by the Congressional Research Service titled Science and Technology Policymaking Primer, dated May 27, 2009 that also references the Brook's Report.


The Engineered Economy

The Swedish Triple Helix - what I called the Trojan Triangle is a key element to the engineered design of the new economic system.  The idea was to design a "center of innovation and commerce" - to facilitate the development of new, technology based products supposedly for a "clean and green environment".  At it's core, the idea is to commodify genius - which makes me laugh every time I think about it.  The following is a diagram I did a couple of years ago to show the small business bubble machine.  Each one of those small businesses supposedly is created by the spark of genius that produced a new product or service.


 

It's an engineered system.  It would be efficient and cost effective if it wasn't based on wishful thinking.  It's rather like spending your whole paycheck on lottery tickets - betting that you'll get the one with the winning number.  The truth is, that the idea of commodifying genius is simply a marketing ploy for rubes.     
 



 

 

Yesterday, the Daily Bell had an article titled, Imram Hussain on Frontier Market Investing and the UAE Tax Free Zone in which the Daily Bell interviews Hussain.

The 'tax free zone' is a Trojan Triangle in the UAE.  The idea ultimately is for all international zones in the global system to be tax free for corporations with the slaves in the surrounding area to provide everything for free to the "producers" - including electricity.  Of course nobody will come right out and say that, but the global competition is to provide the most attractive place for businesses to do business - and that means in exchange for the crappy jobs created, the slaves in the surrounding area will be working to provide gifts of production resources to the businesses.  As I said above, it is a reverse system in which people serve business rather than the other way around. 

Imram Hussaid was in the United States before and on 9/11 - shortly after which he left.  His story about the circumstances for leaving the U.S. and his beginnings in Dubai are dubious at best - but I'll let that go for the moment.    The following are excerpts from the interview:

 
 
Imran Hussain: After 9/11, I decided I wanted to return to Dubai, but it took me a year to find a job. They simply didn't appreciate my US experience. Eventually, I found something with the government of Ras Al Khaimah in the RAK Free Trade Zone.

What they hired me to do, because I spoke several languages including English, was to help companies establish their businesses and residency in the United Arab Emirates and especially Dubai. There are many advantages to doing this if you wanted to be involved in business in the Middle East.

Daily Bell: What are those?

Imran Hussain: When you set up your business properly in the UAE, you can avoid taxes so long as you are involved in international business. It is a significant advantage and many are interested in taking advantage of it. I relocated almost 1,800 companies and individuals in only four years.
---

Imran Hussain: O2 Consultant is a consultancy firm specialized in company incorporation that alleviates both income taxes and corporate tax. I should note, however, that a 5% custom duty has to be paid on import if the products are to be sold in UAE.

Daily Bell: Can I operate business from Dubai, if the company is set up in any other Emirates?

Imran Hussain: Yes, you can operate business from Dubai and open a bank account – also in Dubai, but the certificate of origin, if required, has to be obtained from the Chamber of Commerce where the company is set up, for export proposes.

---

Imran Hussain: From an investing standpoint, Cambodia is an interesting place. They were ruled directly by the army, but that is over now. Of course, it is high risk, but high reward, too. They need everything in Cambodia, everything ... Thailand is good for small business and Vietnam could be a good option.

Daily Bell: These are what you call "frontier" countries. Tell us more about frontier investing. It's not a well known concept.

Imran Hussain: Supposedly, the term was created by International Finance Corporation's Farida Khambata in 1992. It is for investing that is more aggressive than emerging markets – that is, it has more risk. Eventually, as capital flows into these countries, the liquidity goes up and the volatility goes down. But investors that are looking for high-risk, high-reward opportunities can be attracted to frontier investing because of the promise of high returns.
 


Here are some American companies "partnering with Dubai" 

Below are some links about Farida Khambata but for now, I'd like to focus on this one:

Congressional Directory - published by the Government Printing Office under the heading of International Development Associations.

 
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

    [The officers, executive directors, and alternates are the same as
those of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.]

                    INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION

President.--James D. Wolfensohn.
Executive Vice President.--Peter Lutz Woicke.
    Vice President:
        Human Resources and Administration.--Dorothy H. Berry.
        Operations.--Assaad J. Jabre.
        Portfolio and Risk Management.--Farida Khambata.
        Legal.--Carol F. Lee.
        Private Sector Development / Chief Economist.--Michael U. Klein.

 
 


The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation is a specialized agency of the United Nations.   With that kind of connection, I searched to find out about the International Finance Corporation:
 

 


http://finance.laws.com/international-finance-corporation

International Finance Corporation Role

The International Finance Corporation is a United Nations agency that directly invests in companies and guarantees loans to private investors in the global marketplace. The International Finance Corporation is affiliated with the World Bank and was created to promote a sustainable private sector through the investment in developing economies as a means to reduce poverty and improve the lives of those residing in struggling nations.
 

 

The funds delivered to such nations are typically used to benefit the nation as a whole. Through the delivery of funds, these developing economies can invest and subsequently supply their people with improved public services such as paved roads, public transportation, the establishment of business centers, and an overall improvement of the nation’s infrastructure.

- See more at: http://finance.laws.com/international-finance-corporation#sthash.2XGeVGWG.dpuf

The International Finance Corporation is a United Nations agency that directly invests in companies and guarantees loans to private investors in the global marketplace. The International Finance Corporation is affiliated with the World Bank and was created to promote a sustainable private sector through the investment in developing economies as a means to reduce poverty and improve the lives of those residing in struggling nations.

The funds delivered to such nations are typically used to benefit the nation as a whole. Through the delivery of funds, these developing economies can invest and subsequently supply their people with improved public services such as paved roads, public transportation, the establishment of business centers, and an overall improvement of the nation’s infrastructure.
 

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/290917/International-Finance-Corporation-IFC

International Finance Corporation (IFC), United Nations (UN) specialized agency affiliated with but legally separate from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). Founded in 1956 to stimulate the economic development of its members by providing capital for private enterprises, the IFC has targeted its aid toward less-developed countries and has been their largest multilateral source of private-sector equity financing and loans. The IFC is headed by a president, who also serves as president of the World Bank; governors and executive directors of the World Bank also serve at the IFC, though it has its own operational and legal staff. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., its original membership of 31 had grown to about 175 by the beginning of the 21st century.

As a point of curiosity, each of the above articles had pictures - and both pictures were from angles that revealed triangles - pyramids. 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you ready for it?   Here's the punch line.... one of the EB-5 regional centers that was soliciting foreign investment to Idaho was this one:

 

 

------------------>

"Fund the
     Frontier"

 

Another one....   the incentive to form the partnership among law enforcement in the Boise area was for the enhanced 911 system.   (Notice that Imram Hussaid worked for ATT before becoming involved in Frontier investing  (in Trojan Triangles in third world countries).  

And while you're pondering all of that, you can watch this video about Dubai.  The oil sheiks of the Middle East don't need money.  They built their tax free trade zone to draw businesses away from the United States and other countries in the developed world thereby attacking the economies of the developed world.   This is economic jihad.  And the so-called leaders of this country are so greedy and stupid or greedy and evil - take your pick - that they won't admit that the global economy isn't working and won't work because there are other means of war besides bullets and bombs.

Slaves of Dubai                     .... the future for your children and grandchildren and it's the result of engineering the global economy and our economy.

 

Vicky Davis
February 3, 2014

Additional Reading:

Farida Khambata

Frontier Markets  -  pdf on Frontier Markets
http://apps.esade.edu/facultybio/downloadDoc?fbitem=70339&tipodoc=WD1
http://valueearning.com/page/Frontier_markets.html
http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Tearsheets/Directors-and-dealings?s=BKM:LSE

http://www.marketvisual.com/d/abdaeaf3-8c54-433a-9baf-41c6b3dacc0f

Professional Responsibility:  The Role of Engineering in Society
http://www.me.utexas.edu/~srdesign/paper/

Remember Dubai?