Subsidizing Stalinism.In the 1930s, Joseph Stalin launched one of history's largest campaigns of mass murder in an attempt to collectivize col·lec·tiv·ize tr.v. col·lec·tiv·ized, col·lec·tiv·iz·ing, col·lec·tiv·iz·es To organize (an economy, industry, or enterprise) on the basis of collectivism. agriculture in the Ukraine. Today, an un-Soviet Ukraine is blessed with struggling private farm plots, which make up only 15 percent of the farmland but provide over one third of agricultural production. But the U.S. government's Export-Import Bank Export-import Bank (Ex-IM Bank) The U.S. federal government agency that extends trade credits to U.S. companies to facilitate the financing of U.S. exports. is busy propping up the collectivist col·lec·tiv·ism n. The principles or system of ownership and control of the means of production and distribution by the people collectively, usually under the supervision of a government. farm legacy of Stalin in Ukraine. Ex-Im, as it's colloquially col·lo·qui·al adj. 1. Characteristic of or appropriate to the spoken language or to writing that seeks the effect of speech; informal. 2. Relating to conversation; conversational. known, recently underwrote a $187 million sale of John Deere farm equipment that will end up with the huge, inefficient state agriculture collectives in Ukraine. That's business as usual, says David Kramer David Kramer (born Worcester, South Africa in 1951) is a singer, songwriter, playwright and director, most notable for his musicals about the Cape Coloured communities. During Kramer's stay in Worcester he had some music lessons with the classical composer Cromwell Everson. , associate director of Russian and Eurasian studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. . Ex-Im also subsidizes sales to the Russian Ministry of Construction and other state-owned enterprises in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in addition to Russia and Ukraine. "Deals like that completely undercut efforts by other U.S. agencies to promote privatization privatization: see nationalization. privatization Transfer of government services or assets to the private sector. State-owned assets may be sold to private owners, or statutory restrictions on competition between privately and publicly owned ," Kramer complains. Kramer also pointed out, in a Washington Post op-ed piece, that Ex-Im's assertion that it is a necessary help in getting any U.S. companies into Russia falls flat. "Less than 25 percent of U.S. exports to Russia depended on Ex-Im loans and subsidies [in 1996]," he wrote. Ian Vasquez of the Cato Institute testified against reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank before a congressional committee in July. (He was the only one of nine people testifying before the Republican-run committee who objected to the bank. The majority of testimony came from officials of companies who benefit from the bank's activities.) The bank's subsidized loans represent corporate welfare to big companies, notes Vasquez - 11 of the 19 loan guarantees Ex-Im approved in 1996 in the former Soviet Union went to companies with over $1 billion in annual sales. Vasquez also notes that when the bank "provides subsidies for loans in places that wouldn't attract investment on their own, they reward governments for not reforming." |
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