Alternative Perspective
 Issue 17, January 22, 2003
 Compiled by Madhukar Shukla

Introduction: Alternative Perspective is an attempt to widen our awareness about issues related to business, environment, role and influence of media, geo-politics, culture, etc. It aims to share, on a regular basis, some of those pieces of news and information, which do not find place in the highly monopolised mainstream media. Please feel free to share/ forward/ distribute this newsletter to others who may be interested.



Note: The URLs of sources used in the text are numbered and given at the end of the Newsletter.

In This Issue:
  • Grameen Bank of Bangladesh
     One may call it an "Institution for Self-Reliance" or - as its founder prefers to label it - "a Socially Conscious Capitalist Enterprise". But Grameen Bank[1] is a banking institution (the largest lending institution in Bangladesh, with more than 1,175 branches covering 41,000 - 60% - villages in Bangladesh) which defies the logic of profit making of large banks. With 2.4 million small borrowers, who borrow small sums to set up radio repair shop, husk rice, make ice-cream sticks, etc., for 400 different kind of businesses, it would be a commercial banker's nightmare. And yet, it makes profits on $1bn loans it gives, and though it does not ask for collaterals, its repayment rate is 97% (equivalent to Chase Manhattan)... read on;-))
    http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/95dec/grameen/grameen.htm

  • John le Carre on "War on Iraq"
    Here is a straight-forward outburst from le Carre - the diplomat turned novelist and became the "Spy Who Came in from the Cold". But then, he is not the only one who has views different from George Bush and the war hawks - along with Harry Belafonte, Paul Krugman and Woody Harrelson (covered in an earlier issue of the Newsletter[2]), he is in good company of people such as Salman Rushdie, Gunter Grass, etc.[3]
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-5124-543760,00.html

  • Let a Thousand Growth Models Bloom
    The present dominant theory of economic growth revolves around the "Washington Consensus" - viz, economic development requires opening of the markets, attracting foreign investments/ technology, and "good" governance. The historical evidence of developing economies, however, is pretty equivocal about what spurs economic development. Compare the growth of Latin American countries (which openly opted for the open market economy model) with the growth of countries such as China, Taiwan, Korea, etc. Apparently - as this article shows- it is not just the economic principles, but also how they mesh with local institutions, which stimulates growth.
    http://www.project-syndicate.org/series/series_text.php4?id=847

  • Who Wants a War? - 1
    Over past months, the question "Will there be a war in Iraq?" has gradually become "When will there be a war in Iraq?". Parallel to this, also during the past months, protests against a war in Iraq has also become eloquent and frequent. The anti-war protests and marches have spread not just in US[4], but also around the world, e.g.:
    -Canada[5] -Italy[6] -Japan[7] -Pakistan[8] -United Kingdom[9] -Bahrain[10]...
    ...and many more countries[11]. Given that there are no Pro-War rallies, it is worth asking: So who wants a war???
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/print/0,1478,2202511a12,00.html

  • Who Wants a War? - 2
    A revealing list of 130 military "interventions" made by USA during last 110 years!!! - [12].The details of many of these interventions (taken from a book entitled The Rogue State) also highlight that these interventions were, in fact, acts of aggression, and in direct contravention to the International Law and Human Rights Doctrine.
    http://raceandhistory.com/selfnews/printnews.cgi?newsid1038075184,75979,.shtml


    Other Sources Quoted in the Newsletter:
    [1] : http://www.grameen-info.org/bank/index.html
    [2] : http://www.geocities.com/madhukar_shukla/alt/005.html
    [3] : http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article.jsp?id=2&debateId=88&articleId=882
    [4] : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11722-2003Jan18.html
    [5] : http://tinyurl.com/4p1x
    [6] : http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021005-022012-6259r
    [7] : http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=D53F8C96-FEE0-4220-9CFC297D246B248A#
    [8] : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2671635.stm
    [9] : http://www.canoe.ca/LondonNews/lf.lf-01-19-0003.html
    [10]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2669611.stm
    [11]: http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=15253
    [12]: http://uscrusade.com/newsupdate/viewnews.cgi?newsid1003971882,36876,.shtml


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