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Nigeria: American Financial Crisis And the Death of Capitalism

Kabiru Danladi

15 November 2008

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opinion

I have to admit that apart from my problem in putting things the way they should be my other problem is giving my essay a title. Therefore, when the idea of writing this piece came up I spent a week thinking of a suitable title that can capture my intent. No title is new on this subject; so much is written on the subject that it will be difficult to give it a title without using someone else's title. But I have decided to borrow from other writers and commentators to come up with the above caption.

After two centuries of being a world super power, recent events point to the fall of the greatest super power in the history of the modern world - the American Empire. Writing in his Foundation stories to show that every Empire, even the most powerful one, has to fall eventually, Isaac Asimov, a Russian commentator said that everyone knows that America achieved its peak power and world influence in the twentieth century. But how much longer is it going to last?

It is very hard to predict what will happen in the next few years, basically because we still have little knowledge of what is happening inside the country. The only thing that came to us is what is sieved through their powerful media and the media help a lot to hide the realities on ground. But, as Asimov observed, there are certain signs that may give early hints that the end is approaching. One of them is the recent financial crisis that hit the country. Today the father and mother of modern capitalism is making provision for 'intervention' to save their financial market from shrinking further.

But from all indications these intervention as sweet as they sound are doing nothing to save the country. Repeated attempts brought failure after failure in spite of closely following blueprints put together by the best brains from Harvard, Oxford and London School of Economics and Political Science. Asimov wrote in his Foundation Stories 'I knew that this time the funeral march is being played for the most powerful country on earth - the United States of America...'

Today, as I am writing this piece the United States of America has a debt of over $10,266 trillion. And they collect close to $3 billion daily to finance their senseless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. America, in reality, is dependent on foreign debt to finance itself. Robert Kuttner, a newspaper columnist and commentator, wrote in his book sometime in 2007, The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity, explaining the above situation. Kuttner notes that the devaluation of the dollar, which reached a humiliating low during the time of George Bush (jnr) until now, and the deterioration of moral values in the economic sphere are what led to the present havoc we see in the US financial market.

According to Kuttner, the war in Iraq resulted in the destruction of democracy and the rule of law upon which the foundation of the American nation was laid. Although there are several factors that caused the deterioration of US status in the world, most analysts agree that the war in Iraq was the straw that broke the camel's back. The invasion of Iraq remains the greatest blunder and miscalculation orchestrated by the neo-cons, thinking that in a matter of few weeks they can get hold of Iraq's oil to compensate their loss in Afghanistan.

Although most commentators attributed past American presidents for the deterioration of America's status, many call Bush Junior's presidency as the most disastrous in America's history. In the next few weeks Bush Junior will be leaving the White House after breaking his promises to the American people and blundering to historic proportions. It is a fact that the country is fighting three wars: one in Iraq, the second against the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, and the third in the economy. The war in Iraq has depleted the US budget, divided America like no other war and with no prospective end, and alienated old friends while creating new enemies in Muslim countries who view America even before the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, with disdain.

Decision wrongly taken by George Bush after the September 11, 2001 attack on World Trade Centre, by invading Afghanistan and the official lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, has been the main reason for the current financial crisis. You don't have to be economist to argue that out. It is a bitter truth that they won't accept. It was said over and over by defence analysts and public commentators, how billions of dollars were budgeted for the war and still put forward by George Bush so many times to fight insurgence in Iraq. And up to this day there are no indications as to when this war will come to an end. Bush has dragged America into the cemetery to satisfy his family's interest of having a hold on Iraq's oil which Saddam denied them for over 10 years.

It is not my intention to suggest ways to 'bail' America out of its present mess because back home here in Nigeria we have enough to worry about. But there is a lesson to be learnt from all this turmoil in the current financial market, especially to our small Harvard economics graduates who made us believe that the only way to development is through following economic policies of the IMF/World Bank.

We attended university during a time of transition - the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of Soviet Union at a time when the New World Order was introduced and capitalism became the only acceptable system. Books, journals and all write-ups on socialism were systematically removed from library shelves. We were left with no thought of our own, nobody can think beyond his nose. Then terms and concepts like liberalization, privatization, market economy etc became catch words and phrases even among intellectuals and academics.

Can anyone from the liberal school come and explain to me in a convincing essay why the financial market crumbled? I know some may try because they are very good in inventing concept, which is why words like 'intervention', 'bail out', started becoming prominent in news every day, something we were told during our school days is prohibited in capitalism. Why are they intervening now?

That is why it is very good to have your own economic policy that will suit your socio-cultural background, not the one invented and nurtured by people whose sole aim is to satisfy their own interest not yours.

Danladi writes from Gombe

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