Protests and hard questions for Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank in SL yesterday

Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, was grilled on SL yesterday.  SL Left Unity were at the forefront of the grilling... and put to him questions he found difficult to answer.  

Some in SLLU, as is their right, decided not to attend this event at the University of Delaware.  Some of us decided that it is always good to shout truth to power.  Lot's of the students attending the event in rl and sl were given alternative points of view not normally heard at events such as these through Lefties engaging in chat.

SLLU Activist, Siri Vita asked: “Imposition of draconian austerity measures has created economic contractions which then drive up bond yields and exacerbate the debt to GDP ratios of those nations upon which those cuts were imposed thus necessitating more cuts to be in compliance with the loan terms. Why continue to to create these economic downward spirals as a mandate to receiving loans from the world bank?

As Vice Chairman of Goldman Saachs did it ever occur to you that you were completely overleveraged in mortgage derivatives to such an extent that you nearly caused the destruction of the entire global economy?”

My questions were:

 “1. Who should pay for the loses - estimated by the IMF to be £2.3 trillion - that the banks have made since the onset of the financial crisis?

2. After the meeting in Paris in February of the finance ministers of the 20 major economies, the conclusion was to re-stimulate growth in the western economies at the expense of the developing economies. Surely this kind of strategy has been seen to be a failure with the 2008 onset of the current crisis of capitalism? Should we not be trying to move to a model of sustainable societies rather than consumer consumption and re-distribute the world’s wealth by turning the “bad” loans made by banks into social rents turning asset prices that are falling below the value of the loan made against it into a stream of rental income and assets owned by society – which ensure peoples needs are met? Do you not think THIS strategy would create millions of jobs world wide and cultural riches?”

Another ex- employee of Goldman Sachs, the Left Banker gave better answers than this representative, and indeed protector of the capitalist class.

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