'Globalisation coined to coverup capitalism and imperialism'

INDORE: Speaking in a programme 'Urbanisation in the Era of Globalisation' few days ago in Indore, a well-known activist Anil Chaudhary said that globalisation was just a term invented to cover capitalism and imperialism in the sense these words do not sound good. The programme was organised in Press Club, Indore.
He said infrastructure development, a task carried out by governments since the beginning of the capitalist system, was being handed over to the private sector in a bid to bolster faltering markets.
Earlier, Chaudhary declared that troubles were an inherent part of the capitalist system. Traditionally, he said, three methods have been used to tide over these troubles, one, scouting fresh markets, two, make profit from new heads and three, change currency and banking policies to keep the market forces alive.
Both the World Wars were fought to capture new markets, declared Chaudhary. Post-'91, with former Soviet bloc countries and China opening up their economies, there was little chance of creating new markets, he pointed out. This, then, left two options, making profits from new heads he cited as an instance of how this was being done. Chaudhary, who was involved in student politics in his days at JNU in the '70's, gave an involved explanation of how the banking and currency system had and was being tweaked to benefit market forces.
"Those of you who are as old as I am may remember being told that currency was linked to gold. But this stopped happening in '45 when a group of countries decided to use the (US) dollar instead of gold," he said.
The currency chickens, however, came to roost in '71 when French president Charles De Gaulle decided to test the claims. "He sought gold in return for dollars but America refused. Since then currency is based on supply and demand." That's why the rupee keeps fluctuating vis-à-vis the dollar, he added.
Chaudhary said the growing penchant for giving out consumer durables on instalments was an indicator of the weakening of the market. "Once they've sold a motorcycle to everyone who can afford it for Rs 40,000, companies offer buyers a chance to drive out of the showroom after paying only Rs 990," said the activist.
He also detailed how the credit reserve rate (CRR) was being used to create a "currency that is invisible and formless and is found only in bank ledgers".
Elaborating, Chaudhary said banks were permitted to loan the entire amount deposited by a customer, barring five per cent. So, supposing A deposited Rs 10,000 the bank loaned 95 per cent of this to B who deposited the cheque for the loan amount in the bank, which again after keeping 5 per cent, loaned the rest to C and so on and so forth.
In this way an actual amount of Rs 10,000 becomes many times that number creating a formless and invisible currency.