People's
Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 05
February 02, 2003
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVII No. 05 February 02, 2003 |
New
from
LeftWord
Signpost
6:
Issues
that
Matter
Enron
Blowout
Corporate
Capitalism
and
Theft
of
the
Global
Commons
Prabir
Purkayastha
and
Vijay
Prashad
In
one
of
the
most
spectacular
bankruptcies
of
our
times,
the
gas
and
energy
giant
Enron
went
bust
in
late
2001.
Many
thought
that
for
India,
this
is
the
end
of
the
Enron
story,
that
we
can
simply
get
out
of
the
disastrous
Dabhol
deal.
They
are
wrong.
Did
Enron,
touted
as
a
leading
foreign
direct
investment
(FDI)
case,
bring
any
capital
into
the
project
at
all?
What
were
the
‘errors’
in
the
contract,
and
how
did
each
one
of
those
errors
benefit
Enron?
Why
did
Enron
power,
which
was
supposed
to
cost
MSEB
Rs
2.40
per
unit,
finally
cost
Rs
7.20?
What
has
been
the
experience
of
privatisation
in
the
power
sector
in
the
rest
of
the
world?
Are
Enron’s
sleazy
business
practices
merely
the
result
of
the
greed
of
a
few
corporate
bosses?
How
did
a
company
founded
only
in
1986
become,
by
2000,
a
global
giant
claiming
more
than
$100
billion
in
revenues?
What
ties
bind
the
Bushes
---
the
father
George
H,
along
with
sons
George
W,
Marvin,
Neil
and
Jeb
---
and,
indeed
many
others
among
the
high
and
mighty
in
Washington,
to
Enron?
Power
expert
Prabir
Purkayastha
and
commentator
Vijay
Prashad
investigate
Enron
in
India,
as
well
as
Enron’s
global
adventures.
The
authors
show
privatisation
to
be
what
it
really
is:
theft
of
the
commons
by
global
corporations
against
the
interests
of
the
planet.
Prabir
Purkayastha
is
an
engineer
and
a
science
activist
in
the
power,
telecom
and
software
sectors.
He
is
one
of
the
founding
members
of
Delhi
Science
Forum
and
its
Secretary.
Vijay
Prashad
is
Associate
Professor
and
Director
of
International
Studies,
Trinity
College,
Hartford,
CT,
USA.
ISBN
81-87496-27-4;
demy
8vo,
pp.
viii
+
112,
paperback:
Rs
75
(Rs
45.00
for
Members;
52.50
for
Associate
Members)/
$
7
($
4.20
for
Members)
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