Rolling Stone's national editor talks econ

Greider addresses differences between different countries

The need to narrow the wage differential between American workers and equally skilled third world workers was a major part of Rolling Stone National Editor William Greider's speech on Monday in King.

About 60 students, professors, retired professors, and other interested folk attended the speech, entitled "The new Global Economy - Do people count for anything?"

Greider opened his speech with an anecdote about a Motorola semi-conductor plant that he visited in Malaysia. The plant, Greider said, was ultra-modern and employed mainly by women. The women had their own Automatic Teller Machine, which allowed them to deposit their own money in spite of their Islamic fathers' wishes that they bring all paychecks home to the family.

"There's a small revolution in there, it's disruptive and creative." Greider said. He feels this is a progressive move that "goes against the system of segregation and racism that exists." He then went on to say that these women, though doing specialized work for such a forward-thinking company, only made between $135 and $150 a month.

Greider then placed the use of cheap labor in a typical chain of production that includes testing, design and assembly, often in countries located completely apart from each other goegraphically. "That is the uniqueness of our times," Greider said, referring to the level of technology that allows such worldwide distribution. Greider referred to the chain of production as "the system."

"Wondrous as it is, [the system] is hurtling towards some historical disaster," Greider said, "not because the workers or operators of the system are evil, but because people are too caught up with the system."

"Companies must run scared," Greider said. "[They] must follow the imperatives of other companies." He said company paranoia contributes to the tremendous production capacity we have that produces more than the world can buy.

Greider then gave an estimate of world demand and capacity for the auto industry. He said that by the year 2000, the worldwide demand for automobiles would be about 60 million, while the capacity would be 90 million. "This would mean that somewhere between a fourth and a third of the world's auto industry would be redundant," Greider said.

Greider then talked about the auto industry's desire to start production in China. Auto companies, Greider said, want to trade a high-wage worker (such as an American or a Japanese) for a low-wage worker (Chinese or other thirld world native) while increasing output. He estimated that while an American auto-worker would make about $30 an hour, a Chinese auto-worker doing the same job would only make about $50 a month

Greider said that in return for allowing countries like the U.S. to produce cars in China, the Chinese want help building up their own auto-industry so that it matches the American standard 10 to 15 years from now. Greider said he has mixed feeling about this, as he likes the idea of building up the Chinese industry, but dislikes the idea of an increase in a rich company's output. "We should not shut down globalization, but we should moderate it," he said. Greider said he thinks that the national government should reassert control over private capitalism and trade to moderate the system.

Greider then pointed to some flaw-revealing events in the system, including the stock market collapse in 1987, the collapse of the Mexican economy and the Savings in Loan problems. "They all suggest a system that is sloshing this way and that," Greider said. He also said that the system is too large and ominous. "People in power are intimidated by the system."

Greider remains optimistic about the future in spite of all the problems he has identified. "One advantage we have is that we have been through it all before," Greider said, referring to his point that we have spent two-thirds of the 20th century cleaning up these kinds of problems.

Despite the problems Greider raised, he said that because of his interactions with people during his travels he remains optimistic. "The world is full of beautiful people," Greider reiterated throughout his speech, referring to such people as smart and risk-taking. "People have to grasp that we're all in this together."

Greider said he believes that economic conditions will improve in third world countries. "Third world countries will recognize that industrialization, with all its ugly sides, is their way in," he said. "America will become less rich and other countries will become less poor, and I think there's a certain justice in that."

This need to bring the bottom up is more than just moral responsibility, Greider said, it is economic survival.

Greider concluded by talking about conditions in Mexico. He said conditions are much worse than is portrayed in newspapers, with over a fifth of the population in debt.

Because of this, Greider said, the Mexicans all see immigration to the north as a safety valve, and many do immigrate to get bad jobs that will guarantee a paycheck. According to Greider, Americans view these immigrants as cheap labor, while the Mexicans see themselves losing all their best young workers.

Greider gave what he called a "possible silly solution." His notion