Class Notes

10.23.02

by: Tricia Domschke

Business:
1. First Version of term paper due Friday
2. Resource Report #2 handed back today. A couple of reports are missing, but they are all recorded, so don’t worry!
3. Everyone needs to check their email consistently for important information
Movie:
• Marilyn Waring, female member of New Zealand Parliament
• Feminist economist who explores diverse methods of economic participation, which are often overlooked
• She says that economics has pretensions of being concerned with notions of value; however, the definition of value is to be strong and worthy, it has nothing to do with capital or material concepts.
• The National economy doesn’t have a divot, as long as currency passes through, it is considered a growth.
-Even the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill was referred to as a fantastic growth because of insurance costs, a new tanker, civil and criminal law proceedings, clean-up payment, and compensations for fishers and tourists.
• Most economists are incomprehensible, but she tries not to be. She wants people to understand because if they have the information, then they can act on it.
• In 1972, she put her name in for the New Zealand Parliament, not expecting to be chosen, but she was in chosen for the safe seat. She wanted women to be in office, but she didn’t want to be the one-she wanted to be a classical musician.
• People began to call her a radical feminist, even though she was not being radical whatsoever. In addition, she was the youngest member of the house, and took a great interest in women’s interests.
• When she would travel around, she would ask to be introduced to women her age, then she would talk to the women, recording their conversations and taking photographs to remember her experience.
• In Kenya, she had a woman explain her typical day, which seemed to cover every possible task anyone could do in a day. So then she asked jokingly, “What do the men do?”
-A man responded and said that his day is quite hard, full of supervision of women and children, and thinking about what he can make them do.
• Marilyn found that although people, like mothers, do lots of work, they are seen as unproductive by economists because they are not generating revenue. However, a highly trained military gentleman occupied a job where he basically waited around all day until he received orders to fire a missile, but he is paid, so his position is seen as economically active, adding value to the Nation’s growth, wealth, and productivity.
• After a new election, another lady, Catherine O’Reagan took over Marilyn’s Parliamentary Seat, allowing her to unscramble codes of global economics.
• She came to New York and researched at the UN Library.
• She found that work of non-primary producers (like housewives) is of little or no importance macroeconomically since it is unpaid work.
• She noticed that the distortions between real life and the economy are extreme after reading the UN System of National Accounts, which has and affects decision on tax dollars, environmental issues, and who lives and dies.
• She talked with many economists about the role of housewives in the economy, and they said that if there is not money involved, if there isn’t a price, it is not measurable, which leaves women’s very productive work out of National Accounts.
• The UN System of National Accounts includes everything that goes through the market place and has cash generating ability.
• The system notices no value on anything but money, which also means that there is no value on peace, preservation of environment, or unpaid work, according to Marilyn.
• The System leaves out the work of one half the planet, and even the planet itself.
• The International Trade of Arms is the biggest growth in the industry.
-5 members of Security Council are also the 5 leading arms exporters
-They are very valuable to the economy, but it is also endangering people and even taking their lives
-death caused by these weapons is not considered a deficit
-It is in the best interests of the world’s leading arms exporters that there is always a war going on somewhere.
• Children in the Philippines do not get to play; instead, they have to fish things out of a disease-ridden river in order to either use them or sell them for something else.
• Women have to provide for their children, which is on an average, 8 per family.
-There are no birth control methods available to them, and they are in charge of providing because the men only work sporadic jobs
-These women do not generate income, so they are not included in the economic scheme despite the fact that they are working hard to grow food crops, raise animals, and raise their children
• 70% of women and girls in Thailand are infected with the HIV virus because the only means of income for them is to sell themselves in sexual slavery
-Although sexual slavery is an illegal activity, it is still valuable to economists because they are generating income
• Marilyn says in one of her lectures that there are jobs everywhere, look at the business section of the newspaper, be anything you are interested in being, just not something with the word home or house in it because otherwise its not considered valuable

by: Tracy Nguyen
--Please read the email that Dr. McBride sent out on 10/22/02
--folder for Resource Report 2 was passed around
--couple of Resource Report 2s are missing, so see Dr. McBride if you did
not get yours. There's nothing to worry about because they are just probably
misplaced. Dr. McBride has noted which people have turned in Resource Report
2, so don't panic.
Movie watched: Who's Counting? Based on the book If Women Counted
Author: Marilyn Waring
--Marilyn Waring is a feminist economist, who is also a trained opera singer.
--She argues that those economically inactive do not necessarily mean they are not active participants in the community.
--shows that fantastic growth=personal debit, loss (ie: an oil tanker wreck produces a long chain of events that will ultimately contribute positively to the economy, money-wise. However, Waring is concentrating more on personal effects rather than economic effects.)
--Waring demystifies language--though "good for economy" = GDP increased, but it does not tell us about the distribution of poverty, education or health. Just because the GDP (money-wise) status of the economy is good, the actual state of poverty etc. does not necessarily follow this trend.
--Waring was also voted as a female member of the 38th Parliament in New Zealand
--Many call her a radical feminist, but this mainly is the perception because she is surrounded by mostly white, conservative males. Therefore, her arguments really do not seem radical in the context of what the land has to actually offer.
--In Parliament, one of her main objectives was to advance the voices of women and youth.
--She presents a no nonsense approach when criticizing the government.
--She believes that the Parliament is under rules that are too constricting, but through her travels, she sees that these rules apply to governments everywhere. Examples of those who are labelled economically inactive, but as one can see, these roles do not directly correlate to their role socially in their families.
--Example 1: tribe
* When asked what women do, the response was a long detailed list. For example, walk 5 miles to get water every morning, cook food, collect firewood, tend cows and goats, and make sure the children are taken care of.
* Men's day consisted only of supervising the women and children.
--Example 2: housewife and husband
* Though she her status is economically inactive because she does not make money for the economy, her role is to do everything concerning household chores.
* Her husband, on the other hand, is a trained military professional. His economically active status contributes to nuclear machines. Compared to his wife, he does not do any household chores, rather focusing on training.
--Waring finds a paragraph in the rules governing the UN system of accounts, stating the work of non-primary producers (ie: housewives) is of "little or no importance" though they raise the future.
--Waring talks about women in the economic system. Government takes monetary account of economy as basis of measurement leaving women's work out of the national accounts, an enormous production of work for growth of economy that doesn't get counted.
--UN account system pertains to all those who want to be in the UN. This system recognizes no value other than money regardless of how the money is made.
--There is no value to peace, reservation of national resources, or unpaid work (child care), leaving out half the work of the planet.
--Waring is not a fan of war, but the economy is.
*International trade and Arms accounts for the largest growth factor. Killing people or preparing to kill them is incredibly important to this system. Death and homelessness are not considered by these growth factors.
--Those that are impoverished (ie from movie: Phillippines)rely on subsistence agriculture. This doesn't involve the exchange of money, but insures that a child will eat.Main idea: Though economic effects are important in providing a good economy, people must also be aware of the personal effects (possibly negative) that
also suffer because of it.