Former UN chief hopes no one wants to attack Iran

Kofi Annan, the former secretary general of the United Nations, said today he is hoping no one is contemplating military action against Iran.


He is also asking Iran to allow weapons inspectors in.

It's a bit early to speculate about whether anyone (i.e., the U.S. or Israel) is contemplating military action against Iran, but the country is enriching uranium, which raises questions as to whether its leaders are honest in their claim they only want it to produce electricity.

American leaders have consistently said they want to pursue diplomacy with Iran, but the last time they had diplomatic relations with the country, its diplomats were taken hostage. The hostage-takers included the current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and this raises questions as to how seriously Iran’s government takes diplomacy.


Despite Ahmadinejad’s bombastic statements about wiping Israel off the map, it should be noted the Iranian president does not full control over the country’s security forces. That power is held by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei. But reactionaries dominated the country’s election earlier this week, because reform-minded candidates were shut out.

The big question for Mr. Annan is, if Ahmadinejad gets totally out of control, will the supreme leader reign him in? Or will someone else have to?

Yeah, let’s encourage people to borrow money

The U.S. Federal Reserve has cut its overnight lending rate to 2.25 per cent, a move that encouraged investors to buy stocks today.


Since August, the U.S. economy has been affected by the subprime mortgage crisis. which is really only a crisis for people who can’t afford to pay mortgages and for those who lent them money.

This is oversimplifying things, of course. With more than a million homeowners foreclosing in the U.S., and with some Canadian brokerages selling asset backed commercial paper (the paper being backed by assets like homes which have plummeted in price), this may spill over into the Canadian economy, despite the fact that Ontario’s recent employment figures indicate a net increase in jobs.

In addition to the rate cut, the Federal Reserve also backed $30 billion in loans at Bear Stearns, which was acquired over the weekend by JP Morgan, for a price lower than the value of Bear Stearns’ New York office.


So, how does the U.S. handle a debt crisis? By encouraging people to borrow more. Huh?

Former Ontario premier runs for federal office

Canadians in four federal ridings go to the polls today in byelections to vote for their members of parliament.

One of the Liberal party candidates is Bob Rae, who was premier of the province of Ontario from 1990 until 1995, when he was in the New Democratic Party. Rae was faced with a tough reality check during the early 90s, when an economic recession resulted in a drop in revenues. Although the NDP tends to view balanced budgets as a nefarious capitalist plot to siphon money from the poor into the pockets of the filthy rich, even Rae had to face the fact that money doesn’t grow on trees.

In early 1993, his government passed the Social Contract Act. One of its provisions was one of the best decisions ever made by a politician in Canada. In an effort to cut spending by $2 billion while protecting jobs, the Ontario government gave some public workers 12 unpaid days of leave. Instead of eliminating positions (and throwing people out of work) or just carrying on spending money in the face of collapsing revenues, Rae reduced salaries. Not surprisingly, the public sector unions went ballistic, and referred derisively to their unpaid leave as “Rae days.” The unions proceeded to cut off their noses to spite their faces, turning on Rae during the 1995 election, which he lost to the Conservatives.

After his rude shock facing reality, Rae is now with the Liberal party. If he wins in Toronto Centre, it will be interesting to see how he wields his power at the federal level.