Just another working week?

Unelected power brokers call the shots on world's workers

Billions of workers went to work this week clocking in the hours, probably thinking of the weekend, the World Cup maybe, their families or even their wage packets. For most of us it is just another week.

But on a global basis a lot is happening this week. An international conference on drugs is making the news, as is the Air France pilots strike and the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. However, in the margins of the international news are three very important events this week that will shape the world we live in and determine our economic futures in a European and global context.

Euro controllers meet


On Tuesday the full policy-making council of the European Central Bank (ECB) met in Frankfurt to plan the seemingly unstoppable drive to a single European currency. These unelected officials met to set the monetary policy of the European Union and appoint senior management staff. The ECB is set to pursue the conservative policies of the German Bundesbank on a wider European level.

The ECB's governing council has a six member directorate as well as the eleven central bank governors of the EU states joining the single currency.

There were 55 appointments to the ECB's key management staff group. 49 of the 55 came from the European Monetary Institute, another unelected part of the EU's bureaucracy. The appointments mean that other than the 26-County Central Bank governor Maurice O'Connell there are no Irish officials in the senior management of the European Central Bank.

The Dublin Government does have two officials in the 55 staff appointed yesterday, but none in the top 23 executive management positions. The positions are not given out proportionately to each member state.

An Phoblacht was told by a Department of Finance spokesperson that the appointments were an internal matter for the ECB, and had been agreed by the Irish Government as part of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. It seems yet another case where we didn't study the small print before signing up.

Wall Street waits


As An Phoblacht goes to print, Alan Greenspan, the chairperson of the US Federal Reserve (effectively the US central bank) is set to address the Joint Congressional Economic Committee. Greenspan is another unelected official who has economic powers that surpass the elected Congress and even the US President.

In December 1996 Greenspan's comments that there was an ``irrational exuberance'' in Wall Street's financial markets caused a slump in the market. Greenspan's comments this time around could have similar effects on US financial markets. Most of the US multinationals sited in Ireland view their US share values as a barometer of their economic health. Already this year Intel and Compaq have announced cuts in output.

If Greenspan decides the US economy is overheating he can raise interest rates; this leads to a decrease in investment. For US firms this disinvestment usually means cutbacks in their foreign operations first. Whatever the outcome of Greenspan's address one thing is clear: Irish and US workers have no say in determining Greenspan's actions.

Bundesbank rules

     
It seems that the Germans do not have the same problem the Dublin Government has when getting top level appointments in the ECB
The third decision-taking event of the week is the fortnightly meeting of the Bundesbank Central Council. The power of the Bundesbank in determining monetary and economic policy across the EU is well documented. Already this week we have seen the appointment of Manfred Korber, the Bundesbank's external relations director, to the same position in the ECB. It seems that the Germans do not have the same problem the Dublin Government has when getting top level appointments in the ECB.

The Financial Times described the appointments of Bundesbank personnel to the ECB as reflecting ``the Bundesbank's influence in the ECB and to demonstrate the continuity between the two institutions''.

It seems that the Dublin Government is not even in the running when it comes to creating continuity between themselves and EU structures. However, this did not distract them from starting the distribution of 1.3 million leaflets around the 26 Counties to prepare us for the arrival of the euro.

The leaflet introduces the eight euro coins and the seven euro notes that will be our currency in 2002. Funny enough, it does not tell households of the decisions that are being taken now by the ECB.

No, instead the government have set up a Euro Changeover Board - yes, there is such a body. Its chairperson Philip Hamell and Finance minister Charlie McCreevy posed outside the department's offices this week with oversized mockups of the euro coins.

It seems that our role and theirs is only to know what the euro looks like. We don't need to burden ourselves with the minor points of who is in charge. We just need to know that it is not us.

Sutherland's $150 million


Where do former Dublin Government and EU officials go when they finish their years of noble public service? Well, some, it seems, have found their way into quite lucrative retirement schemes. Take for example former Attorney General, EU Commissioner and Director of the World Trade Organisation Peter Sutherland.

     
Like Jack Lynch, Ray MacSharry and Garret FitzGerald, Sutherland found that on leaving public office he was welcome on the boards of Ireland's top companies
Sutherland, like many other retired Leinster House politicians, has found his way into a range of company directorships. Like Jack Lynch, Ray MacSharry and Garret FitzGerald, Sutherland found that on leaving public office he was welcome on the boards of Ireland's top companies. For three years he was chairperson of AIB, then came his appointment to the board of BP and as chairperson and managing director of Goldman Sachs.

The BP job was worth £240,000 a year to Sutherland. He also held directorships in Delta Airlines and the Swedish Wallenburgs company.

Now as Goldman Sachs, one of the worlds largest private investment banks, considers floating itself on international stock markets Sutherland stands to earn $150 million. Not bad considering he only started at Goldman Sachs in 1995. It's nice to know that working in the public service can lead to so many rewarding outcomes.