The Yanks - Over-subsidised, Over-paid and Over here

A former Central Intelligence Agency economic analyst has helped to set up a Cayman Island registered partnership to take advantage of what is referred to by the directors and partners as "climate related market drivers" and "vigorous demand" for water in Australia.

Matt Dickerson is a former international economic analyst at the CIA. He is now Summit Global Management's CEO, portfolio manager and chief marketing officer. Summit has a $500 million dollar water-purchasing strategy for Australia which is to buy water entitlements from farmers hit by prolonged drought and then sell the water back to them. Where this half a billion dollar purchasing fund is coming from is anyone's guess. "We're not ready to publicise anything....It's a private fund" says the chairman of Summit's registered company in Australia. [1]

When I think CIA I tend to think of Henry Kissinger who was the trusted aid of Nelson Rockefeller. It so happens that a related Robert Rockefeller (President of the Property Council of Australia) has been heavily involved in pushing for water market reform in Tasmania for the past decade. The latter Rockefeller has successfully persuaded the State Government to seize the water assets of my local municipality without providing adequate compensation for the ongoing loss of revenue that this action entails.

When I think of Henry Kissinger I think of his close admirer - the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd has a habit of flying over to Washington on a regular basis and having "productive talks" with Mr Kissinger [2].

How strange. An Australian Labor Prime Minister meets regularly with the man who was head of an organisation responsible for overseeing the CIA. When the CIA was, in turn, involved in a coup against a former Labor Government here when that administration tried to avoid the Wall Street banking cartel and attempted to fund a national energy industry. [3]

Speaking of coups, this must be one for the creation of a perfect neoliberal 'market'. Captured buyers - we all have to consume the stuff - and there's no substitute product available. "The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously", as Kissinger has said.

The price of this water is indexed to inflation. It seems to me that there's nothing like water scarcity and water charges (the latter being a tax on food producers) to cause a general rise in prices within the economy. Higher prices, higher water charges --> higher prices --> higher water charges. And round and round it goes.

In today's new market there is no need for 'entrepreneurs' to produce anything. Nifty ways of generating revenue are found for the lucky few who have money today (the recipients of taxpayer-funded bailouts?)

Well, what can one expect these days. After all, quoting Henry K again: "foreign policy is not missionary work."

[1] Graham Dooley, Chairman of the Adelaide registered 'Summit Water Holdings' which is a subsidiary of Summit Water Development (part of Summit Global Management Incorporated). As per the article: 'US enters Aussie Market - Yanks Raid Water'. Weekly Times, 1st April 2009. Pages 1,4, 15, 16.

[2] Kevin Rudd and Henry Kissinger in 'productive' talks
Article from: Herald Sun
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24403752-661,00.html
And Rudd met Kissinger again in last week of March this year.

[3]
A Coup in Australia and the CIA
Brenda Rosser. Saturday, July 5, 2008
http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2008/07/coup-in-australia-and-cia.html
+
A conversation with the US ambassador
Brenda Rosser. Wednesday, April 15, 2009
http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2009/04/conversation-with-us-ambassador.html