Oil producers have us over a barrel

Lifestyle
A Fortnightly Column
THE recent publication of proposals for greatly increased co-operation between rich and poor countries came at a lime when events elsewhere were helping to ensure the development of precisely opposite trends.
The proposals came from the so-called Brandt Commission — politicians, academics and various experts in international development. It was set up on the initiative of the President of the World Bank, Robert McNamara, to investigate ways of bringing rich and poor closer together, after the oil price rises of the early 70s.
Its main recommendations involved considerable increases in foreign aid offered by rich, agreements On changing the world monetary system, inrpoving energy supplies, and aiding industrialisation in the third world, and the holding of a major international summit on problems of world do.,ielopment.
Meanwhile in Venezuela, the leaders of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries were discussing a new pricing policy — discussions overshadowed hy substantial rises announced by several memher states prior to the meeting.
The net effect will be further oil price increases with the full impact becoming obvious in the new year. It also emphasised the continuing power of the oil producers.
• Ibis means that the industrialised countries are exerting less and less influence, precisely the situation the Brandt commission:, iv as intended to examine but the effect of this loss o power is that the rich countries are highly unlikely to accept any of the conimission's recommendations.
The fact is that throughout the rich world attitudes to world deielopmeni and the problems of the poor are hardening. And the richer they are the more selfish they become.
There seem to be just two was out. One is that concerted action by "people of goodwill" might prevent attitudes hardening further, and may even persuade the rich that a lifestyle based on the exploitation of others is hardly human. The alternative is of a world sinking into greater recession and disorder until international instability — and with it violence — reaches such extremes that the rich realise a world rooted in injust;ce is not sustainable.
We have to work for the former, hut time is hardly on our side and it seems increasingly likely that we will have to travel an uncomfortably long way along the second path before we come to our sense.
Paul Rogers