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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 25, 1983
PAGE 9
I just enjoy Mr. Armstrong so much because he's so real and
there's nothing phony about him. He tells it like it is--just
like the magazine--it's the plain truth.
R.H. (New York, NY)
I don't agree with everything Mr. Armstrong says, but I find the
gentleman extremely stimulating. It's important to keep an open
mind if one wants to grow, and it's essential to make the right
choices when one wants to make a change. I'm glad that Mr. Arm
strong is around to help me do so.
G.F. (Ormond Beach, FL)
I enjoy Mr. Armstrong's program more than all the other Sunday
morning programs because he doesn't have movie stars and a big
production--and he doesn't beg for money.
C.N. (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
My father is 83 years old and he says we should watch Mr. Arm
strong every Saturday because he's a wise man.
Mrs. C.M. (Daisey, TN)
--Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
ON THE WORLD SCENE
OIL WAR; LIBYAN THREAT; RIOTS IN INDIA The world is waiting for the second
and biggest shoe to drop in what could be the opening salvos of an oil price
war. The first shoe fell when North Sea non-OPEC producers, Britain and
Norway, cut their price approximately three dollars to around $30.50 a
barrel. This was roughly matched by Nigeria, an OPEC producer, thus gener
ating the first official split in OPEC ranks.
The big Persian Gulf producers, led by Saudi Arabia, will probably match
the cut--along with a warning that they "will not be undersold." They have
both the petroleum reserves (to increase production) and monetary reserves
(over $300 billion for only 10 million people) to win any price war. They
will thus attempt to bring other OPEC nations back into line, albeit at a
lower price. Nigeria will be a hard one to rein in.
Most experts believe that if the price settles in at not lower than $27 to
$29 a barrel, serious danger to the world economy and banking structure can
be contained. Any lower than that and there will probably be grave reper
cussions. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia (now producing less than four
million barrels a day as opposed to ten million two years ago) might be hard
put to continue funding Iraq's war against Moslem firebrand Iran.
The
Teheran government needs oil revenues, too, and would be doubly furious at
Saudi Arabia should it drive prices down and increase production, depriving
Iran of markets.
Mexico and Nigeria remain the biggest worries for international bankers.
Each $2 a barrel drop in oil revenues, unless matched by increased sales,
means a one billion dollar drop in revenues per year for hard-strapped
Mexico. The Mexican economy is already in a state of shock from a collapsed
peso and sharply rising inflation.
Industrial activity has stagnated,
especially that large segment which depends upon the U.S.A. for capital
goods and parts. There is little foreign exchange to pay for vital imports.
Mexicans are heading for the United States in record numbers in search of
work.