Loose cannons

Dictatorship nostalgia

"I often hear investors lamenting the good old days — when policy was predictable and you knew who to talk with to fix a problem." — World Bank country director for Indonesia, Mark Baird, on why it is "unreasonable" to expect economic policy to be implemented as smoothly as it was under President Suharto, Jakarta Post, June 27.

Adventures

"I don't think the military adventures that they're seeking for us to fund are reasonable ... They're going to lead us to a Bay of Goats, or something like that." — General Anthony Zinni, commander of US forces in the Persian Gulf, on requests for military assistance from Iraqi opponents of Saddam Hussein.

Business before gestures

"It was a business transaction and not just a good-will gesture." — John Gustaveson, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola in South Korea, explaining that the company had been paid for a "symbolic" shipment to North Korea at the time of last month's Korean summit.

Prevention doesn't pay

"Once you get sick, we'll do a good job for you. But we're not very good at keeping you healthy." — Gerard Anderson, professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, on the US health system.

From GLW issue 411