Analysis
Does Foreign Aid Really Work?
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- Written by Roger Riddell
A must read on the many many things we do not know about development aid ... 'from the viewpoint of aid's transformational role, on balance aid doesn't work' (Angus Deaton)
Global, European or national: on the neoliberalisation of social policies
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
In 2012, 24.8 % of the European Union population was at risk of poverty. 40.2 % of the population said it would be hard to be faced with unexpected financial expenditures. In Belgium, 21.6 % of the population is at risk of poverty, but without social allowances, this would rise to 27.8 %.[1] In other words, social protection is needed and is useful.
In all European countries political declarations on welfare states show the same pattern. Welfare states have to be come ‘efficient’ and ‘effective’, people have to take on more responsibility and have to ‘participate’, unemployment benefits are being curtailed, pensions are privatized, costs have to be reduced in health care. In many countries the focus is now on ‘child poverty’, as if children did not live in poor households …
Of course there are differences, between countries and between political parties. Right wing parties will be more willing to accept the austerity policies imposed by the European Union, while social-democratic parties will try to soften their consequences. But all in all, the philosophy of their policies is the same. And the only conclusion this leads to is that welfare states are in decline.
Read more: Global, European or national: on the neoliberalisation of social policies
How the 2009 Tax Haven Agreement Failed
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- Written by Timothy Taylor/Conversable Economist
Back in April 2009, a summit of the G20 countries agreed to lean hard on tax haven nations to sign treaties to exchange information with other countries. News stories made much of the agreement (for examples, here and here.) But what effect did the agreement actually have? Niels Johannesen and Gabriel Zucman tackle this question in "The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown," which appears in the most recent issue of American Economic Journal: Economic Policy (6:1, pp. 65–91). The journal isn't freely available on-line, but many readers will have access through library subscriptions.
Moving Beyond the Corporate Vision on Sustainability
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- Written by Rajesh Makwana / STWR
In light of ongoing global negotiations on pressing environmental issues, it’s time for efforts to curtail the excessive influence of multinational corporations over public policy to be strengthened and scaled up at all levels – especially at the United Nations.
The corporate capture of policymaking has dire implications for how we achieve sustainable development in the 21st century, and it must be strongly opposed in the coming years as deliberations on climate change and sustainable development reach important conclusions. Private sector influence over politics at the national level is already widely recognised, but the extent to which powerful industries are able to influence global negotiations on some of the world’s most pressing problems is far less reported by the media or discussed in the public sphere.
Read more: Moving Beyond the Corporate Vision on Sustainability
Crises Swamping Developing Economies
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- Written by Martin Khor / IDN
Several developing countries are now being engulfed in new economic crises as their currency and stock markets are experiencing sharp falls, and the end is not yet in sight. The “sell-off” in emerging economies has also spilled over to the American and European stock markets, thus causing global turmoil.
Countries whose currencies were affected of late include Argentina, Turkey, Russia, Brazil and Chile. A hike in interest rates by Turkey and South Africa has so far failed to stem the depreciation of their currencies. An America market analyst termed it “emerging market flu” and several global media reports tend to focus on weaknesses in individual developing countries.
Global Fight for Land Rights at Tipping Point
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- Written by Carey L. Biron/ IPS
Global trends towards a strengthening of legal rights over land for local and indigenous communities appear to have slowed significantly in recent years, leading some analysts to warn that the fight for local control over forests has reached an inflection point with a new danger of backtracking on previous progress.
Fighting Income Disparity with some basic FTC Recommendations
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- Written by Ann Hollingshead/GFI
The Financial Transparency Coalition issues play an important role in the context of global income inequality. By discouraging tax evasion and corruption among the world’s wealthy individuals and corporations, the FTC recommendations could play an important role in alleviating egregious and dangerous income disparity.
Read more: Fighting Income Disparity with some basic FTC Recommendations
The State is dead! Long live the State!
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- Written by Daniel Chavez/TNI
A very interesting article on 'the state of the State': Is the State dead as an economic player? Is corporate power in the ascendancy? It should be clear that the State is now at the centre of heated political and academic debate.
Migration as a Strategy for Household Finance
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- Written by M. Clemens and T. Ogden
Interesting article on migration, with a fresh look on remittances as a return on investment
A happier ending for IMF Reform?
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- Written by Mohamed A. El-Erian
Despite an elegant solution that involved no new commitments of resources, the US Congress has refused to take up a long-delayed funding proposal for the International Monetary Fund. In the process, it derailed a multilateral agreement that was hammered out back in 2010 – ironically, in the eyes of the rest of the world, with US President Barack Obama’s administration taking a leading role. And it did so at a time when financial disruption in emerging economies is reminding the world of the importance of a strong stabilizing anchor at the core of the international monetary system.
