Analysis
The impact of EU's economic governance on social Europe
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- Written by ETUI
New report from the European Trade Union Institute on the effect of EU economic governance on member states' social policies.
The authors of the paper demonstrate that “the austerity policies and structural reforms currently underway are not in any way linked to the euro crisis, contrary to the assertions of the great majority of national and European political leaders, but are programmed into the genes of a specific vision of monetary union.”
Sixth World Day for Decent Work to Focus on Building Workers’
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- Written by ITUC
Sixth World Day for Decent Work to Focus on Building Workers' Power
7 October 2013: From dawn in the Pacific islands to sunset on the west coast of the Americas, workers from more than 100 countries are taking part in a global day of action to demand stronger government action for economic recovery, job creation, decent working conditions and full respect for workers’ rights.
Read more: Sixth World Day for Decent Work to Focus on Building Workers’
IMF Annual Meetings: A public sector shutdown meets its master
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- Written by Bodo Ellmers/Eurodad
When the delegations arrive in Washington next week for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, they will face a situation that the citizens of IMF programme countries know all too well: The public sector has shut down due to a debt crisis and the policy response that followed. Let’s see if this helps to make the governors of the international financial architecture’s most powerful institution learn some lessons and make the right decisions.
Read more: IMF Annual Meetings: A public sector shutdown meets its master
Labour rights violations in Qatar
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- Written by ITUC
Qatar authorities have acknowledged problems with labour rights for the 1.2 million migrant workers there after the International Trade Union Confederation warned up to 4000 workers could die before a ball is kicked at the 2022 World Cup.
Fit for who's purpose?
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- Written by Civil society's reflection group on global development
The UN Secretary-General’s (SG) report “A life in dignity for all” (A/68/202) calls for a “new post-2015 era […] a new vision and a responsive framework […] a universal agenda that requires profound economic transformations and a new global partnership.” Unfortunately that new vision and the new partnerships proposed by the SG derails our ability to meet the challenges we meet today.
Misdirecting finance – who benefits?
The SG’s report fails to address the core structural and macro-economic issues that shape the means of implementation. Six multilateral banks and the International Monetary fund have offered to fill that gap. In a letter to the UN Secretary General sent last July the heads of these institutions volunteer to work on “the definition of goals and targets on poverty and equity, gender, governance, job creation, trade, and financing for development”.
Ecuador's campaign: The dirty hand of Chevron
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- Written by Sally Burch
Ecuador’s president has launched a call for people around the world to boycott Chevron products, in rejection of the company’s evasion of responsibility for oil contamination in the Amazon basin. In recent months, Chevron has targeted Ecuador with a barrage of defamatory publicity questioning the country’s legal system, in an attempt to elude the sentence under which it is ordered to pay out almost $19 billion to clean up the area and provide health care and clean drinking water for the affected population.
First ever real-terms drop in IDA agreed
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- Written by Bretton Woods Project
More than two months after International Development Association (IDA) deputies met in Managua, Nicaragua in early July, the World Bank published the summary of the discussions and decisions made. This marks the half-way point for the negotiation of the 17th replenishment round of the IDA, the process by which donor countries decide on their financial contributions to the Bank's low-income country arm for the period 2014-17.
World Bank ties strategy to poverty-fighting goals
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- Written by Anna Yukhananov/Reuters
The World Bank, faced with a tight budget and greater competition for development funds, aims to become more selective in its lending, focusing on fragile states, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and other areas where it can have the greatest impact, according to a draft strategy paper obtained by Reuters.
Read more: World Bank ties strategy to poverty-fighting goals
A living wage
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- Written by War on Want
The right to be paid a living wage is a basic entitlement of all working people the world over. A living wage ensures that working people can earn enough to meet all their daily expenses and have some discretionary income left over to invest in their own or their children’s future.
Read the report
The Vulture's Victory
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- Written by Joseph Stiglitz
A recent decision by a United States appeals court threatens to upend global sovereign-debt markets. It may even lead to the US no longer being viewed as a good place to issue sovereign debt. At the very least, it renders non-viable all debt restructurings under the standard debt contracts. In the process, a basic principle of modern capitalism – that when debtors cannot pay back creditors, a fresh start is needed – has been overturned.
