Analysis
G20 focus on jobs but leaders distracted in summit fraught with political tensions
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- Written by ITUC
While the Syria crisis dominated much of the G20 discussion, the leaders’ statement takes positive steps towards recognising the dangers of a social crisis driven by unemployment, inequality and exclusion. However, while the focus from the G20 is on long-term solutions, the risk is that short-term action will be missing.
The ITUC Global Poll 2013 finds the world in the midst of a social and political crisis to add to economic woes:
Read more: G20 focus on jobs but leaders distracted in summit fraught with political tensions
What do World Bank, IMF really do for needy countries? Add Poverty!
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- Written by Jo Erickson/MintPressNews
Coming in with their guns, breaking down people’s doors, throwing my blankets and pans into the road and pulling my roof down, that’s what is happening here. They want us gone,” said Abdellahi, an Ethiopian farmer who was forcibly driven from his land by soldiers to make way for a World Bank $2 billion program that will hand over his farming land to companies like the international Karuturi Global Ltd (KARG) .
The Western world has often been criticized for the lack of political will to provide developing countries with aid. In the past, the U.S. and the European Union have had a policy of giving financial bank loan aid to developing countries, who will struggle to make payments on just the interest of their loan, and then are often forced to refinance the loan with the World Bank annually.
Read more: What do World Bank, IMF really do for needy countries? Add Poverty!
Why does Austerity Fail?
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- Written by Martin S. Edwards
Bureaucracies become influential through their expertise. A recent IMF working paper raises questions about the value of its expertise. Entitled “Assessing the Impact and Phasing of Multi-year Fiscal Adjustment: A General Framework” the paper develops a model of the effects of different approaches to fiscal adjustment to help Fund staff develop better lending programs. This paper also underscores the limits of the existing intellectual approach to austerity, which relies solely on economics to overcome what are essentially political problems.
After the G8: the absence of will
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- Written by J. Stead/Christian Aid
The 10-point Lough Erne communique contained 13 uses of the word ‘should’ and not a single use of the word ‘will’. Perhaps David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister, was hoping that no-one would notice the difference and that the British public anger about tax dodging would be satisfied without any actual action. A new poll commissioned by Christian Aid shows that that gamble has failed and that the British public remain as angry, if not more so, than before the G8.
When a previous poll was undertaken in February, 80% of the public were angry about tax dodging, and 34% were boycotting products because of companies’ tax practices. The same percentage are still boycotting products – and 84% are now angry.
Financing the Global Sharing Economy
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- Written by Sharing the World's Resources
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A report by Share The World’s Resources demonstrates how governments could mobilise over $2.8 trillion each year to bolster the global sharing economy and prevent life-threatening deprivation, reverse austerity measures and mitigate the human impacts of climate change. Read the report |
Increasing [Amicable] Cooperation On Offshore Tax Evasion
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- Written by Ann Hollingshead/GFI
There is an old proverb that goes something like this: “one finger cannot lift a pebble.” And while reducing cross-border tax evasion is not like lifting pebble—it’s more like hauling a boulder—it is true that it cannot be achieved unilaterally. No single country can stop, stem, or slow offshore tax evasion by its own citizens without the help of at least one other nation. This is true by definition.
Historically much of the bilateral cooperation on tax evasion has been less than amicable. That is changing. Increasingly, we are seeing that the cooperation in matters of tax between nations—particularly wealthy ones—is neither begrudging nor forced. These nations are not just cooperating to stem tax evasion abroad; they are doing so willingly and proactively.
Read more: Increasing [Amicable] Cooperation On Offshore Tax Evasion
Norway Sets Example in Audit of Poor Countries’ Debts
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- Written by Carey L. Biron
Anti-poverty campaigners are celebrating the Norwegian government’s release of an external audit of all outstanding public debts it is owed by developing countries, the first time any country has undertaken such a process.
The investigation, by the international financial services company Deloitte, was conducted on aid packages offered by the Norwegian government to developing countries since the 1970s. Auditors were tasked with studying whether the deals, mostly concessional trade agreements, complied with past and present national guidelines as well as with newly established international principles.
“The Norwegians clearly wanted to put out a test case that could be taken seriously." -- Eric LeCompte of Jubilee USA
Read more: Norway Sets Example in Audit of Poor Countries’ Debts
Change is coming to the World Bank ... or is it?
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- Written by Michael Igoe/Devex
Employees are anxiously awaiting what happens next as President Jim Yong Kim’s World Bank reform agenda moves from a flurry of proposals down an uncertain path toward implementation.
Already, 43 reform proposals submitted by staff working groups have caused internal message boards to light up with anonymous comments that run the gamut from enthusiastic support to deep skepticism. The rampant speculation is testing the leadership’s ability to manage employee expectations.
Ghana loses $4.9b in extractive industry within 38 years
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- Written by Ghana Business News
Ghana lost a whopping $4.9 billion through illicit financial flows from 1970 to 2008 in the extractive sector.
According to the Global Financial Integrity Report, this included loss of revenue from resource taxes.
Read more: Ghana loses $4.9b in extractive industry within 38 years
Yes, we eventually all have begging rights ...
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- Written by Claudio Schuftan
-What ever happened to the maxim “to each according to her needs?”
-He who has, fears losing privileges; he who does not have, aspires to have opportunities; that is the dialectics of hard reality. (L. Boff)
1. What the adoption of the human rights framework is all about is making sure that short-term responses do not preclude the chances of identifying and acting-upon long-term solutions. (O. de Schutter) The human rights framework is definitely used wrongly if it delays policy development or, as is often the case, it deteriorates into a series of public relations exercises by its proponents. The ultimate purpose of adopting the human rights framework is to embark in it with clear objectives and rules of engagement that are task- and action-oriented, as well as time-bound. (F. Gomez) That is why accepting the human rights framework does not allow for a 'pick and choose menu' approach. (M. Wopold Bosien)
