Analysis

Details: Written by Sandrine Rastello; Created: 11 August 2013

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said two senior executives will leave and others will get new responsibilities, part of a management shakeup 13 months after he took over the institution as he prepares a new global poverty-reduction strategy.

Caroline Anstey, a managing director who worked for 18 years at the Washington-based bank, will step down after the member countries’ annual meetings in October, Kim said in an e-mail to staff obtained by Bloomberg. Pamela Cox, a veteran of 33 years who most recently was senior vice president for change management, will retire at the same time, he said.

Details: Written by Dean Baker* - The Huffington Post; Created: 04 August 2013

In the last few weeks Edward Snowden has been holed in Moscow's airport trying to negotiate terms of asylum with various countries around the world. Thus far it doesn't seem that Snowden has been able to find any acceptable offers

Part of the reason is that the United States government has been openly threatening governments that are considering offering asylum, warning of dire consequences. Governments throughout the world take these threats seriously. Why?

Details: Written by Thalif Deen / IPS; Created: 04 August 2013

The number of “least developed countries” (LDCs), which rose from the original 24 back in 1971 to the current 49, is beginning to shrink – haltingly.

So far, three countries – Botswana, Cape Verde and the Maldives – have “graduated” from LDCs to the status of developing countries.

And as economies improve, at least six more countries – Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Angola, Samoa and Equatorial Guinea – are on the verge of leaving the ranks of LDCs by 2015.

Details: Written by Ann Hollingshead; Created: 04 August 2013

In recent years wealth among the wealthiest has increased. This trend is well-documented in the United States, where commentators have noted that since 1979, the rich have become richer and the poor have become (relative to the rich) poorer. Dubbed the “Great Divergence” by NY Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman, this phenomenon may be both a driver and the result of tax policy and tax evasion in the United States. But America isn’t the only country vulnerable to these kinds of trends. In fact, evidence from recent years has suggested that these trends are at play in several emerging markets, particularly those in Asia, where incomes are rising with steady economic growth.

Details: Written by Financial Transparency Coalition; Created: 28 July 2013

Today the OECD identified 15 policy action points and created a two-year timeline that it hopes will restore trust and fairness in what it concedes has become a flawed and discredited international tax system. The report, Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, recognises what the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) has known for years: That the integrity of the current global tax system has been undermined by multinational companies and their tax planners exploiting the boundaries of acceptable tax planning.

Details: Written by Ann Hollingshead; Created: 28 July 2013

Every year the OECD Development Assistance Committee publishes a report on resource flows to fragile states. This year’s report, Fragile States: 2013 Resource flows and trends in a shifting world, provides some fascinating insights into the future of global poverty, particularly among fragile states.[1] Coupled with our understanding of illicit financial flows from developing countries, we have an interesting picture of global poverty in coming years.

Details: Written by Zhenbo Hou; Created: 28 July 2013

Two major multilateral agencies have elected BRICS candidates as the Directors-General in the last two months. Are we seeing signs of increased leadership in global governance from the BRICS countries?

Details: Written by Thalif Deen; Created: 21 July 2013

The rise of the “global middle class” is widely attributed to the gradual eradication of extreme poverty in the developing world, even as the United Nations says that millions of people in countries such as India, China and Brazil have graduated from the ranks of the indigent.

But is there unintended negative fallout indirectly linking poverty alleviation to the current rise in middle class street protests in Brazil, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt, among others?

Details: Written by K.M. Gopakumar (PHM); Created: 21 July 2013

The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on access to medicines despite opposition from the United States and the European Union.

This was at the 23rd session of the Council held in Geneva on 27 May-14 June 2013. The resolution was sponsored by developing countries as a follow-up to the Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover, on access to medicines.

Details: Written by Craig Fagan; Created: 21 July 2013

(from Transparency International’s Space for Transparency blog)

New findings from the United Nations show that global development commitments – called the Millennium Development Goals – are off track. Governance and corruption are one of the culprits.

Yet whole regions are behind on achieving the targets set for 2015, such as making sure all children are in school and that women get proper healthcare.

People from these same regions are more likely to pay bribes when using basic services, according to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013.