Analysis
Statement for the WEF in Davos
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- Written by Financial Integrity Task Force
The challenge to world leaders at Davos is to restore faith in the financial system by implementing a manifesto for economic justice
World leaders' inability to articulate a narrative beyond a long, hard march out of economic malaise ultimately caused by politicians' and regulators' failure to adequately supervise the financial system is resulting in widespread disillusionment with mainstream politics that threatens to undermine faith in democracy. World leaders need to respond quickly, and the finance community must play its role.
Re-inventing the world!
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- Written by Thematic Social Forum Rio+20
People put themselves in motion. Occupy Wall Street spreads the United States. Protests and indigenous mobilizations produce a great ferment in the Andean region usually stormy. An unusual level of activity of mass movements affects even countries known for their social stability. On October 15 we had almost a thousand demonstrations in cities of 82 countries.
The World's Best Tax?
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- Written by Ann Hollingshead
(From the website of Global Financial Integrity)
The global financial crisis—including the housing market bubble in the United States, the plummeting of the stock market, soaring unemployment and the resulting Great Recession worldwide—sparked an inundation of ideas about what we should do next or what we should have done differently. Many of these ideas are not new. In fact, many of them are very old. As a result, particularly in the United States and in Europe, we’ve seen a resurgence of economic thought from the full spectrum of thought—from Frederick Hayek and Milton Friedman to John Maynard Keynes.
Outflows, not aid, must be curtailed to fight poverty
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- Written by Raymond Baker
(From the Huffington Post)
We learned some devastating news last month. A new study from Global Financial Integrity revealed that despite the onset of the global financial crisis in late 2008, the developing world still suffered nearly $1 trillion in illicit financial outflows in 2009, a number that is almost 10 times larger than the official development assistance they receive each year from Western economies like the United States, United Kingdom and Norway.
Read more: Outflows, not aid, must be curtailed to fight poverty
The World Left after 2011
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- Written by Immanuel Wallerstein
By any definition, 2011 was a good year for the world left - however narrowly or broadly one defines the world left. The basic reason was the negative economic conditions from which most of the world was suffering. Unemployment was high and becoming higher. Most governments were faced with high debt levels and reduced income. Their response was to try to impose austerity measures on their populations while at the same time they were trying to protect their banks.
The result was a worldwide revolt of what the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movements called "the 99%." The revolt was against the excessive polarization of wealth, the corrupt governments, and the essentially undemocratic nature of these governments whether or not they had multiparty systems.
From ‘Common Goods’ to the ‘Common Good of Humanity’
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- Written by Francois Houtart
Must we really destroy the planet in order to develop? Does economic growth necessitate the sacrifice of millions of men and women? Is youth unemployment the price to pay for saving the economy? The succession of crises, the obstinacy in pursuing the path of neoliberalism, the generalization of injustices: all these pose some fundamental questions for humanity. Indignation continues to mount, all over the world. The cries of the oppressed are echoed in the moans of Mother Earth.
Read the alternative presented by François Houtart, a recipe for starting the new year with optimism!
Read more: From ‘Common Goods’ to the ‘Common Good of Humanity’
Social services at the heart of European solidarity
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- Written by Solidar
On Monday (12 December), a new European network, in which SOLIDAR is involved, Social Services Europe, was launched to strengthen the profile and position of social services, and to promote the role of not-for-profit social service providers throughout Europe. Social Services Europe brings together seven Europe-wide networks of not-for-profit providers of social and health care services who each have a track record in providing value-driven services for the most vulnerable in our societies.
Time for a new consensus
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- Written by Bretton Woods Project
Report on the drawbacks for development of deregulating capital flows and on the advantages - for growth, stability and development - of regulating them.
On the risks of 'social investment'
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A couple of months ago, three experts on social protection published a document titled ‘The EU needs a Social Investment Pact’.[i]
Whether the authors refer to the European Union as an institution or to its national member-states is not quite clear. The EU does not have real competences for social policy, except for issues linked to the labor market and in order to fight ‘social exclusion’. In the EU, as well as for the World Bank, this ‘exclusion’ only refers to the labor market and is not synonymous with ‘poverty’.
Corporate Tax Avoidance
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- Written by Education International Research Institute
Is there no more money available for public services? Of course there is! And there is no reason to have less schools for children.
