The World Class Struggle: The Geography of Protest
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- Written by Immanuel Wallerstein
- Category: Analysis
When times are good, and the world-economy is expanding in terms of new surplus-value produced, the class struggle is muted. It never goes away, but as long as there is a low level of unemployment and the real incomes of the lower strata are going up, even if only in small amounts, social compromise is the order of the day.
But when the world-economy stagnates and real unemployment expands considerably, it means that the overall pie is shrinking. The question then becomes who shall bear the burden of the shrinkage - within countries and between countries. The class struggle becomes acute and sooner or later leads to open conflict in the streets. This is what has been happening in the world-system since the 1970s, and most dramatically since 2007. Thus far, the very upper strata (the 1%) have been holding on to their share, indeed increasing it. This means necessarily that the share of the 99% has been going down.
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Historic moment for the IMF
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- Written by K.P. Gallagher, S. Griffith-Jones, J.A. Ocampo
- Category: Analysis
This month the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can make history. The IMF is set to officially change its view on the regulation of cross-border finance. Preliminary work released by the IMF exhibits diligent research and deep soul searching, but falls short of being a comprehensive view on how and when to regulate capital flows. There is still time for the IMF to further sharpen its view.
World Health Assembly adopts the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health
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- Written by World Health Organization
- Category: News
A resolution endorsing the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health (the ’Rio Political Declaration’) was adopted by WHO Member States at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Social determinants of health are the conditions, in which people are born, grow, live and work that affect their health. These conditions are shaped by political, social and economic factors, such as income, literacy and education levels, housing and living conditions, employment and employment security, social exclusion, access to health care, and food safety, and diet.
Equity in financing and use of health care
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- Written by Anne Mills et al.
- Category: Analysis
Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania: implications for paths to universal coverage
Website: http://bit.ly/LxttYa
“…..Universal coverage of health care is now receiving substantial worldwide and national attention, but debate continues on the best mix of financing mechanisms, especially to protect people outside the formal employment sector. Crucial issues are the equity implications of different financing mechanisms, and patterns of service use. We report a whole-system analysis—integrating both public and private sectors—of the equity of health-system financing and service use in Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania….”
Guy Rider new Director General of ILO
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- Category: News
Guy Rider has been elected today, 28 May 2012, new director general of the International Labour Organization.
Guy Rider was executive director of ILO and has been General Secretary of the ITUC, the International Trade Union Confederation, from 2002 to 2010. He initiated and led the process of global reunification of the democratic international trade union movement. He also promoted very strongly a cooperation between trade unions and social movements at the World Social Forum.
Needed: a Financial Transaction Tax
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- Written by Human Wrongs Watch
- Category: Analysis
A group of United Nations (UN) independent experts today called on the European Union (EU) to take the lead in promoting the adoption of a global financial transaction tax that would offset the costs of the current economic crisis and protect basic human rights, the UN reports.
Rio-Leaks
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- Written by UN/ People's Summit
- Category: Documents
The organizers of the People's Summit in Rio published the latest version of the negotiated document 'The Future we Want'. This is what will be discussed at the Rio+20 Conference in three weeks. It is stressed that the document mainly talks about the environmental issues, leaving aside the economic and social dimensions ...
Africa's hunger problem in the hands of multinationals
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- Written by Alexis Baden-Mayer
- Category: Analysis
At the Group of Eight (G8) meetings this past weekend at Camp David, President Obama and the leaders of the rest of the world's richest nations abandoned their governments' previous commitments to donate $7.3 billion a year to end hunger in Africa and instead left the problem in the hands of the so-called New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition where private corporations will invest $3 billion over 10 years - Monsanto has committed $50 million - beginning in three countries, Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia.
Leaving the problem of hunger in the hand of multinationals like Monsanto and Cargill will only exacerbate the conditions already driving poverty in Africa - rich countries' protectionism, land-grabbing, commodity speculation, food waste, and diversion of crops to livestock feed and biofuels - and ratchet up the costs of farming for small farmers by encouraging the use of expensive and unsustainable GMO seeds, pesticides and fertilizers.
Abuses at Olympics Supply Chain
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- Written by ILO
- Category: Analysis
Hunger Summit during London Olympics
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- Written by Les Roopanarine
- Category: Analysis
The British prime minster, David Cameron, will hold a summit on food security during this summer's Olympic Games in London. In a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Cameron announced his intention to hold "a major event" during the Games.
Comment of Global Social Justice: How cynical can you get?
The Moral Paradox of the Global Financial System
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- Written by Kyle Hunter
- Category: Analysis
(From Global Financial Integrity)
In the past decades, corruption, tax loopholes, and ineffective trading regulations have widened the gap between developed and developing countries, shifting trillions of dollars in assets from the world’s poorest countries to the world’s richest through illicit financial flows. This increased division was the direct result of financial globalization, suggesting a moral paradox: as global societies have become more connected in an economic sense, we have grown farther apart in a certain moral sense.
