Remembering the victims of Paris
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
- Category: Articles
Christmas in Brussels
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
- Category: Articles
Green ... for winter or summer?
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
- Category: Articles
Rea
Christmas and New Year's Wishes for all
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
- Category: Articles
Let us hope the new year will bring happiness and hope and many victories.
This is a picture from beautiful Brussels ... with people on the streets ...
From tomorrow on, we will bring some pictures of Christmas, of resistance, of alternatives ...
All the best,
Francine
Illicit Financial Flows From Africa: Causes, Consequences, and Curtailment
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- Written by Dev Kar, Georgetown Journal
- Category: Articles
Illicit flows tend to take stronger root in countries experiencing non-inclusive growth. Not only do illicit flows exacerbate income inequality, they also undermine a nation’s fiscal capacity, the degree to which the government can credibly enact revenue, expenditure, and monetary policies to achieve socially desirable outcomes. As a result, nations find it more difficult to stem, if not reverse, the vicious cycle of illicit financial flows and inequality.
Illicit flows also represent a major drain on the resources of African countries. Global Financial Integrity carried out a joint study with the African Development Bank and found that Africa was a net creditor to the world to the tune of up to $1.4 trillion over the period from 1980 through 2009, with the most conservative estimate of the capital loss being around $600 billion. Thus, despite the inflow of international aid into every region of Sub-Saharan Africa, outflows of illicit capital continue to result in a net loss of resources that overwhelms any salutary economic effects of recorded capital inflows.
China creates a World Bank of its own
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- Written by Jane Perlez /NYT
- Category: Articles
As top leaders met at a lush Bali resort in October 2013, President Xi Jinping of China described his vision for a new multinational, multibillion-dollar bank to finance roads, rails and power grids across Asia. Under Chinese stewardship, the bank would tackle the slow development in poor countries that was holding the region back from becoming the wealth center of the world.
Afterward, the United States secretary of state, John Kerry, caught up with Mr. Xi in the corridor. “That’s a great idea,” Mr. Kerry said of the bank, according to Chinese and American aides briefed on the encounter.
The enthusiasm didn’t last long, as the Obama administration began a rear-guard battle to minimize the bank’s influence.
Females and debtors ... special categories
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
- Category: Articles
Why the World Bank is Missing the Point on Agricultural Development
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- Written by Alice Martin-Prével / Oakland Institute
- Category: Articles
Agricultural development is central to addressing some of the biggest challenges today: climate change, hunger, poverty, need for rural employment, and managing access to land and natural resources. According to the World Bank, climate change could push 100 million people into poverty in the next 15 years. Farmers will be the primary victims, affected by reduced rainfall, crop failure, heat waves, and floods. Yet, instead of investing in small-scale farmers, who produce over 70 percent of the food consumed in the world and practice sustainable agriculture, the World Bank’s programs push for a wide adoption of industrial agriculture techniques involving fossil-based chemical inputs, modified seeds etc.
Read more: Why the World Bank is Missing the Point on Agricultural Development
ITUC statement on International Migrants Day
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- Written by ITUC
- Category: Articles
Millions of people are seeking the economic and social opportunities denied to them due to poverty and lack of development, with women migrating in equal numbers to men in search of work. Millions more are fleeing war, political repression and the accelerating impacts of climate change. Women and children make up three-quarters of the global refugee population.
On International Migrants Day 2015, we celebrate the anniversaries of two key human rights instruments: 25 years of the UN Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and and 40 years of the ILO Migrant Workers Convention 143.
2016: The Forthcoming Adjustment Shock
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- Written by Isabel Ortiz / ILO
- Category: Articles
Analysis of the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) expenditure projections for 187 countries between 2005 and 2020 reveals that there have been two distinct phases of government spending patterns since the onset of the global economic crisis.
During the first phase (2008-09) many countries introduced fiscal stimulus and expanded public spending as a countercyclical measure to cushion the impacts of the global crisis on their populations. Overall, 137 countries (or 73 per cent of the world) ramped up expenditure, with the average annual expansion amounting to 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). About 50 high and middle-income countries announced fiscal stimulus packages totalling US$2.4 trillion, of which approximately a quarter was invested in social protection measures.
The Geography of Tax Avoidance
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- Written by SOMO
- Category: Articles
Very interesting new report on tax avoidance from SOMO
