Human Rights, Tax Evasion and our moral imperatives
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- Written by Ann Hollingshead/GFI
- Category: Analysis
Tom Cardamone, Managing Director of Global Financial Integrity, recently published a piece in Reuters on the connections between human rights and tax evasion. He references a recent report Tax Abuses, Poverty, and Human Rights, published by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) Task Force on Illicit Financial Flows, Poverty, and Human Rights. The report finds that the evasion of taxes “has considerable negative impacts on the enjoyment of human rights.”
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Africa’s poor get poorer, but continent now has 55 billionaires
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- Written by Issa Sikiti Da Silva
- Category: Analysis
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This statement no longer applies to the Western capitalist world. It has long crossed the Atlantic and settled in Africa, the world’s poorest continent, which is fast becoming a nest for billionaires.
The ‘dark continent’ now boasts 55 billionaires from 10 countries with an average net worth of $2.6 billion, UK’s Telegraph newspaper reported this week on its digital edition.
Read more: Africa’s poor get poorer, but continent now has 55 billionaires
WB/IMF Annual Meeting: was anything actually achieved?
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- Written by Eurodad
- Category: Analysis
The World Bank and IMF annual meetings – which concluded in Washington on 13 October – saw a new strategy approved for the World Bank. As Eurodad previously noted, this has problematic elements, including a failure to target inequality properly, and a controversial approach to private sector issues. The IMF meetings, meanwhile, were overshadowed by the US budget crisis, and nothing concrete was agreed on the very real problem of capital flow volatility leading to new financial stability risks in emerging markets.
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Less Hunger, but not good enough
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- Written by José Graziano da Silva, K.F. Nwanze and E. Cousin
- Category: Analysis
- Every year, we take a snapshot of world progress in the fight against chronic hunger. This year, the picture is looking better, but it’s still not good enough.
Some 842 million people are estimated to have been suffering from chronic hunger in 2011-2013, according to The State of Food Insecurity in the World, a report released jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
This figure is down from 868 million during 2010-2012, and represents a decline of 17 percent since 1990-1992. Significant as this progress may be, it cannot disguise the harsh reality: roughly one person in eight suffers from hunger.
Taxing Times
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- Written by IMF
- Category: Documents
Most interesting report of the IMF on the possibilities, advantages and problems of raising taxes! A must read.
GFI Calls on World Bank to Prioritize Curtailing Illicit Financial Flows
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- Written by Clark Gascoigne/ GFI
- Category: Analysis
As central bank governors, finance ministers, and global leaders gather in Washington ahead of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) this weekend, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) calls on the World Bank to prioritize the issue of illicit financial flows from developing countries on its agenda.
“The World Bank is the largest development institution in the world, and for too long it has ignored the largest development challenge facing poor countries – the illegal outflow of trillions of dollars resulting from crime, corruption, and tax evasion,” said GFI President Raymond Baker. “Our rigorous economic research finds that nearly $1 trillion flows illicitly out of developing countries each year, exacerbating poverty, fueling inequality, and undercutting global development.”
Read more: GFI Calls on World Bank to Prioritize Curtailing Illicit Financial Flows
Trading on Hunger
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- Written by The Hindu
- Category: Analysis
Roberto Azevêdo’s observation that India’s food security law may violate its commitments to the World Trade Organization should not take New Delhi by surprise. If anything, the government should be thankful the Director-General — who seems apprised of India’s legitimate demand for ensuring food security — has recommended an interim solution until the WTO Ministerial Conference in December deliberates this issue.
UK Complaint againt FTT not valid
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- Written by Peter Wahl
- Category: News
The impact of EU's economic governance on social Europe
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- Written by ETUI
- Category: Analysis
New report from the European Trade Union Institute on the effect of EU economic governance on member states' social policies.
The authors of the paper demonstrate that “the austerity policies and structural reforms currently underway are not in any way linked to the euro crisis, contrary to the assertions of the great majority of national and European political leaders, but are programmed into the genes of a specific vision of monetary union.”
Sixth World Day for Decent Work to Focus on Building Workers’
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- Written by ITUC
- Category: Analysis
Sixth World Day for Decent Work to Focus on Building Workers' Power
7 October 2013: From dawn in the Pacific islands to sunset on the west coast of the Americas, workers from more than 100 countries are taking part in a global day of action to demand stronger government action for economic recovery, job creation, decent working conditions and full respect for workers’ rights.
Read more: Sixth World Day for Decent Work to Focus on Building Workers’
IMF Annual Meetings: A public sector shutdown meets its master
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- Written by Bodo Ellmers/Eurodad
- Category: Analysis
When the delegations arrive in Washington next week for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, they will face a situation that the citizens of IMF programme countries know all too well: The public sector has shut down due to a debt crisis and the policy response that followed. Let’s see if this helps to make the governors of the international financial architecture’s most powerful institution learn some lessons and make the right decisions.
Read more: IMF Annual Meetings: A public sector shutdown meets its master
