Merkel in favour of Eurozone FTT
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- Written by Peter Wahl
- Category: News
For the first time, German chancellor Angela Merkel has yesterday publically spoken out in favour of the FTT in the Euro-zone, if an implementation in the EU 27 should not be possible. By now, only finance minister Schäuble had spoken about the Euro-zone option.
After the French president Sarkozy had considered to implement as a frontrunner the FTT unilaterally in France, Merkel declared that she, "personally," will commit to strive for the FTT in the Euro zone.
Reason for the formula "personally" is the fact, that the liberal party, FDP, which is part of the governmental coalition, had by now only agreed to an FTT for the EU-27 (knowing that this would be impossible due to the British resistance).
The World Left after 2011
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- Written by Immanuel Wallerstein
- Category: Analysis
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.
Legal action against state guarantees for banks
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- Category: News
CADTM, the international network of committees against the illegitimate debt of third world countries, now working mainly within the European Union, filed a formal complaint against the Belgian State. ATTAC Liège and ATTAC Bruxelles2 joined the action. The Belgian government granted a state guarantee of no less than 54 billion Euros, about 15 % of Belgian GDP, to the creditors of Dexia, a Belgian-French bank in difficulties.
From ‘Common Goods’ to the ‘Common Good of Humanity’
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- Written by Francois Houtart
- Category: Analysis
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’
Time for a new consensus
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- Written by Bretton Woods Project
- Category: Analysis
Report on the drawbacks for development of deregulating capital flows and on the advantages - for growth, stability and development - of regulating them.
Social services at the heart of European solidarity
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- Written by Solidar
- Category: Analysis
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.
On the risks of 'social investment'
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- Category: Analysis
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’.
Divided we stand: why inequality keeps rising
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- Written by OECD
- Category: Documents
This new OECD publication explains how, for the three decades prior to the current crisis, income inequalities in almost all OECD member states have been rising. It also contains a chapter on income inequalities in emerging countries. And it gives suggestions on how to try and solve this persistent problem.
Corporate Tax Avoidance
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- Written by Education International Research Institute
- Category: Analysis
Is there no more money available for public services? Of course there is! And there is no reason to have less schools for children.
Exporting Goods or Exporting Debts?
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- Written by Eurodad
- Category: Analysis
A new report on how export credits - and commercial interests - swell the debt of poor countries.
Endless Poverty is a Human Rights Failure
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- Written by Thomas Pogge
- Category: Analysis
Socioeconomic rights, such as that “to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one’s family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care” (UDHR, Article 25), are currently, and by far, the most frequently unfulfilled human rights. Their widespread under fulfillment also plays a major role in explaining global deficits in civil and political human rights demanding democracy, due process, and the rule of law. Extremely poor people — often physically and mentally stunted due to malnutrition in infancy, illiterate due to lack of schooling, and much preoccupied with their family’s survival — can cause little harm or benefit to the politicians and civil servants who rule them. Such officials therefore pay much less attention to the interests of the poor than to the interests of agents more capable of reciprocation, including foreign governments, companies, and tourists.
