The Group of 20 Declaration following a recent high level summit in Washington missed a crucial opportunity to address the real weaknesses in our economic system: those of debt, executive excess and inherently unfair trade rules, argues Robert Weissman.
After the failure of mainstream strategies to combat the unprecedented financial crisis, rising food prices, climate change and growing inequities, the abandoned principles of social justice and a rights-based approach to development are an essential component of any solution, says a new report by Social Watch.
For twenty years the green climate agenda has embraced orthodoxies rooted in market fundamentalism, resulting in political failure and skyrocketing emissions. It is time to focus solutions on public
investment and making clean
energy affordable, argues Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger.
Transitioning to a sustainable and just economic system is the ultimate challenge of the 21st century. As the work of E.F Schumacher argues, history will no doubt judge our generation by how well we acknowledge, embrace and take up this challenge, says John Fullerton.
Privatisation and deregulation in the financial sector laid the groundwork for economic turmoil. Far
from being confined to the rich world, agencies of the World Bank played a key role in pushing these policies in
emerging markets, exposing them to the fallout of the financial crisis, writes Paulo dos Santos.
Religious fundamentalism fails to fully explain the heinous attacks on several Mumbai hotels. Could emerging linkages between India’s desperate poverty, inequality and increased access to information underlie the motive? By Deena Guzder.
A preoccupation with the personality of Robert Mugabe has resulted in a narrow perspective of Zimbabwe's current problems. Instead, any understanding of the country's ills must start with an important historical legacy: post-colonial land reform. By Mahmood Mamdani.
Analysts appear to have overlooked the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries, even though the repercussions could be disastrous for the world’s poor. Two reports reveal how lax financial regulation and accounting secrecy facilitated the crisis and could have serious implications for poor countries.
The economic boom of the last decade failed to bring us happiness, as skewed priorities placed material wealth over personal and ecological wellbeing. But
maybe there’s an upside to the downturn, argue Sarah van Gelder and Doug
Pibel.
With US military spending at an all time high, the Obama
administration must begin with the recognition that
security is not attained through intimidation or wealth, but through genuine
and effective cooperation with other nations, says Frida Berrigan.
