STWR - Share The World's Resources

The global financial crisis has forced the high priests of efficient market theory to question their unfaltering belief in the rationality of markets and investors. This shift could be the beginning of a significant change in the paradigms underpinning the wider economc system, writes Gillian Tett.

Apologists for the current economic system continue to occupy Wonderland, because it is only in Wonderland that environmental problems can be solved by a blind adherence to economic growth, argue Richard York, Brett Clark, and John Bellamy Foster.

As ideas aimed at perfecting globalization turn into policies, progressives must boldly aspire once again to paradigms of social organization that unabashedly aim for equality. Ideas are not enough, says Walden Bello.

Politicians suggest that economic violence by the poor can be characterised as a ‘security risk’. Wouldn’t it be better to address the causes of the ‘spurious economics’ that create violence in the first place? By Nitasha Kaul.

Self-reliant local economies are better suited to withstand crisis and are more responsive to the needs of local communities. So why are politicians so resistant to the growing sentiment in favour of protectionist policies, asks Pranav Bihari.

As the free market capitalist economy breaks down before our eyes, we must return to the conviction that economic growth and the affluence it brings is a means and not an end. It demands a major shift from the free market towards public action that politicians have yet to grasp, writes Eric Hobsbawm.

Not only have economists failed to guide the world out of the financial crisis, they were also primarily responsible for leading us into it. Either economics has to be abandoned as an academic discipline - or it must undergo an intellectual revolution, writes Anatole Kaletsky.

Global policy makers and influential individuals cannot conceive of a more imaginative way out of the financial crisis than replicating the patterns of the past. When will they reach the simple and obvious conclusion that we must consume less? By Jayati Ghosh.

Many politicians and commentators suggest that 'protectionism' of domestic economies can only accelerate a worsening financial crisis. However, historical analysis shows that protectionism in times of economic crisis remains not only logical - but also sensible. By Serge Halimi.

Neither Keynesian thinking nor neoliberal policies can address the causes of the global financial crisis. Let's abandon the 'growth objective' and build a new humane economic system that simply provides people with what they need with our available resources. By Harry Shutt.