STWR - Share The World's Resources

This section of the report 'Financing the Global Sharing Economy' argues that a dramatic change of paradigm is needed if rich nations and global institutions are to stop forcing developing countries to liberalise their economies through unfair trade rules - whether as a condition of free trade agreements or in return for financial assistance.

This section of the report 'Financing the Global Sharing Economy' makes the case for redistributing the IMF's assets through its Special Drawing Rights facility and gold sales. These modest proposals could help restore the IMF's flagging legitimacy and prepare the way for more substantial reforms to the global economic architecture.

Where do the politics of the World Trade Organisation negotiations stand now? It appears that the paralysis in multilateral trade talks is leading to yet another North-South (industrialized versus developing country) divide. And we still need a multilateral framework for trade, writes Sophia Murphy.

Most of the countries that have come under the sway of the World Bank have experienced declining development outcomes in recent decades - but this is no accident. The Bank will never be an effective tool in the fight against poverty without fundamental changes in its power structure, argues Jason Hickel.

The IMF has decided to spend a $2.7 billion windfall from selling gold at a high price by subsidising lending to low income countries. The decision was taken at a meeting of the IMF Board in Washington DC on Friday 28 September, according to the Jubilee Debt Campaign.

The economic causes of Egypt's revolution are obscured by political and religion tensions, and barely discussed in the mainsteam media. But the path to genuine development, a fairer distribution of wealth and falling poverty remains open – unless the IMF gets its way, writes Nick Dearden.

A United Nations report slams 30 years of global policies and ineffective recent austerity measures, arguing that reducing the widening gap between the rich and poor is not only necessary for social justice, but is also a precondition for sound economic growth. By UNCTAD.