22 May, 2008
"Immoral Hazard"
By Stephen LendmanDirest forecasts have it in its early innings with the worst of things ahead. Only in the fullness of time will we know, but some things are clear. None of this happened by chance. Nor should it have in the first place. A combination of financial malpractice, outright fraud, and greed are to blame. The same mistakes keep getting repeated. The costs keep going higher. Sooner or later they matter, and some day it'll be too late to fix them. Some day may be closer than smart money folks think. Stay tuned, be cautious, and ignore Fed Chairmen and politicians promising miracles
15 April, 2008
Recession Takes Hold In US
By Barry GreyGE’s results shook the financial markets because they indicated that the impact of the housing and credit crisis was spreading beyond the housing and banking sectors to broader parts of the US economy. GE’s report came at the beginning of the first-quarter earnings report season, and seemed to confirm the worst fears on Wall Street that profits will drop sharply nearly across the board
Recession, Depression, Collapse:
What's Fear Got To Do With It?
By Carolyn BakerThe world we wanted to have is not within our reach; the world we deeply dread is upon us. Meanwhile, the world we have known, ugly as it may be but nevertheless familiar, is vanishing before our eyes. Herein lies an opportunity to experience deeper layers of who we really are and what we are really made of. Collapse is compelling us to confront these issues, whether we want to or feel ready to do so or not. While I do not welcome the suffering this will entail, I do welcome the transformation of human consciousness and thus the evolutionary quantum leap it may offer us
Losses Mount In Chinese Export Industry
By Alex LantierLight export industries in China are continuing to face massive losses, shedding jobs and moving operations either abroad or to lower-wage regions of China. The immediate triggers of the downturn—the political and commercial consequences of the US financial crisis—are exacerbating working class discontent over low wages, pollution and poor working conditions
19 March, 2008
US Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates Again
By Alex LantierThe new interest rate cuts can only exacerbate the decline in the dollar, which has already fallen to record or near-record lows against the euro, the yen and other currencies. There are already signs that the dollar’s plunge is having serious effects on the financing of US trade
14 March, 2008
Gold And Oil Prices Soar, Dollar Slumps
By Barry GreyJust two days after the Federal Reserve Board announced an emergency $200 billion debt-relief plan for distressed Wall Street finance houses, markets in the US and internationally were shaken by the collapse of Carlyle Capital Corporation (CCC), a publicly traded investment fund established by the Carlyle Group private equity fund.The Carlyle debacle was accompanied by other developments pointing to both recession and rising inflation. Crude oil prices hit a new record of $111, gold futures breached the $1,000-an-ounce mark, and the dollar fell to record lows versus the Japanese yen, the euro and the Swiss franc
Gas Prices In Hawaii, California Hit $4
By Jaymes SongWhile the price of oil climbs above $110 a barrel, most Americans dread the day they will have to pay $4. On this tropical island and a few stations in California, $4 gas has already arrived, straining the pocketbooks of residents and businesses
Watching The Dollar Die
By Paul Craig RobertsI’ve been watching the dollar die all my life. I sometimes think I will outlast it
07 March, 2008
The Grim Reality of Economic Truths
By Pablo OuzielI remember the time when General Motors Corp. was considered a pillar of the American dream, a fundamental of the economic miracle. Now, after reporting a quarterly loss of $722 million, compared with a profit of $950 million a year earlier, and offering buyouts to all of its 74,000 United Auto Workers employees, GM is clearly not a part of the sound fundamentals which President Bush likes to describe
11 February, 2008
The Great Bust of '08
By Mike WhitneySo, what does it all mean? It means that people who want to hold on to their life savings are going have to be extra vigilant as the situation continues to deteriorate
28 January, 2008
How Bush Destroyed The Dollar
By Paul Craig RobertsIf the US government cannot balance its budget by cutting its spending or by raising taxes, the day when it can no longer borrow will see the government paying its bills by printing money like a third world banana republic. Inflation and more exchange rate depreciation will be the order of the day
24 January, 2008
How To Stop The Downturn
By Joseph E. StiglitzAmerica's economy is headed for a major slowdown. Whether there is a recession (two quarters of negative growth) is less important than the fact that the economy will operate well below its potential, and unemployment will grow. The country needs a stimulus, but anything we do will add to our soaring deficit, so it is important to get as much bang for the buck as possible
"Lame Duck" Citizens And The Global Economy
By Pablo OuzielIn regards to our ‘global economy’, one is better off reading Dostoevsky’s The Gambler and saying to himself, “at the present moment I must repair to the roulette-table,” than listening to George Bush deluding himself about the fact that “while there is some uncertainty, the financial markets are strong and solid.” The truth is, our global markets have become a “lame duck” and all we can do is wait for the next disaster to shake the corrupt foundation on which things have been run
23 January, 2008
US Cuts Interest Rates Amid Fears Of
Global Financial Collapse
By Andre DamonThe Fed’s emergency action gave more the impression of a panicked attempt to stave off catastrophe, confirming the growing conviction that the US economy is sliding into recession, regardless of attempts at either monetary or fiscal stimulus
Hard Times A-Coming
By Dave LindorffGet ready for some hard economic times. The next step will be soaring inflation, as strapped companies in China, India and elsewere start raising their prices for goods shipped to the US and paid for in dollars. Then the Fed will have to respond by raising interest rates again, in an effort to shore up the currency. And with that will come deeper recession and an even lower stock market
Farewell To Old Economic Nostrums
By Paul Craig RobertsThe rebate will help Americans reduce their credit card debt. However, adding $150 billion to an existing federal budget deficit that will be worsened by recession could further alarm America's foreign creditors, traders in currency markets, and OPEC oil producers. If the rebate loses its punch to consumer debt reduction, imports, and pressure on the dollar, what will the government do next?
Will Economic Stimulus Measures
Stave Off Recession?
By Richard C. CookIf you dig a little deeper, it is easy to see that the U.S. never really got out of the recession of 2000-2002 which followed the bursting of the dot.com bubble at the end of the Bill Clinton presidency. This event was marked by the stock market crash starting in December 2000 that cost Americans over a trillion dollars in retirement savings and other forms of paper “wealth” over a period of a few months
How To Sink America
By Chalmers JohnsonWhy the Debt Crisis Is Now the Greatest Threat to the American Republic
How The West Was Re-sold
By Niranjan RamakrishnanLet me make this simple and practical suggestion to the President and Congress: Cut out the middleman and mail the 145 billion dollars directly to China. That's where it is going to end up anyway. The America people will thank you for not filling their homes and garages with more junk. And...this is important...you can all take pride in boasting to the people that you kept the government out of it
22 January, 2008
Threat Of US Recession Panics Global Stock Markets
By Andre DamonStock prices plummeted worldwide Monday and Tuesday , amid heightened fears of a US recession. While over the course of last week US financial markets suffered the worst fall since 2002, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping by 5 percent, many Asian and European indices dropped by a similar amount in just one day
The False US Economy Versus Nature’s
Expansion-Contraction Cycle
By Shepherd BlissThe growth-based US economy is contracting. Media economists are alarmed, even panicky. They describe this as a “recession” and wring their hands with woe. They should have expected this downturn and we should accept it. Lets see what will happen. Maybe the Earth will benefit from the declining US economy? Perhaps its pollution and other threats to the global climate and environment will lessen?
19 January, 2008
Bush Announces “Stimulus” Plan
As Recession Fears Grip Washington
By Patrick MartinThere was a distinct note of panic in the sudden issuance of a statement, only hours after Bush’s return to the US from a weeklong trip through the Middle East. Bush could give few details of the stimulus package, since they have not been worked out, but instead outlined what he called the broad “principles”: the package should be limited to 1 percent of GDP, or about $140 billion; and it should consist of tax cuts only, with no increase in social spending
The Week The Economy Turned Nasty
By Jeremy WarnerRetail sales plummet; gas and electricity prices soar, further eating into already squeezed disposable incomes; Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, two of the great symbols of American capitalism, forced to hand round the begging bowl among Asian and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds after massive write-downs on US sub-prime mortgage lending
18 January, 2008
As Wall Street Posts Sharp Losses,
Washington Promotes “Stimulus Package”
By Bill Van Auken & Andre DamonWith major Wall Street finance houses posting tens of billions of dollars in new losses, housing starts declining 30 percent compared to last year, retail sales plunging and unemployment climbing to 5 percent—a two year high—the Bush White House, the Democratic congressional leadership and the Federal Reserve Board chairman all signaled Thursday their support for the passage of an economic stimulation package
15 January, 2008
US Bank Losses Intensify Recession Fears
By Patrick MartinTwo more major banks reported heavy mortgage and consumer-loan losses Monday for the fourth quarter of 2007, reinforcing fears that that US financial crisis will likely trigger a recession, not only in America, but worldwide
12 January, 2008
US Federal Reserve Chairman Warns Of
Recession Danger, Promises More Rate Cuts
By Andre Damon & Joe KayUS Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Wednesday that the US economy is slowing dramatically and broadly hinted that the Fed would aggressively cut interest rates in response, perhaps before its next scheduled policy meeting at the end of January
The Deflation Time Bomb
By Mike WhitneyWhen banks don’t lend and consumers don’t borrow; the economy crashes. End of story. The whole system is predicated on the prudent use of credit. That system is now in terminal distress. Everyone to the bunkers. Perhaps the whole “inflation-deflation” debate is academic. The real issue is the length and severity of the impending recession. That’s what we really want to know. And how many people will needlessly suffer
11 December, 2007
Iran Drops Dollar From Oil Deals
By AFPMajor crude producer Iran has completely stopped carrying out its oil transactions in dollars, Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Saturday, labelling the greenback an "unreliable" currency."At the moment, selling oil in dollars has been completely halted, in line with the policy of selling crude in non-dollar currencies," Nozari was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency
29 November, 2007
Impending Destruction Of The US Economy
By Paul Craig RobertsWhich will Washington sacrifice, the domestic financial system and over-extended homeowners or its ability to finance deficits? The answer seems obvious. Everything will be sacrificed in order to protect Washington’s ability to borrow abroad. Without the ability to borrow abroad, Washington cannot conduct its wars of aggression, and Americans cannot continue to consume $800 billion dollars more each year than the economy produces
28 November, 2007
Forecast: U.S. Dollar Could Plunge 90 pct
By UPIA financial crisis will likely send the U.S. dollar into a free fall of as much as 90 percent and gold soaring to $2,000 an ounce, a trends researcher said. "We are going to see economic times the likes of which no living person has seen," Trends Research Institute Director Gerald Celente said, forecasting a "Panic of 2008."
A Dollar The Size Of A Postage Stamp
By Mike WhitneyCentral banks across the globe are trying to figure out how to ditch their dollar reserves without triggering a stampede for the exits. No one wants to see that. But, then, nobody wants to be stuck with vaults full of Uncle Sam's green confetti either. So, the question arises; What is the best way to divest oneself of $5.6 trillion (total USD held overseas) before the Lusitania capsizes?
27 November, 2007
The Ghosts of Misplaced Conscience
By Charles SullivanRather than an economy based upon savage greed and exploitation, let us create an economy based upon justice and equality, need rather than excess; a society that does not leave people behind but invites the full participation of everyone and recognizes that, “An injury to one is an injury to all.” Let it be all inclusive and worthy of respect: where every woman, man, and child, every being of this earth is the same under the law and equally respected and valued—a great global community seeking harmony rather than competitive advantage
26 November, 2007
Reckoning: The Economic Consequences Of Mr. Bush
By Joseph E. StiglitzWhen we look back someday at the catastrophe that was the Bush administration, we will think of many things: the tragedy of the Iraq war, the shame of Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib, the erosion of civil liberties. The damage done to the American economy does not make front-page headlines every day, but the repercussions will be felt beyond the lifetime of anyone reading this page
17 November, 2007
The Dollar's Decline: From Symbol Of Hegemony
To Shunned Currency
By Andy McSmithThe decline of the dollar, symbol of US global hegemony for the best part of a century, may have become so entrenched that some experts now fear it is irreversible
15 November, 2007
The Titanic Economy
By Mike WhitneyThe only thing looking up are oil futures. And they’ll be denominated in euros soon enough
14 November, 2007
U.S. Economy: Recession, Depression, Or Collapse?
By Shepherd BlissOur economy is paying and will continue to pay the consequences of over-consumption and the over-purchasing of people reaching beyond their resources that characterized the housing market. We have been greedy. There are limits to growth and those limits are crashing in on us
08 November, 2007
Dollar Slumps To Record On China's
Plans To Diversify Reserves
By Agnes Lovasz & Stanley WhiteThe dollar fell the most since September against the currencies of its six biggest trading partners after Chinese officials signaled plans to diversify the nation's $1.43 trillion of foreign exchange reserves
The End Is Near!—Gisele Bundchen Dumps Dollar
By Paul Craig RobertsWhen the dollar ceases to be the reserve currency, foreigners will cease to finance the US trade and budget deficits, and the American Empire along with its wars will disappear overnight. Perhaps Bush will be able to get a World Bank loan, or maybe one from the "Chavez bank", to bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan
Seven Countries Considering
Abandoning The US Dollar
By Jessica HuppIt’s no secret that the dollar is on a downward spiral. Its value is dropping, and the Fed isn’t doing a whole lot to change that. As a result, a number of countries are considering a shift away from the dollar to preserve their assets. These are seven of the countries currently considering a move from the dollar, and how they’ll have an effect on its value and the US economy
29 October, 2007
The Bank Of The South: An Alternative
To IMF And World Bank Dominance
By Stephen LendmanSmall signs of change are emerging, the Bank of the South may be one of them, and a new generation of leftist leaders may in the end break Washington's weakening (but still strong) hold on the region. That's the hope, and every step forward means more power to the people and another possible world
04 October, 2007
Economic Sharing: A Shift In Global Values
By Rajesh MakwanaA growing body of progressives within the global justice movement, including environmentalists, economists and policy makers, broadly agree that a significant overhaul of the world’s economic and political systems is long overdue, and that without significant restructuring our most pressing problems will never be tackled
23 September, 2007
Nail Biting Time
By David TruskoffThe Fed cut the interest rates. Newspapers clear across the USA had front page Headlines such as, "Rate drops, Dow leaps. The New York stock exchange gained more than three hundred points. All that it means to the average American is that the rich will get more rich and the poor will get poorer
22 September, 2007
Recession Too Mild A Word
By Pablo OuzielThe same group of people who lied to the world about the war in Iraq are doing the same about the state of the global economy, and again the public is sleepwalking listening to their lullabies. We could be witnessing the collapse of capitalist model of society as we know it. According to President Bush, however, we are seeing a "thriving" U.S. economy
19 September, 2007
The Fed's Cut And Run Strategy
By Jeff BergIf however everything goes according to the Fed's cut, run and pray dreams the plus side will be that this delay may be long enough to give those who see what’s coming a little more room for maneuver. But it will do so at the cost of two very unfortunate things. 1) It will make Bush and Cheney's getaway all but complete. I.e. The worst of the economic effects will not take place until the next President takes over. Which is of course the very strongest reason why the Fed's "consequences be damned" strategy is the most likely scenario to unfold
15 September, 2007
Plummeting Dollar, Credit Crunch...
By Mike WhitneyThe days of the dollar as the world’s “reserve currency” may be drawing to a close. In August, foreign central banks and governments dumped a whopping 3.8 per cent of their holdings of US debt
Economic Crisis: The U.S.
Political Leadership Has Failed
By Richard C. CookAs the 2007 economic collapse picks up speed, it’s time to take a hard look at the performance of the U.S. national political leadership in meeting some of their most fundamental responsibilities. It’s time to face the fact of serious failure over the last quarter century
13 September, 2007
China: Is High Growth - High Risk Liberalization
The Only Alternative?
By James PetrasChina’s drive toward economic superpower status in the world economy has accelerated in recent years. As China’s economy becomes globalized, fundamental changes in its financial markets have opened opportunities for overseas expansion as well as increasing risks of financial crisis
For The Poor; Present Economic Development
A Hope Or A Hoax?
By Firdous SyedThe total number of people in India belonging to the poor and vulnerable group having a daily per capita consumption of less than Rs 20 in 2004-05 was 836 million, constituting about 77 percent of the population. What a person like Mukesh Ambani or somebody else of his elk earns in a day, anybody among the marginal income group of 836 million, constituting about 77 percent of Indian population, will not be spending during the whole span of his life
11 September, 2007
American Economy: R.I.P.
By Paul Craig RobertsThe US economy continues its slow death before our eyes, but economists, policymakers, and most of the public are blind to the tottering fabled land of opportunity
10 September, 2007
War Cometh Before A Fall
By Dan LiebermanIf the problems grow and the U.S standard of living declines, the U.S. government will seek an obvious solution for a strong power: capture markets, capture resources, crush competition, silence those who impede expansion. War cometh before a fall
07 September, 2007
Credit Crunch Could Bring Recession
By Nick BeamsWhile global share markets appear to have stabilised—at least for time being—it’s a different story as far credit markets are concerned. Here there are fears that a growing crisis could spark a major downturn in the world economy
01 September, 2007
The Predicted Financial Storm Has Arrived
By Gabriel KolkoContradictions now wrack the world's financial system, and a growing consensus exists between those who endorse it and those who argue the status quo is both crisis-prone as well as immoral. If we are to believe the institutions and personalities who have been in the forefront of the defense of capitalism, we are on the verge of a serious crisis-if not now, then in the near future
The Social Toll Of The US Home
Mortgage Crisis- Part II
By Andre DamonA multi-millionaire like George W. Bush, a thousand miles removed from the everyday realities of American life, can describe the “recent disturbances in the subprime mortgage industry” as “modest.” However, many lives are being turned upside down by the present mortgage crisis and wave of foreclosures
31 August, 2007
The Social Toll Of The US Home
Mortgage Crisis - Part 1
By Andre DamonPredatory lending practices, speculation and widespread fraud cannot, however, fully account for the scale of the foreclosure crisis. Rather, the ultimate causes lie in long-term trends; the stagnation of wages, the lack of affordable housing and the growing indebtedness of American households
29 August, 2007
On Market Predictions In The Current
Chaotic Environment
By Richard C. CookNo one can predict how deep the decline in Western economies that is underway will go, because there is so little transparent information. Within the U.S., the government is hiding the severity of the crisis in order to prevent a collapse of consumer confidence
24 August, 2007
Credit Crunch Fallout Begins To spread
By Nick BeamsWhile stock markets have stabilised—at least for the time being—the effects of the credit crunch sparked by the crisis in the US subprime mortgage market are now working their way through the banks and financial institutions and the economy as a whole
Britons' Personal Debt Dxceeds Britain's GDP
By Martin HickmanBritons have racked up so much debt on loans and credit cards that the total borrowed now exceeds the entire value of the economy, new research shows today. The financial consultant Grant Thornton is forecasting that gross domestic product (GDP) will hit £1.33 trillion this year, less than the £1.35trn which was outstanding on mortgages, credit cards and personal loans in June
Market Efficiency Hokum
By Stephen LendmanAstute observers continue to speculate and comment that the housing bubble and resultant current financial market turmoil came from deliberate widespread malfeasance aided by considerable cash infusion help from the Federal Reserve in the lead on the scheme
Subprime Loans = Primetime For Vampire Lenders
By Jim HightowerLet's recognize that the need for "subprime" mortgages is driven by our low-wage/no-benefit economy and by our country's growing scarcity of affordable housing. It's not merely a low-income mortgage system that must be fixed -- our leaders' pursuit of a low-income America must be stopped
19 August, 2007
The “Crash Of 2007-8” Is Underway
By Richard C. CookAs the house of cards comes tumbling down, the leading question on financial websites and blogs is how deep will the decline go. Will it stop at the level of the recessions of previous decades, including 2000-2002, with a decline that is reflected in the DJA of somewhere around thirty-five percent from its peak? Or will it be the “Armageddon” scenario which would take us to depression-level conditions? Of course there are multiple possibilities based on a decline somewhere between a recession and a depression that would share some of the characteristics of each
14 August, 2007
A Day Of Reckoning For Americans
Who Lived Beyond Their Means
By Joseph StiglitzThe pessimists who have long forecast that the US economy was in for trouble finally seem to be coming into their own. Of course, there is no glee in seeing stock prices tumble as a result of soaring mortgage defaults. But it was largely predictable, as are the likely consequences for both the millions of Americans who will be facing financial distress and the global economy
A "Slow Motion Train Wreck"
By Stephen LendmanJeremy Grantham's persuasive evidence suggests we're watching an unstoppable "very slow motion train wreck" likely to be pretty ugly on "impact." By his reckoning, it's probably too late to undue the enormous damage done no one will escape from. His advice is that to be forewarned is forearmed to prepare as best as possible although for most people it's practically impossible
11 August, 2007
Subprime Or Subcrime? Time
To Investigate And Prosecute
By Danny SchechterThe "subprime" credit crunch is really a sub-crime ponzi scheme in which millions of people are losing their homes because of criminal tactics by financial institutions
China's Threat To The Dollar Is Real
By Paul Craig RobertsThe Chinese made no threats. To the contrary, one of the officials said, “China doesn’t want any undesirable phenomenon in the global financial order.” The Chinese message is different. The message is that Washington does not have hegemony over Chinese policy, and if matters go from push to shove, Washington can expect financial turmoil
10 August, 2007
Credit Fears Spark Stock Market Plunge
By Patrick MartinStock markets worldwide slumped Thursday amid mounting fears that the crisis in the subprime mortgage lending market is leading to a more generalized credit crisis. The Dow-Jones Industrial Average, the most widely followed stock index, ended down 387.18 points, its largest loss in six months and the fourth triple-digit movement in five days, an indication of the increasing instability in financial markets
09 August, 2007
Uncle Sam, Your Banker Will See You Now
By Paul Craig RobertsIf Western financial markets are sufficiently intelligent to comprehend the message, US interest rates will rise regardless of any further action by China. At this point, China does not need to sell a single bond. In an instant, China has made it clear that US interest rates depend on China, not on the Federal Reserve
02 August, 2007
Bursting Of credit Bubble Underlies
Stock Market Turbulence
By Barry GreyThe sudden volatility on stock exchanges resembles the fever chart of a delirious patient. It reflects fears that the near-collapse of credit markets linked to subprime US home mortgages is spreading more broadly and leading to a major contraction of credit throughout the economy
25 July, 2007
International Investments:
Is Policy Pendulum Swinging Back?
By Kavaljit SinghDespite the dominant trend towards greater liberalization of investment flows, nowadays certain kinds of investments have come under closer scrutiny by policy makers. In several countries (both developed and developing), there are moves to tighten existing investment rules or to enact new rules to regulate foreign investments and protect “strategic sectors” from foreign investors
09 May, 2007
Anti-Capitalism In Five Minutes Or Less
By Robert JensenOne of the common responses I hear when I critique capitalism is, “Well, that may all be true, but we have to be realistic and do what’s possible.” By that logic, to be realistic is to accept a system that is inhuman, anti-democratic, and unsustainable. To be realistic we are told we must capitulate to a system that steals our souls, enslaves us to concentrated power, and will someday destroy the planet
03 May, 2007
‘I was Always Leftist. Economic Reforms
Made Me Completely Marxist’
By Mani Shankar AiyarIn a speech at a CII meet, Mani Shankar Aiyar argued that policy is hijacked by a small elite. That the cabinet he belongs to is quite comfortable with this hijacking. That India’s system of governance is such that Rs 650 crore for village development is considered wasteful but Rs 7,000 crore for the Commonwealth Games is considered vital. The classes rule all the time, Aiyar says, the masses get a look-in every five years
01 May, 2007
Southern Transnationals:
The New Kids On The Block?
By Kavaljit SinghGiven the fact that most developing countries are usually capital importers, the rise of Southern TNCs poses new policy dilemmas. The policy makers in the developing world are increasingly finding it difficult to strike a balance between the country’s interest as a host country and its newly-found interests as a home country
27 April, 2007
The End of Economic Growth
By Adam ParsonsThe myth of endless economic growth is a path towards disaster and destruction
25 April, 2007
Mystery: How Wealth Creates
Poverty In The World
By Michael ParentiThere is a “mystery” we must explain: How is it that as corporate investments and foreign aid and international loans to poor countries have increased dramatically throughout the world over the last half century, so has poverty? The number of people living in poverty is growing at a faster rate than the world’s population. What do we make of this?
Economic Armageddon Is Coming
By Joel S. HirschhornStop being a compliant consumer. Face the ugly truth. Don’t get fooled by the stock market. Accept the need for the mistreated middle class to become the revolutionary class. The British military establishment's most prestigious think tank sees what too few over-consuming Americans are willing to anticipate. Unjustified and mounting economic inequality is planting the seeds for global economic conflict
24 April, 2007
Corporate Accountability:
Is Self Regulation The Answer?
By Kavaljit SinghWhile acknowledging that voluntary approaches could be used as tools for leverage on corporate behavior and therefore are worth testing, this chapter underscores the need for enhancing the state regulatory and supervisory frameworks. Any strategy aimed at privatizing regulation is bound to fail; even the limited gains made in the past through voluntary approaches always rested on governmental backing. Voluntary codes of conduct can never be a substitute for state regulations
20 April, 2007
SEZs: Behind The Curtain
By Aseem ShrivastavaThe outsourcing and sub-contracting of corporate totalitarianism
17 April, 2007
Bangladesh: Sovereign Or Subsidiary?
By Anu MuhammadGlobal capital is in confrontation with people all over the world, among others, on three issues: (a) whether people and the country should own and have authority over their own lives and natural resources or global corporates should be allowed to take over; (b) Whether natural resources should be used or preserved for the maximum utilization for the development of the country or to be extracted in a big way to maximize profit of foreign big companies; and (c) whether resources will remain common property or turned into private property of corporates. Bangladesh needs to answer these too
23 March, 2007
Global Ruling Class: Billionaires
And How They ‘Made It’
By James PetrasWhile the number of the world’s billionaires grew from 793 in 2006 to 946 this year, major mass uprisings became commonplace occurrences in China and India
01 March, 2007
Global Markets Slide After China Sell-Off
By Nick BeamsGlobal stock markets tumbled on Tuesday after a near 9 percent drop in the Chinese market—the biggest fall in a decade—sparked fears that a series of financial imbalances in the global economy could start to cause serious problems
22 February, 2007
The Developer’s Model Of Development
Or The Economist’s?
By Aseem shrivastavaTwo competing notions of development are increasingly at war in the Indian economic landscape. Development according to developers must be restrained, while the old idea of development must be awakened from its slumber in the minds of the policy-making elite. A failure to achieve this is likely to prove economically costly, quite apart from generating a political derailment of the growth process, with worse outcomes to follow in the shape of rising social tensions, political violence and crime
13 February, 2007
Special Economic Zones: Lessons From China
By Bhaskar GoswamiWhile single-minded pursuit of exports has helped China touch record growth figures, millions have been left behind, besides incurring huge environmental costs. And without even the limited dose of welfare that China offers its poor farmers, India must wary of copying China's SEZ-approach, writes Bhaskar Goswami
25 January, 2007
Soros On Capital Account Convertibility
By Sunanda SenA note of caution and warning for India
16 December, 2006
Nobel - Man's Un-Noble Corporate Nexus
By Omar Tarek ChowdhurySo why then did Norway’s Nobel committee give Yunus the award? Colleagues in Oslo point out to me that he was strongly supported by friends in the Norwegian elite, including a former top finance ministry bureaucrat and leading officials of the national phone company, Telenor, which owns 62% of lucrative GrameenPhone, a company in control of 60% of Bangladesh’s cellphone market
03 December, 2006
Richest 2% Hold Half The World’s Assets
By Chris GilesPersonal wealth is distributed so unevenly across the world that the richest two per cent of adults own more than 50 per cent of the world’s assets while the poorest half hold only 1 per cent of wealth
03 December, 2006
Will The Tumbling Dollar Start
An Economic Whirlwind?
By Philip ThorntonTransatlantic travellers hoping to cash in on a $2 pound for the first time in 14 years should enjoy the good times while they last, because a tumbling dollar could start an economic whirlwind
08 November, 2006
Dollar Poised For A Dip
By Axel MerkWhen we say the dollar may weaken after the election, we know as little as anyone what will happen to the dollar in the days that follow the election. But we believe that the focus will shift to what is ahead. Given that timing currency moves is extremely difficult, investors may want to consider taking a long-term approach by broadly diversifying into a basket of hard currencies, that is, those currencies backed by sound monetary policy
31 October, 2006
From Orangi To Grameen Bank: An Alternative Route
To Pro-Poor Development
By Md. Saidul IslamBoth Grameencredit and the OPP have left ground-breaking legacies for both poor and development planners all over the world. There are questions as to whether both are congruent or different, but there is no question that both are alternative route to "pro-poor development", models devised by the poor themselves
18 October, 2006
Special Exploitation Zones
By Tejal Kanitkar & Puru KulkarniSpecial Economic Zones (SEZ) is a pseudonym for a new tsunami let loose on the Indian working class and peasantry by the Indian State.One hundred-fifty Special Exploitation Zones have already been sanctioned. This means 70,000 hectares of land is being grabbed as we read this.Two hundred twenty five more Special Exploitation Zones are waiting approval. This means that 2,74,000 hectares of land will be grabbed soon. The extent of the planned mass murder and mass displacement is unimaginable
17 October, 2006
Microcredit, Macro Problems
By Walden BelloSo probably the best way we can honor Muhammad Yunus is to say, Yes, he deserves the Nobel Prize for helping so many women cope with poverty. His boosters discredit this great honor and engage in hyperbole when they claim he has invented a new compassionate form of capitalism--social capitalism, or "social entrepreneurship"--that will be the magic bullet to end poverty and promote development
14 October, 2006
Nobel Acknowledges Counter Economy
By Mirza A. BegYunus proved that the poor need respect, trust, economic justice, and a helping hand. They do not need pity and charity. It is truly a Peace Price because there can not be peace without justice, particularly economic justice
26 September, 2006
Can Microfinance ‘Halve’Poverty By 2015: A Review
By Sirajul IslamThere is an enormous unmet demand for micro credit worldwide roughly estimated at 400 to 500 million poor and low-income people, the sector still has a long way to go to fulfil its potential
04 September, 2006
The Socialism Of The Twenty-First Century’
In Latin America And Venezuela
By Zeki ErgasIn Latin America there is now hope. The efforts to build ‘The socialism of the 21st century’ represents that hope
18 July, 2006
G8 Ignores Mounting Problems In World Economy
By Nick BeamsThe scant attention to the global economy, let alone any discussion of co-ordinated economic policies, is remarkable given the fact that, despite continued economic growth, the world economy is facing a series of problems as serious as any since the so-called Asian economic crisis of 1997-98
11 July, 2006
Gyrations Of Indian Stock Market Point
To Future Economic Instability
By Parwini Zora and Kranti KumaraThe wild fluctuations in Indian share prices over the past two months point to the increasing power foreign finance capital is exerting over Indian equity markets and indirectly the Indian economy
04 March, 2006
How Capitalism Threatens Your Health
By Julian EdneyAfter years of collecting health data, Ichiro Kawachi in the U.S., Richard Wilkinson in Britain and John Lynch in the U.S. and their associates have discovered that more lethal than cigarettes, obesity, alcohol, pollution, AIDS, vehicle accidents, suicides and homicides, is the gradient of inequality in our societies
24 February, 2006
What The Price Of Gold May Be Telling Us
By Stephen LendmanMy best judgment is that the gold market senses trouble and is sending an ominous message that all is not well in the world, and it's better to take cover in the traditional safest of all safe havens than risk potential big losses in the financial markets. As one market seer once said - we'll know for sure "in the fullness of time." Place your bets, and stay tuned
22 February, 2006
Booming Indian Bourse: Illusion And Reality
By Girish MishraThe sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, during the first week of February 2006, performed the much-awaited feat of crossing the 10,000-mark. This brought great joy to industry and trade. If one looks slightly deeper, many things become crystal clear, underlining the fact that what is being propagated is seer illusion with not much connection with domestic realities
01 January, 2006
China And The Dollar
By Mike WhitneyOn Thursday, The People’s Republic of China fired off the first volley in what could turn out to be economic Armageddon. China announced that it would begin to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves away from US dollar
30 October, 2005
The Financial Imbalances Of A “Bizarre World”
By Nick BeamsHow much longer can the imbalances in the world economy continue to grow before they give rise to a major crisis? That is the question being increasingly asked in leading financial, academic and government circles
08 October, 2005
Foreign Capital Pours Into China’s Banks
By John ChanA flood of foreign investment into China’s largest state-owned commercial banks (SCBs) since last year has signalled the start of a process that will have major economic ramifications
07 October, 2005
Is the Dollar Still Falling?
By Robert PollinThe historical transition away from 25 years of neoliberal ascendancy will only come when the "no" to neoliberalism votes, such as in France and the Netherlands, can be transformed into positive and successful programs and movements throughout the world
15 May, 2005
Clouds Gather Over World Economy
By Nick BeamsWhile the official forecasts are still for strong economic growth, a number of storm clouds are gathering over the world economy. They include: recession or near-recession conditions in a number of eurozone countries, doubts about the direction of the US economy and concerns that financial markets could face considerable turmoil if major hedge funds start to run into trouble
19 April, 2005
World Markets Expecting Further Falls
By Nick BeamsWorld stock markets are bracing themselves for further turbulence following the sharp decline on Wall Street last week which saw the Dow Jones index close at its lowest level for the year.The sell-off was sparked by adverse reports from some of America’s biggest companies, coupled with fears that the US economy could be sliding into a recession
12 April, 2005
Global Financial System Faces Growing Risks
By Nick BeamsThe International Monetary Fund’s semi-annual assessment of the state of global financial markets is devotes considerable space to outlining the growing dangers posed by the increasing complexity of the entire structure
10 April, 2005
The Price Of Oil And The Bush Dollar
By Dave LindorffSome Wall Street oil industry analysts are now predicting that oil could, before too long, hit $100 a barrel. What they are saying really is that the dollar is likely to fall in value by 50 percent
18 March, 2005
Kerala's Silent Revolution
By Rajaji Mathew ThomasIt was the participation of huge masses in public action and political decision making that transformed Kerala. At present a silent revolution driven by hundreds of thousands of women is in the making. The women self-help group’s, especially the state supported ‘Kudumbasree’ project are turning the poor women of Kerala into small time entrepreneurs
17 March, 2005
Dollar Catching Asian Flu
By Alan BoydThey may be telling a different story to money markets, but Asian central banks have been quietly switching their dollar holdings to regional currencies for at least three years, confirm global banking data
02 December, 2004
The Brandt Report
By Mohammed MesbahiThe Brandt Report was well publicized, read and discussed, but twenty years later none of Brandt’s recommendations have been put into practice. Indeed the third world has been plunged deeper and deeper into poverty, hunger and degradation
30 November, 2004
Dollar Worries
By Nick BeamsAs the dollar contiues to fall against all the major currencies, the onset of a global financial crisis looks imminent
06 November, 2004
India's Transaction Tax Disproves All Fears
By Kavaljit SinghOn October 1, 2004, the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) came into implementation in the Indian financial markets. The market players and analysts who had predicted that the introduction of STT would bring Indian financial markets to a standstill have been proved completely wrong
The World Of International Finance
By C.P ChandrasekharThe global operations of financial firms have registered a galloping growth, leading to a deluge of capital into developing countries irrespective of their needs and, ultimately, limiting the policy space of their governments
21 August, 2004
Still Not Getting By In Bush's America
By Joel WendlandAccording to recent statistics provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the gap between the rich and poor since 1967 has grown by 75 percent. Approximately 26 million households combined to earn only 3.5 percent of the total income earned by people in the US
18 August, 2004
Technology For A New Economic System
By Howard Rheingold & Robert D. HofThe tech guru Howard Rheingold sees a "new economic system" in the unconscious cooperation embodied by Google links and Amazon lists
05 August, 2004
Overturning Transaction Tax
By Kavaljit SinghUnder pressure from powerful lobby of brokers, speculators, arbitrageurs and "noise traders," Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, diluted several important provisions of the proposed securities transaction tax (STT)
20 July, 2004
India Introduces Securities Transaction Tax
By Kavaljit SinghIndia is about to introduce Securities Transaction Tax (STT) in the Indian financial markets which will slow down the flow of speculative money and curb purely short-term speculation by day traders, “noise traders,” arbitrageurs and big operators without significantly affecting the long-term investors
07 June, 2004
The Euro's Big Chance
By Niall FergusonThe dollar's reign as the world's undisputed reserve currency could be drawing to a close
01 June, 2004
McMedia & Market Jihad
By P. SainathWhose interests do we give priority to? Voters? Or `The Market'?
26 May, 2004
Stock Market And The Real Economy
By Jayati GhoshThe current downslide in the stock markets is really not a matter of serious concern for most Indians, and it should certainly not be much of an issue for the new government either
Influencing Economic Policy Using
The Stock Market
By C.P. ChandrasekharRecent upheaval in the Indian stock market was due to the manouerings of the financial profiteers seeking to influence economic policy in their favour
07 May, 2004
World Food Prices Set To Rise
By Jim LobeU.S. and global consumers, already hit hard by sustained high oil prices, may be looking at increases in food prices as well over the coming year, according to an independent Washington-based research group, the Earth Policy Institute
05 May, 2004
Chinese Capitalism:Industrial Powerhouse
Or Sweatshop Of The World?
By John ChanThe combination of plentiful labour, low wages, low taxation and brutal police-state repression made China one of the most attractive investment sites for transnational corporations
25 April, 2004
Fiscal Responsibility Act: Issues and Concerns
By Siba Sankar MohantyThe Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill, 2000, has been enacted in Indian Parliament. The Act is based on the presumption that the fiscal deficit is the key parameter adversely affecting all other macroeconomic variables
25 March, 2004
A Perfect Storm About To Hit
By Jeremy RifkinRising Oil Prices and a Weak Dollar could Shatter the Global Economy
17 February, 2004
Income Inequality In India
By Jayati GhoshThe period since the neo-liberal economic reforms were introduced in India has been one of dramatically increased income inequality. For the bottom 80 per cent of the rural population - well more than half of India's total population , who now number nearly 600 million, per capita consumption has actually declined since 1989-90.
07 January, 2004
How The War Machine Is Driving The US Economy
By Andrew GumbelThe war on Iraq was a form of military keynsianism aimed at bringing the US economy back on the tracks and it seems to be working as the recent growth figures suggest
03 January, 2004
World Economy: No Smooth Path
To Growth In 2004
By Nick BeamsThe longer the world economy continues on the present path, the greater will be the underlying disequilibrium and the possibility of a major financial crisis
08 December, 2003
How To Fix The World Bank
By Mark ScaramellaThe estimated total yearly value of worldwide currency transactions is over $1.2 trillion a day. Or almost $500 trillion per year. Imposing just 1 % tax on these transactions would wipe out poverty from this world
11 November, 2003
Europe Plans Huge Trade War With US
By Stephen CastleAmerican jeans, Florida orange juice and dozens of other US products could double in price from next month because of a growing transatlantic trade war
13 October, 2003
Anxious Time Ahead For World Economy
By Nick BeamsThe annual report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) issued in Geneva earlier this month pointed to an “anxious time for the global economy.”
30 September, 2003
Dollar Fall Adds To Global Turbulence
By Nick BeamsThe sharp drop in the value of the dollar in money markets last week has pointed to the underlying instability of the international financial system and the ever-present possibility of a major crisis
2 June, 2003
Dollar Crisis And American Empire
By Jeffrey SommersAn America in economic crisis would place the world in even greater danger of American military adventures by a government seeking both diversions from its domestic ills while it also sought means to shore up its empire
31 May, 2003
Enron Used U.S. Government To Bully
India And Other Nations
By Emad MekayEnron used the U.S. government to coerce the World Bank and poor nations to grant concessions and resolve its investment problems
21 May, 2003
On The Hunger Trail
By Jean DrèzeA journey through the drought hit Chambal area of Madhya Pradesh where death and hunger dance in chambers of horror
09 May, 2003
Trouble in Bush's America
By Bob HerbertMore than 1 in 10 New Yorkers who would like to work cannot find a job
07 May, 2003
Rich in Imagination
By George MonbiotThe figures which purport to show that the world’s poor are emerging from poverty don’t add up
26 April, 2003
Dollar Lose
By John BrinsleyDollar Heads for Losing Week Versus Euro
30 March, 2003
A Looming Monetary Collision:
Oil, The Dollar and The Euro
By Arjun MakhijaniCurrency turbulence and a de facto competition between the euro and the dollar compounded by war and oil supply uncertainties could produce military and financial chaos
Head-To-Head On World Economic Dominance
By Geoffrey HeardDollar Vs Euro.The war in Iraq is actually the US and Europe going head to head on economic leadership of the world.
Budget 2003-2004
Budgeting The Demise Of Indian Agriculture
By Devinder SharmaUnion of India Budget 2003 - 2004 also is in line with the states unproclaimed aim of the industrialisation of Indian agriculture and the corporate take-over.
Gulf Bounty Is Drying Up in Kerala
By Amy WaldmanKerala is going to face great financial crisis with the remittance from the migrant workers from the Gulf which is estimanted about 22 percent of the state's income fast diminishing. The state has to develop alternative sources of income.
Behind the scenes at the cricket world cup
By Mandisi MajavuIs this cricket world cup the coming together of nations to celebrate sports; or just a money-making scheme that business make profit from once every four years?
Micro credit groups boost women enterpreneurship
By Maleeha RaghaviahWomen enterpreneurship in Kerala has received a tremendous boost under the Kudumbashree project which has its objective of elimination of poverty through the setting up of small enterprises managed by women.
“MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO AROUND:
One Investor Tracks Her Cash Through the Global Economy”
An Inerview done with Barbara Garson
Alternative currency promotes fresh thinking
about sustainable economics
By C.B. GainesA History of Ithaca HOURS
By Paul Glover