The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
SACSIS promotes the principle of just economies. We are opposed to economic development that violates social and economic rights and increases inequalities in the pursuit of economic growth.
Democracy Now -
The worldwide financial crisis is forcing some to rethink the neoliberal policies widely blamed for the financial collapse. Democracy Now's Amy Goodman speaks with University of Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang. He is an economist specializing in developmental economics. In 2005, he was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. Chang is also author of the books "Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective" and, his...
Saliem Fakir -
The recently released Framework for South Africa’s Response to the International Economic Crisis (19 February 2009), by the Presidency, calls for all South Africans to work together and build social solidarity to get us out of this crisis.
But how the one part of South Africa comes to the party with the other is entirely asymmetric, as the weaker half will come limping rather than race to the cause.
The document declares noble ideals to strive for. To get there and build a truly...
Glenn Ashton -
It is clear that we have entered a global economic fire-storm. There are inevitable comparisons between the Great Depression which also began on Wall Street and which will affect each of us, where ever we live, as if we were US citizens.
Besides comparisons being odious, no two historical events are ever identical in either cause or effect. There certainly may be similarities between the Great Depression and the Pretty Damn Massive One into which we are now sinking. Those in the navigation...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Minister Trevor Manuel referred to debates on the size of deficits as an illusionary delusion, asking South Africans to focus on the effectiveness and quality of spending. Underlying this perspective is an important assumption that tough choices in economic policy have placed us in a better position.
Today, we have more money, and are able to responsibly increase the deficit, because of these choices, argues Minister Manuel. Assessing the record of government in this manner is however, an...
Glenn Ashton -
Major retailers like Pick n Pay have asked suppliers for explanations as to why the food costs have remained high, while transport and input costs have fallen. This is indicative of fundamental problems in the food marketplace.
The cynical world view of many, that food producers are all too quick to raise prices when margins are threatened but loath to reduce them when increased profits are locked in, appears valid.
There is usually a lag for input costs to affect prices of grocery items;...
Saliem Fakir -
Every-time capitalism is hit by a crisis it is described as being an errant event. The latest scandal which has rocked the US financial sector, where trusted and the likeable figure Bernie Madoff ran a Ponzi scheme for almost two decades, is once again dismissed as the work of a rogue element.
But rarely will the pundits of the new economy, which rely on the use of innovative speculative financial instruments to make inflated profits from thin air, blame its faulty free market philosophy and...
