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 seeks to examine global issues, particularly as they relate to South Africa.
Harry Browne -
The Chains of Capital are Only as Strong as the Weakest Link
Around here lately there’s been much talk about the Easter Rising. It’s nothing particularly interesting: just the “Men of 1916” turning up as the stars of a series of rhetorical questions that boil down to: “Was it for this that they gave their lives?” The Irish Times, bitter enemy of those rebels 94 years ago and rarely friendly toward them since, bundled the refrain into an editorial last...
Frida Berrigan -
Remember way back when President Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo, restore the United States' moral standing and end the practice of torture? It wasn’t that long ago -- January 2009. As one of his first acts as president, Obama signed the executive order committing to closing the prison within a year and ending the practice of torture.
He knew the importance of this principled stance. In a major address on national security later that same year, President Obama held forth on...
Democracy Now -
Before leaving Seoul in South Korea, America's President Barack Obama defended last week’s $600 billion move by the Federal Reserve to buy up government bonds. Obama rejected critics’ claims the U.S. is waging a currency war by devaluing the dollar. But Obama failed to win international backing for his effort to pressure China to raise its currency value. The U.S. has accused China of artificially manipulating the price of the yuan for economic gain.
To find out more about these...
Dale T. McKinley -
So, the Republicans and their Tea Party buddies have resoundingly won the just concluded mid-term elections in the US, taking majoritarian control of the House of Representatives as well as state governorships and almost doing the same in the Senate. The victors are busy screaming from the rooftops about securing the ‘mandate of the people for radical change’, while the incumbent President and his defeated Democrats murmur their mea culpas and wonder what went wrong. Is this the...
Walden Bello -
The unexpected death a few days ago of Nestor Kirchner deprived not only Argentina of a remarkable, albeit controversial leader. It also took away an exemplary figure in the Global South when it came to dealing with international financial institutions.
Kirchner defied the creditors. More importantly, he got away with it.
The Collapse
The full significance of Kirchner’s moves must be seen in the context of the economy he inherited on his election as Argentine president in 2003....
Saliem Fakir -
We sit amongst the vulnerable beneath the trampling of elephants as they fight it out. South Africa may be a big player in Africa, but is no match for the economic giants in the global arena. South Africa simply does not have the foreign currency reserves or trade power to fight a currency war.
All South Africa can do is watch and hope for the best while attempting to stem the assault on the Rand to some degree -- but it won’t be enough.
The currency war on everyone's lips marks a new...
