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?
The news of society's growing inequality makes all of us uneasy. But why? In this TED Talk, behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, reveals some new, surprising research about what we think is fair, as far as how wealth is distributed over societies. He then shows how public perception stacks up to real statistics. What he exposes is an incredible knowledge gap in terms of what people think the level of inequality is compared to the reality. Ariely’s research findings got really interesting...
Nick Galasso & Marjorie Wood -
Extreme economic inequality is corrosive.
It makes poverty reduction harder, hurts our economies, and drives conflict and violence. Reversing this trend presents a significant challenge, but one where we’ve seen some progress. Below we offer eight ways to move the world forward in reducing global inequality.
1. A Check on Illicit Outflows
In developing countries, inadequate resourcing for health, education, sanitation, and investment in the poorest citizens drives extreme...
The Supreme Court of Iceland last Thursday upheld the convictions of four former banking executives charged with market manipulations. Iceland has now convicted the top officers of all three of its major banks. Associate professor of Economics and Law, Bill Black, says Iceland is one of the hardest places in the world to achieve the successful prosecution of banking executives. But, contends Black, if Iceland could do it, the U.S., with all the resources of the FBI and Justice Department,...
Speaking at an event to examine different ideological perspectives – left, right and centre - on building a more inclusive South African economy, Ann Bernstein of the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) called for continued fiscal discipline, which she argued has been responsible for lifting millions of people out of poverty in countries like India, Brazil and South Africa.
This panel discussion was co-hosted by the South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS)...
Common Dreams -
Global income inequality has returned to levels recorded in the 1820s—when the Industrial Revolution produced sizable wealth gaps between the rich and poor—according to a new report released Thursday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The sweeping study, "How Was Life? Global Well-Being Since 1820," uses historical data from eight world regions to present for the first time "systematic evidence" of trends in areas such as...
Leonard Gentle -
President Jacob Zuma recently returned from Russia, a strange place to be for many when you’re in the middle of a crisis at home, as many a commentator here in South Africa has observed. Maybe he and Putin were swapping stories of a new series of Survivor. Putin certainly would have a lot to teach Zuma on that score.
But important as those tips may be for our embattled Zuma, Putin has much bigger fish to fry and for those of us more interested in social justice than the competing...
