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?
Watch part two of this interview here.
While Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $550 million to resolve a civil fraud lawsuit filed by the US Securities Exchange Commission, Goldman has not been held accountable for many of its other questionable investment practices.
A new article in Harper’s Magazine examines the role Goldman played in the food crisis of 2008 when the ranks of the world’s hungry increased by 250 million.
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales of Democracy Now...
In Washington, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has made a deal with broker-dealer, Goldman Sachs, who will pay a fine of US$550 million to settle a fraud charge brought against the firm. The SEC brought charges against Goldman for secretly betting against its own clients in the US housing crash of 2008. Goldman entered into the settlement without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.
Paul Jay of the Real News Network talks to Gerald Epstein, professor of economics and...
Paul Jay of the Real News Network argues that the agreement emerging from the Toronto G20 summit had "a little bit of something for everybody."
According to Jay, much that is contained in the G20 document is conditional with just one "hard agreement," which states, "The advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilize or reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016." (The G20 Summit Declaration)
The...
Leonard Gentle -
In the streets of Athens, tens of thousands march and protest, unions strike and even sections of the police and public servants join hands against an austerity programme. Daily, we go through a pattern of announcements from European Union (EU) finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) promising bailouts and relief from market speculation, only to have the whole thing declared insufficient the next day, while “market jitters” continue...
Last week, in the run up to May Day, observed as a national holiday in 80 countries, the American labour movement organized a march on Wall Street -- after many years. The march was aimed at highlighting the plight of 11 million Americans who have lost their jobs as a result of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic recession caused by the Wall Street instigated sub-prime mortgage market crash. Richard Trumka, president of America’s labour federation, AFL-CIO, contends Wall...
Saliem Fakir -
When Minister Ebrahim Patel released his fledgling department’s medium-term strategic plan, he indicated that the Department of Economic Development would investigate the use of pension funds for the purposes of infrastructure development and repair.
No sooner had he announced this, did some economists, in a typical knee-jerk reaction, jeer the idea conjecturing that it was bad. In contrast, there have been some others from the same quarters (private capital markets) who thought it...
