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?
Shortly after the G7 meeting last Friday, US Secretary Paulson announced that the Bush administration would move to 'sort of' nationalise some banks. But Pepe Escobar argues that this won't be enough to calm the markets in the current financial crisis, particularly as everybody is ignoring the elephant in the room - the massive US trade deficit. Corporate US offshores everything. With a smaller US deficit, the world would not have been so polluted by so many toxic US finance instruments,...
Glenn Ashton -
The time has come to shift towards a more equitable society.
The present disruption in the marketplace will continue to rock the global financial system for years. This economic shake-out signals many things, perhaps even the end of capitalism as we know it. After all, free market capitalism is meant to stand on its own two feet, independent of state interference. It was never meant to have been rescued by taxpayers funds, as is now the case. The average citizen was never consulted about...
The reason Lehman Brothers went down is twofold, says Joseph Stiglitz. Not only were their assets bad, but their products were also very non-transparent. The company simply engaged in a great deal of accounting gimmickry and lost people's trust. Financial markets are based on trust says Stiglitz, and what happened with Lehman Brothers is a breakdown of trust. No one wanted to turn their money over to helping Lehman Brothers because they didn't know what Lehman's assets were worth.
Joshua Holland -
Editors Note: Despite being rejected by Congress earlier this week, the controversial bailout bill has since been approved by the American Senate and made its way back to the House of Representatives where it was endorsed the second time round. For updated commentary on this issue, you may wish to read: Bailout Passes Senate: 9 Reasons That's Bad News and The Really Hard-to-Swallow Truth About the Bailout and The Bailout: How Capitalism Killed Democracy.
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On Monday, the Bush...
The 'Story of Stuff' is a 20-minute documentary examining the underside of our production and consumption patterns and exposing the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues. Produced by Annie Leonard, The 'Story of Stuff' is a rivetingly entertaining excursion through the supply and demand chain of our consumerist culture.
Fazila Farouk -
In June this year, the United Nations (UN) extended, Special Representative on Human Rights and Business, John Ruggie’s mandate to continue finding solutions to bridge the gap between business and human rights.
Ruggie’s work is largely aimed at addressing the perils of globalisation given the increasing mobility of big companies marching across the planet in search of the best labour deals in the most pliable working environments
The corruptive power of the mighty...
