War or Peace, Barbarism or Hope?
The spectre of “stagflation” threatens the world once again. This time, the risk is the direct consequence of political provocations and war.
2y ago
Climate Injustice at Glasgow Cop-Out
The planet is already 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer than in pre-industrial times. July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded in 142 years. Despite the pandemic slowdown, 2020 has been the hottest year so far, ending the warmest decade (2011-2020) ever.
2y ago
WTO finished without TRIPS waiver
Quickly enabling greater and more affordable production of and access to Covid-19 medical needs are urgently needed in the South.
2y ago
The Carbon Tax is Overrated
Addressing global warming requires cutting carbon emissions by almost half by 2030! For the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emissions must fall by 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, instead of the 2.7 degrees Celsius now expected.
2y ago
Bleak Prospects for Least Developed Countries
“The outlook for LDCs is grim.”—the latest United Nations (UN) assessment of the prospects for the least developed countries (LDCs) notes recent setbacks without finding any silver lining on the horizon.
2y ago
Better late than never, but act now
The world should now be more aware of the likely Covid-19 devastation unless urgently checked. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a USD 8 billion plan to quickly vaccinate many more people to expedite the end of the pandemic.
2y ago
Biden disappoints: Must do more, not less
US President Biden’s earlier support for a vaccine patent waiver raised hopes for his summit more than a week ago. However, it proved disappointing, not only for efforts to end the pandemic, but also for US leadership in these challenging times.
2y ago
Progressive taxation for our times
As developing countries struggle to cope with the pandemic, they risk being set back further by restrictive fiscal policies. These were imposed by rich countries who no longer practice them, if they ever did. Instead, the global South urgently needs bold policies to ensure adequate relief, recovery and reform.
2y ago
April 5, 2019
Has privatisation benefitted the public?
In most cases of privatisation, some outcomes benefit some, which serves to legitimise the change. Nevertheless, overall net welfare improvements are the exception, not the rule.
February 26, 2019
Agribusiness is the problem, not the solution
For two centuries, all too many discussions about hunger and resource scarcity have been haunted by the ghost of the parson Thomas Robert Malthus. Malthus warned that rising populations would exhaust resources, especially those needed for food production. Exponential population growth would outstrip food output.
January 10, 2019
Rethinking free trade agreements in uncertain times
After US President Donald Trump withdrew from Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), involving 12 countries on the Pacific rim, on his first day in office, Japan, Australia and their closest allies proposed and promoted the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to draw the US back into the region to counter China's fast-growing power and influence.
November 23, 2018
Inequality undermines democracy
Economic inequality—involving both income and wealth concentration—has risen in nearly all world regions since the 1980s.
October 21, 2018
Developing countries losing out to digital giants
A new United Nations report warns that the potential benefits to developing countries of digital technologies are likely to be lost to a small number of successful first movers who have established digital monopolies.
October 9, 2018
Trade war due to deeper malaise
The world economy remains tepid and unstable a decade after the 2008 financial crisis, while growing trade conflicts are symptoms of deeper economic malaise, according to a new United Nations publication.
September 21, 2018
Another global financial crisis for developing countries?
George Soros, Bill Gates and other pundits have been predicting another financial crisis. In their recent book, Revolution Required: The Ticking Bombs of the G7 Model, Peter Dittus and Herve Hamoun, former senior officials of the Bank of International Settlements, warned of "ticking time bombs" in the global financial system waiting to explode, mainly due to the policies of major developed countries.
March 3, 2018
Model trade deal con
In early 2016, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement—involving twelve countries on the Pacific Ocean rim, including the USA—was signed in New Zealand. Right after his inauguration in January 2017, newly elected US President Donald Trump withdrew from the TPP, effectively killing the agreement as its terms require the participation of both the US and Japan.
February 20, 2018
Intellectual property regime undermines equity, progress
Over the last few decades, people in the developing world have been rejecting the intellectual property (IP) regime as it has been increasingly imposed on them following the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) including its trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) regime. IP rights (IPRs) have been further enforced through ostensible free trade agreements (FTAs) and investment treaties
January 8, 2018
Another setback for WTO
As feared, the Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 10-13, 2017 ended in failure. It failed to even produce the customary ministerial declaration reiterating the centrality of the global trading system and the importance of trade as a driver of development.
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