financial flows Archives - Page 18 of 65

The Coming Capitalist Consensus

by Walden Bello, John Feffer | Dec 24, 2008

Not surprisingly, the swift unraveling of the global economy combined with the ascent to the U.S. presidency of an African-American liberal has left millions anticipating that the world is on the threshold of a new era. Some of President-elect Barack Obama’s new appointees – in particular ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers to lead the National Economic Council, New York Federal Reserve Board chief Tim Geithner to head Treasury, and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to serve as trade representative – have certainly elicited some skepticism. But the sense that the old neoliberal formulas are thoroughly discredited have convinced many that the new Democratic leadership in the world’s biggest economy will break with the market fundamentalist policies that have reigned since the early 1980s.

Green Paper Gold

by Jeremy Brecher, Tim Costello, John Feffer, Brendan Smith | Dec 9, 2008

There’s growing support for fighting global economic stagnation and global warming simultaneously with a “green New Deal” nationally and globally. Investing to cut greenhouse gasses can create “green jobs” and provide fiscal stimulus while it is protecting the planet. But how is it going to be paid for?

Charting a Progressive International Financial Agenda

by Daniel D. Bradlow, Emily Schwartz Greco | Dec 8, 2008

The international financial crisis has shaken the self-confidence of the managers of the international financial system. Their frantic efforts to prop up the global financial system and stimulate national economies are noteworthy, not only for the magnitude of the funds they are throwing at the problem but also for demonstrating they don’t seem to fully understand the system that they created. Their confusion is producing the best opportunity in 60 years to create a more socially and environmentally responsible international financial order.

Assessing the G-20 Declaration

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Robert Weissman | Dec 1, 2008

The G-20’s “Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy,” held in Washington on November 15, gave world powers a chance to coordinate their responses to the burgeoning international financial crisis and accompanying ills in real economies around the globe but produced a long, vague, and telling declaration, devoid of meaningful commitments to change business as usual.

The Impending Development Aid Crisis

by Eveline Herfkens, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 26, 2008

Even as more money is found to rescue yet another banking giant, additional resources are scarce for the developing world. Yet without strong action by world leaders at the Financing for Development conference in Doha, Qatar, which begins on November 29, this subject will likely be another victim of the financial crisis, with grave repercussions for global poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

International Financial Reform and Africa: What is to be Done?

by Daniel D. Bradlow, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 20, 2008

Africa, the poorest and least robust part of the global economy, could be the region most severely affected by the financial crisis that began in the rich countries and is now metastasizing into a global economic crisis. Its export earnings are being hit by the recent decline in commodity prices (some prices have dropped by more than 50% since July). Its access to international finance, never exactly robust, is receding: economists estimate that private financial flows to developing countries will be 30-50% lower next year and it’s not yet clear if aid and other official flows will fill the gap. In addition, the World Bank expects remittances from emigrants, which represent about 2% of GDP for all sub-Saharan African countries to decline, and that will directly impact millions of individual households. Growth rates in 2009 will be lower than 2008 rates, and inflation rates will be higher. These developments will set back African efforts to meet the Millennium Development goals and lead to an increased number of extremely poor people in Africa. And already 320 million out of a total population of about 500 million live on less than $1 per day.

Bailout for the World’s Poorest People

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Salil Shetty | Nov 13, 2008

Just a few weeks after releasing its official forecast for the next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) adjusted its growth estimates downwards, predicting that poorer countries will see big losses in GDP over the next two years as a result of the global financial meltdown. Independent assessments estimate that developing countries’ losses between now and 2010 will be in excess of $300 billion.

The IMF is Dead; Long Live the IMF

by Sameer Dossani, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 8, 2008

Rumors of the International Monetary Fund’s demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated. While the IMF has spent most of the last three years looking for clients and “relevance,” the end of the U.S. housing bubble and the resulting global credit crunch seem to have given the institution a new lease on life.

Latin America’s New Consensus

by Conn Hallinan, Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 29, 2008

When the Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz said the great tragedy of Mexico was that it was so far from God and so close to the United States, the comment summed up the long and tortured relationship between the Colossus of the North and Latin America.

We Only Need One Bretton Woods II

by Aldo Caliari, Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 28, 2008

Following several weeks of widespread global financial turmoil, leaders of several of the world’s most powerful countries are planning a summit and a series of meetings to address this burgeoning crisis. The November 15 summit and an accompanying series of smaller meetings will weigh the potential for reforms of the international financial system. Some are calling these meetings “Bretton Woods II,” in reference to the New Hampshire conference held in 1944 that created today’s main global financial institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.