Labor, Trade, & Finance Archives - Page 68 of 214

Mexico’s G20 Summit: In the Eye of the Storm

by Laura Carlsen | Jun 13, 2012

The hopes of Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon to have the European crisis under control before he presides over the G20 Summit have been dashed. Although the immediate threat of an economic meltdown has subsided, the crisis is far from over. Continued uncertainty in Greece and growing crisis in Spain are the most recent problems that have worsened the situation in the euro zone, said the European Commission in its weekly report for the last week of May. As usual, it called for holding the line.

The Spanish Bank Bailout: Digging a Deeper Hole

by Oscar Reyes | Jun 13, 2012

“I’m going to see the European cup having resolved the situation,” claimed Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Sunday, after a bailout of the country’s banks worth up to €100 billion was announced. The Spanish team drew, but the Spanish people continue to lose – paying for a crisis that has left them with “not much bread, and terrible circus” (Poco pan y pésimo circo), in the words of a Spanish rap-rock song that sounds more apt today than when it was recorded over 15 years ago.

The Failure of the Summit of the Americas VI

by Raul Zibechi | May 31, 2012

Dilma Rousseff interrupted the speech of Barack Obama. The President of the United States was speaking about the advances of various countries in Latin America, commenting that now there exists “a prosperous middle class” that represents a business opportunity for companies from his country. “Suddenly, they are interested in buying iPads, interested in buying planes from Boeing.” “Or Embraer,” interjected Dilma, yielding applause.

China’s Missing Middle Class

by Nan Chen | May 24, 2012

Two parallel narratives surround globalization and the trade imbalance between China and the United States. One side moans that competition with China has squeezed traditional U.S. manufacturing jobs and caused the middle class to disappear. The other side declares that a new Chinese middle class is riding the wave of China’s inexorable economic boom. A particularly hyperbolic headline in Forbes, for example, proclaimed the rise of China’s middle class to be “The Biggest Story of Our Time.”

India’s Need for Iran’s Oil a Sticking Point for U.S. and Its Sanctions Regime

by Mary Carras | May 22, 2012

The third U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue next month will deal with contentious issues such as protectionism and sanctions.

Free Trade Agreement Ignores Colombian History of Violence Against Trade Unions

by Melissa Moskowitz | May 22, 2012

Anti-union crimes are widespread and remain a tremendous concern for people who object to the U.S.-Colombia FTA.

Stateless and Fancy-Free

by Russ Wellen | May 11, 2012

Conservatives and Tea Partiers don’t understand that the rich — including U.S. corporations — don’t see themselves as Americans.

Labor Trafficking: Modern-day Slave Trade

by Walden Bello | May 11, 2012

The freer flow of commodities and capital has been one of the features of the contemporary process of globalization. Unlike in the earlier phase of globalization in the 19^th century, however, the freer flow of commodities and capital has not been accompanied by a freer movement of labor globally. The dynamic centers of the global economy, after all, have imposed ever tighter restrictions on migration from the poorer countries.Yet the demand for cheap labor in the richer parts of the world continues to grow, even as more and more people in developing countries seek to escape conditions of economic stagnation and poverty that are often the result of the same dynamics of a system of global capitalism that have created prosperity in the developed world.

Waiting for Copernicus

by John Feffer | May 8, 2012

It’s happening in Buenos Aires. It’s happening in Paris and in Athens. It’s even happening at the World Bank headquarters.The global economy is finally shifting away from the model that prevailed for the last three decades. Europeans are rejecting austerity. Latin Americans are nationalizing enterprises. The next head of the World Bank has actually done effective development work.

Maybe that long-heralded “end of the Washington consensus” is finally upon us.

Annotate This: EU Response to Argentina’s Nationalization

by Melissa Moskowitz | May 7, 2012

Despite being immensely popular among the people of Argentina, the Argentinean government’s decision to nationalize the YPF oil company has continued to come under attack by those who obstinately promote extractive capitalism. The measure would nationalize YPF and restore 51 percent of the company’s ownership to Argentina. It would thus end sister company Repsol’s 57.4 percent majority stake in the company.