Issue 5/Sep-Oct 2009

Cotton Made in Africa: A Field Report by Roger Peltzer

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Issue 5/Sep-Oct 2009

Contents

* The Tobin Tax Lives Again. Powerful message to the casino
Tobin tax-like proposals are back on the agenda. Latest example: France and Germany managed to get the financial transaction tax (FTT) proposal de facto into the Pittsburgh Declaration of the G20. The IMF is tasked to prepare a report on instruments to make the financial industry "a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for any burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system". Dani Rodrik comments.

* Beyond G20 Proposals: UNCTAD Calls for New Exchange-Rate Management
More effective regulation and supervision of financial market activity is indispensable to prevent a repeat of the current global financial and economic crisis. But equally important is a reform of the international monetary and financial system aimed at reducing the scope for gains from currency speculation, and at avoiding large trade imbalances, concludes the new Trade and Development Report (TDR). WDEV summarizes UNCTAD’s approach to such reform.

* World Bank/FAO: Deceptive Fortune Tellers. Commercial agriculture in Africa
The dimensions are truly gigantic: „A vast stretch of African savannah land that spreads across 25 countries has the potential to turn several African nations into global players in bulk commodity production“, reads a press release from the FAO. Four million km2 of Guinea Savannah, „one of the largest underused agricultural land reserves in the world“, could be developed for commercial agriculture, says a new FAO-World Bank study reviewed by Uwe Hoering.

* The Scent of Money and the Stench of Corruption. Dams and corruption
When there is a chance to push a big loan out the door, some people just can’t say no. Every World Bank President since James Wolfensohn has committed to fight the cancer of corruption. For more than ten years, the Bank has talked the talk, but has not walked the walk. Peter Bosshard comments on the latest dam project in pipeline.

* Seperately (as free content): The European Civil Society Round-Up

WDEV 5/Sep-Oct 2009 as PDF file for subscribers >>> HERE

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Issue 3/May-Jun 2010
Minister Niebel's Leitmotiv: German Interests + Greece's Baltic Future + World Bank and Gender + Trade Union Rights
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WDEV Highlights

Pressure on Workers Grows as Crisis Hits Jobs
The ITUC's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings - an increase of 30% over the previous year. The new Survey also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers' rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.
Minister Niebel's Leitmotiv: "German Interests"
Barely in office, German development minister Dirk Niebel unambiguously mapped out the road: he wants to ensure that development cooperation once again focuses on German interests. This position provoked-probably intentionally-protest from the greater part of the German development community.
The Baltic Future of Greece
Latvia and Estonia show us what Greece may look forward to if it follows the advice it gets from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union. As noted previously, Latvia has experienced the worst two-year economic downturn on record, losing more than 25% of GDP, a recent study shows.
Greece: A European Crisis Needs European Solutions
A group of economists has written an open letter to European policymakers criticising their collective failure to address the Greek crisis as a European crisis. It sets out the various causes of the Greek crisis, of which poor fiscal management by that country is only one, and points out the European dimension of the problems. It calls for decisive and coordinated policies by European and national actors to stem the crisis.
IEG Evaluated World Bank's Gender Support
The evaluation of the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank's support for gender issues between 2002 and 2008 is of significant relevance in the light of the Beijing+15 review and the launching of gender mainstreaming as crucial strategy for all institutions and organizations.