Almost a year and a half after the historic signing of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) in Oslo in December 2008, 146 financial institutions from 15 countries around the world still provide over US$43bn worth of investments and financial services to seven producers of cluster bombs. These are the updated findings of the most comprehensive report to date on global financial investments in these banned weapons (see reference). Carla September reports
The human and economic cost of these weapons is well documented. Like landmines, cluster bombs have killed and injured thousands of civilians during the last 40 years and continue to do so long after a conflict has ended. Despite this, the world’s top financial institutions continue to finance the following seven leading producers of cluster bombs and cluster bomb components ... ... this article is for subscribers only. For direct log in >>> click here.If you have no subscription >>> pick your option or >>>
After decades of isolation - imposed by major OECD countries out of concern for the country's human rights violations - Myanmar is emerging as a new darling of the "West" - judging by the accelerating succession of visits by senior officials and gurus. New groups of investors are waiting to enter the country as soon as possible.
Persistent high unemployment, the euro area debt crisis and premature fiscal austerity have already slowed global growth and factor into the possibility of a new recession. Now the United Nations have downgraded significantly its forecasts for the world economy in the next year.
Eastern European states are in for a new round of the crisis. The external control of the banking sector and high reliance on external credit has landed the countries of Eastern Europe in a vulnerable position. Now, credit flows from Western banks are drying up again. Hungary has been the first country in the region to ask for IMF support again.
While the G20 efforts to manage global aggregate demand, exchange rate management and stronger regulation of the international financial sector have not worked out quite as planned, in Cannes the Group was further solidifying its role in directing the system of multilateral institutions.
In November 2011, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is celebrating its 50th anniversary.The new Minister, Dirk Niebel of the (neo)-liberal FDP has launched a 'radical change of course'. In the recent edition of the Reality of Aid shadow report the change is analyzed.