Topic: Finance and debt
Inequality is not inevitable, it’s a policy choice. For proof, look at Namibia
Article / 20th July 2017Don’t despair that the huge gaps between rich and poor cannot ever be bridged. As Oxfam's new 'Commitment to Reducing Inequality' index shows, government policies really can help to shape more – or less – equal societies and economies. By Max Lawson.
A world in trouble: drought, war, food, flight
Article / 19th July 2017Climate change is becoming a permanent reality affecting food supplies in many parts of the world, escalating a new international food crisis in 19 countries. As the trend of increasing migratory flows worsens, there is no escape from the need for a rapid reduction in carbon emissions, writes Paul Rogers for openDemocracy.
G20 is desperately trying to save a failed world order
Article / 17th July 2017A new politics is needed if the incredible riches of our world are to be shared by the many. But the G20 cannot or will not adopt such a redistributive and regulatory agenda; only massive popular action can bring it about, writes Nick Dearden.
Poverty reduction as a goal sounds lovely, but this fairy tale vision of development and of human rights betrays a serious misunderstanding of poverty
Article / 17th July 2017A collection of myth-busting insights about global inequality and the creation of poverty, with key questions to ponder in the latest human rights reader no. 417, by Claudio Schuftan.
Citizens’ wealth funds: An alternative to the inequality escalator
Blog / 1st July 2017Shouldn't the returns from at least part of our national wealth go to all citizens and not just the already rich? By Stewart Lansley, Inequality.org.
Degrowth: the case for a new economic paradigm
Article / 30th June 2017Unbridled growth appears to be at odds with social well-being and environmental sustainability. How might we develop a model that reduces the imperative for growth while maintaining economic stability? By Riccardo Mastini for openDemocracy.
Development: World Bank fudges on inequality
Blog / 19th May 2017The World Bank has released its first annual report tracking progress towards the two key SDGs on poverty and inequality. But the analysis does not explain its claim of a modest, partial reversal of previously growing inequality, while its policy prescriptions remain surprisingly limited, write Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury.
Debt campaigners highlight countries in crisis
Article / 17th May 2017Public services in some of the world’s poorest countries are being starved of resources as a result of their governments’ heavy debt loads, the Jubilee Debt Campaign has warned.
New study: How did we do that? The possibility of rapid transition
Report / 3rd May 2017A new study by the ESRC STEPS Centre at Sussex University and the New Weather Institute points to historical evidence that the sort of rapid, large scale social and economic change needed in the face of climate destabilisation has occurred before and could do so again.
Social justice for the sustainability of life: on the need for a global social pact
Article / 24th March 2017We now need transformative policies able to open a new horizon, without poverty, with less inequality, without destroying our natural environment. Our new situation requires an urgent reflection on power relations and concrete alternatives, central to which is the reconceptualisation of social protection in terms of commons.