The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
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Jospeh Stiglitz argues that there are a large number of ways in which a focus on GDP is not a good measure of economic performance and societal wellbeing. GDP doesn't tell you about what happens to the typical citizen and this is a problem when you have growing inequality in societies where most people, not just the poor, are becoming worse off. There are many alternative measures that we could be focusing on such as a focus on green GDP that takes into account of environmental degradation...
The final debate between American presidential candidates is over. Analysts say Obama gained the confidence of independent voters. Here's a summary of candidate's responses to key issues such as the economy, tax cuts, healthcare, education, energy, foreign policy, Columbia and 'Sarah Palin'.
What can just one person do to change the world? "You get up off your butt and you take action. There is nothing magical about change. It is getting up off your ass and caring enough to take the first step to contribute to an issue you care about." says Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams. Williams is the co-founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Her work contributed to the new International Treaty to Ban Cluster Munitions.
Shortly after the G7 meeting last Friday, US Secretary Paulson announced that the Bush administration would move to 'sort of' nationalise some banks. But Pepe Escobar argues that this won't be enough to calm the markets in the current financial crisis, particularly as everybody is ignoring the elephant in the room - the massive US trade deficit. Corporate US offshores everything. With a smaller US deficit, the world would not have been so polluted by so many toxic US finance instruments,...
Since 1987, World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty has taken place annually on October 17. The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) uses the opportunity to ask all citizens of the world to stand up against poverty. In 2007, a phenomenal 43 million people stood up to demand that world leaders make good on their promises to eradicate poverty and inequality. To find out what you can do to participate in this action, please click here. Read the Charter of the World Day to Overcome...
The reason Lehman Brothers went down is twofold, says Joseph Stiglitz. Not only were their assets bad, but their products were also very non-transparent. The company simply engaged in a great deal of accounting gimmickry and lost people's trust. Financial markets are based on trust says Stiglitz, and what happened with Lehman Brothers is a breakdown of trust. No one wanted to turn their money over to helping Lehman Brothers because they didn't know what Lehman's assets were worth.
