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.
The first part of TDR 2009 presented here is subtitled "Responding to the global crisis" (the second part deals with "Climate Change Mitigation and Development"). According to the study, the current global financial and economic crisis is a reflection of the predominance that purely financial activities have gained over real productive activities. Blind faith in the efficiency of free financial markets lured governments and regulators into underestimating risk and pursuing excessive deregulation. The result was that private agents could engage in extreme leveraging and create havoc in national and international financial systems ... ... this article comes up in WDEV 5/Sep-Oct 2009 and 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.