Third World Resurgence #217/218 (SEPT/OCT 2008)

This issue’s contents:

COVER: The Deepening Global Financial Crisis and Its Impact on Developing Countries

The current global financial turmoil and Asian developing countries
By Yilmaz Akyüz

As the US financial crisis impacts on developing countries, Yilmaz Akyuz attempts to gauge in what way and to what extent the crisis will affect the economies in the Asian region.

The financial crisis and the developing world
By Jayati Ghosh

Despite its adverse impact on the economies of developing countries, the current financial crisis has created a genuine opportunity for not only questioning the economic paradigm that has been dominant for far too long, but also replacing it with a more progressive and democratic alternative, says Jayati Ghosh.

Asia and the meltdown of American finance
By R Taggart Murphy

The US financial crisis may yet force Asia to wean itself from dependence on the US market and build up domestic and regional markets for its goods and services. And conceivably, it could force Asia's elites to engage in open political discussion as to how the region's economies could be restructured, says R Taggart Murphy.

China responds to the crisis
By Chee Yoke Ling

China, concerned about the impact of the crisis on domestic stability, has responded with a huge stimulus package. Some analysts are of the view that this is a move which may help to re-orient the country's economy towards building a sustainable domestic market.

Africa and global finance: potential resistance?
By Patrick Bond

As Africa braces itself to face the impact of the global financial meltdown, a debate is underway on how to respond. Patrick Bond reports.

South America: Recession can be avoided
By Mark Weisbrot

Mark Weisbrot contends that South America can weather the current financial storm with minimal damage if it adopts the right macroeconomic policies.

The G-20 summit and the illusion of a Bretton Woods 2
By T Rajamoorthy

The G-20 summit of leaders from several major economies, which was held in Washington on 15 November to formulate a response to the global financial crisis, did not yield concrete measures to effectively regulate the reckless financial market practices at the heart of the crisis. Expectations that the meeting would emulate the historic Bretton Woods conference of 1944 in reshaping the international financial architecture have thus been dashed - and yet, writes T Rajamoorthy, such a far-reaching outcome was never likely to emerge from the summit.

UN must intervene after failure of US and BWIs to address crisis
By Kanaga Raja

Distinguished speakers at an interactive panel discussion on the global financial crisis initiated by and held at the UN General Assembly in October were unanimous in their view that the global crisis requires a global solution and that the best forum for this is the United Nations.

A call for revamping the global financial architecture
The South Centre, an intergovernmental policy think-tank of developing countries, has called for the revamping of global finance. The following statement, prepared by its board members on 29 October, proposes six lines of action towards this goal.

Japan's lost decade and the present financial crisis
By Michael Lim Mah Hui

As world and consumer prices continue to drop, there is renewed fear of deflation. The nightmare scenario is Japan's 'lost decade'. Michael Lim Mah Hui explains what happened in Japan and considers the prospect of a similar fate.

From Northern Rock to Northern wreck
By Jeremy Seabrook

As Britain reels under the shock of the global meltdown, its prime minister Gordon Brown has sought to portray himself as a critic of the 'free market'. In debunking this claim, Jeremy Seabrook illustrates how destructive the process of financial liberalisation has been in Britain by tracing the odyssey of a bank which had working-class origins - Northern Rock.

From budget-cutting to 'bubblenomics'
By Robert Brenner

By taking a historical view, Robert Brenner shows that the current financial crisis is the disastrous outcome of a desperate effort by policy makers to overcome the declining dynamism of the economies of the advanced capitalist countries since the economic downturn of 1979. The adoption of 'bubblenomics' since the 1990s to resolve the twin problems of a tendency to stagnation and a falling rate of profit plaguing these economies has led to this latest devastating crisis.

ECOLOGY

Beauty and the Beast
By Janis B Alcorn

Over 130 million culturally diverse people have become 'refugees' after being forcibly removed from their traditional habitat in the name of conservation. Conservation agencies must bear in mind that there can be no environmental justice until there is social justice, says Janis B Alcorn.

WORLD AFFAIRS

Obama, Rahm-bo and the end of the New American Century
By Paul Craig Roberts

Hopes that President-elect Barack Obama will usher in change in Washington have been shattered by his choice of foreign and economic policy advisers.

HUMAN RIGHTS

The Miami connection
By Tom Fawthrop

Tom Fawthrop highlights the case of the 'Miami 5' who were prosecuted and jailed by the US, which is ostensibly leading the war on terror, for fighting terror.

VIEWPOINT

Pirates and financial governance
By Roberto Bissio

One by-product of the financial deregulation that has led to the global crisis is the growth of offshore tax havens. Ironically, while the pirates of Somalia profit because of the absence of local governance, those hiding illegal money in offshore havens are protected by bank secrecy and free circulation of capital. The UN has to address this lack of financial governance, says Roberto Bissio.

TRIBUTE

Mama Africa: A personal reflection on the life of Miriam Makeba
By Patrice Emery Lumumba

The legendary African singer Miriam Makeba, who contributed so much in the struggle against apartheid, died in November in Italy.  Yaba Badoe pays tribute to a pioneer of what is today called World Music.

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