Las venas abiertas de África sangran de más Ndongo Samba Sylla and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Este es un artículo de opinión de Ndongo Samba Sylla, economista del desarrollo senegalés que trabaja en la Fundación Rosa Luxemburgo de Dakar, y de Jomo Kwame Sundaram, quien fue secretario general adjunto de la ONU para el Desarrollo (Económico.) El continuo saqueo de los recursos naturales de África, drenado por la fuga de capitales, está frenando su crecimiento. Cada vez más países africanos se enfrentan a recesiones prolongadas que se unen a un creciente endeudamiento, echando sal en las profundas heridas del pasado. Con muchas menos divisas, ingresos fiscales y espacio político para hacer frente a los choques externos,…
Rich Nations Doubly Responsible for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hezri A Adnan and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Natural flows do not respect national boundaries. The atmosphere and oceans cross international borders with little difficulty, as greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other fluids, including pollutants, easily traverse frontiers. Yet, in multilateral fora, strategies to address climate change and its effects remain largely national. GHG emissions – typically measured as carbon dioxide equivalents – are the main bases for assessing national climate action commitments. Assessing national responsibility Jayati Ghosh, Shouvik Chakraborty and Debamanyu Das have critically considered how national climate responsibilities are assessed. The standard method – used by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – measures GHG emissions by activities…
AGRA Gets Make-up, Not Make-over Timothy A. Wise and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Despite its dismal record, the Gates Foundation-sponsored Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) announced a new five-year strategy in September after rebranding itself by dropping ‘Green Revolution’ from its name. Rebranding, not reform Instead of learning from experience and changing its approach accordingly, AGRA’s new strategy promises more of the same. Ignoring evidence, criticisms and civil society pleas and demands, the Gates Foundation has committed another $200 million to its new five-year plan, bringing its total contribution to around $900 million. More than two-thirds of AGRA’s funding has come from Gates, with African governments providing much more – as much as a…
¿Qué agenda de protección de la paz necesita el mundo? Jomo Kwame Sundaram
«Lo más peligroso en la situación actual son las sanciones económicas», advierte el ex asistente del secretario general de la ONU para el desarrollo económico Jomo Kwame Sundaram. El economista Jomo Kwame Sundaram, ex asistente del secretario general de la ONU para el desarrollo económico, declaró que el mundo necesita una nueva agenda más positiva y destinada a la protección de la paz. Comentando la realización del acuerdo alcanzado para la exportación de cereales ucranianos, el economista malasio denunció en una entrevista publicada este lunes que los productos alimenticios no llegan a los países más pobres, lo que crea grandes problemas en la…
Open Veins of Africa Bleeding Heavily Ndongo Samba Sylla and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The ongoing plunder of Africa’s natural resources drained by capital flight is holding it back yet again. More African nations face protracted recessions amid mounting debt distress, rubbing salt into deep wounds from the past. With much less foreign exchange, tax revenue, and policy space to face external shocks, many African governments believe they have little choice but to spend less, or borrow more in foreign currencies. Most Africans are struggling to cope with food and energy crises, inflation, higher interest rates, adverse climate events, less health and social provisioning. Unrest is mounting due to deteriorating conditions despite some commodity…
Open in App or Online COP27 Fiddling as World Warms Hezri A Adnan and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The latest annual climate conference has begun in the face of a worsening climate crisis and further retreats by rich nations following the energy crisis induced by NATO sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Copping out again The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is now meeting in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November 2022. COP27 takes place amidst worsening poverty, hunger and war, and higher prices, exacerbating many interlinked climate, environmental and socio-economic crises. The looming world economic recession is likely to be deeper than in 2008.…
La guerra de Ucrania, el sur global y los peligros de los TLC Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Muchas cosas pueden cambiar, pero es probable que estemos asistiendo al inicio de una nueva y prolongada Guerra Fría, luego de la hegemonía de Estados Unidos durante las últimas tres décadas. Los esfuerzos de Mijaíl Gorbachov por crear las condiciones para una paz y cooperación internacional más amplias se basaron en un cierto acuerdo de confianza implícito. Pero tras el colapso de la Unión Soviética durante los años 90, éste fue traicionado con el ascenso del unipolarismo estadounidense y el expansionismo de la OTAN, a pesar de la desaparición de la amenaza soviética, su razón de ser original. Se sigue…
Limits to Growth: Inconvenient truth of our times Hezri A Adnan and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Ahead of the first United Nations environmental summit in Stockholm in 1972, a group of scientists prepared The Limits to Growth report for the Club of Rome. It showed planet Earth’s finite natural resources cannot support ever-growing human consumption. Limits used integrated computer modelling to investigate twelve planetary scenarios of economic growth and their long-term consequences for the environment and natural resources. Emphasizing material limits to growth, it triggered a major debate. Authored by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III, Limits is arguably even more influential today. Within limits Limits considered population, food production, industrialization, pollution and non-renewable resource use trends from 1900…
Developing Countries Need Monetary Financing Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Developing countries have long been told to avoid borrowing from central banks (CBs) to finance government spending. Many have even legislated against CB financing of fiscal expenditure. Central bank fiscal financing Such laws are supposedly needed to curb inflation below 5%, if not 2% – to accelerate growth. These arrangements have also constrained a potential CB developmental role and government ability to respond better to crises. Improved monetary-fiscal policy coordination is also needed to achieve desired structural transformation, especially in decarbonizing economies. But too many developing countries have tied their own hands with restrictive legislation. A few have pragmatically suspended…
Macroeconomic Policy Coordination More One-Sided, Ineffective Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Widespread adverse reactions to the UK government’s recent ‘mini-budget’ forced new Prime Minister Liz Truss to resign. The episode highlighted problems of macroeconomic policy coordination and the interests involved. Macro-policy coordination But macroeconomic, specifically fiscal-monetary policy coordination almost became “taboo” as central bank independence (CBI) became the new orthodoxy. It has been accused of enabling CBs to finance government deficits. Critics claim inflation, even hyperinflation, becomes inevitable. Government finance ministries and CBs are the two main macroeconomic policy protagonists. Poor ‘macro-policy’ coordination has generated problems, including contradictory policy responses. This has meant more macroeconomic and financial instability, worrying markets and investors. Fiscal…