Economy and Society

• 2006-09-01: … like paradise and hell … ;
• 2006-09-02: Home Prices and the Economy;
• 2006-09-03: A breakthrough in Central Asian water relations;
• 2006-09-04: The Grandfather Economic Report;
• 2006-09-05: Fundamental Review;
• 2006-09-06: … again the WTO Doha Round talks … ;
• 2006-09-07: UNCTAD Trade and Development Report 2006;
• 2006-09-08: ECONOMYWATCH;
• 2006-09-09: WSIS – Pan European Forum;
• 2006-09-10: Decentralizing Basic Infrastructure Services;
• 2006-09-11: The economic development program for Haiti;
• 2006-09-11: Give Poor Countries a Voice;
• 2006-09-12: Niger delta human development report;
• 2006-09-12: From Socialism and the Eradication of Poverty;
• 2006-09-13: WSIS E-learning 2.0;
• 2006-09-14: Commitment to Development Index CDI 2006;
• 2006-09-15: about the World Bank;
• 2006-09-16: 2007 G8 Heiligendamm Summit;
• 2006-09-17: Fighting Fraud and Corruption;
• 2006-09-18: Remembering British Unions;
• 2006-09-19: Re-branding Africa for a brighter future;
• 2006-09-20: NGOs urge nations to keep close watch on WB and IMF;
• 2006-09-21: Les Doctoriales franco-québécoises de la diversité;
• 2006-09-21: Ph.D. Colloquium on Diversity;
• 2006-09-22: arms trade, arms control, disarmament, non-proliferation;
• 2006-09-23: LEAP/E2020’s anticipations;
• 2006-09-24: Human Economy;
• 2006-09-25: EUs common policies to the world;
• 2006-09-26: The Asian Development Bank’s Assistance;
• 2006-09-27: Gun control and women;
• 2006-09-28: Dropping knowledge;
• 2006-09-29: The global jobs crisis;
• 2006-09-30: Working out of disaster.

Linked with Thierry Falise – Belgium & Thailand.

The link to the book and the ILO http:

In December 2005, The International Labour Office published a 100 pages book, a brochure and a CD produced by Thierry Falise (text and pictures) on the agency’s efforts in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the countries affected by the tsunami.

the growing imbalance between growth and jobs creation. Faced with the fact that growth is not producing enough jobs worldwide, the world’s financial leaders recently gathered in Singapore must focus on more than trade and financial imbalances, says ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. In this article, Mr. Somavia calls for significant policy reforms to deal with global imbalances between growth and job creation.

By Juan Somavia, Director-General, International Labour Organization

2006 is expected to be the fourth consecutive year of global GDP growth of over 4 per cent. And in sub-Saharan Africa, growth is forecast to be the strongest in 30 years. Interest rates still remain relatively low, and corporate profits are at record highs. World trade is forecast to continue growing at around 7 per cent.

Continue Reading…

Read all this and much more on weitzenegger.de – The website for International  Development Cooperation, and its (english) Newsletter.

dropping knowledge will launch Knowledge Portal and Dialog Forum. This is a global initiative that promotes the free and open exchange of knowledge. On the Internet platform droppingknowledge.org people from all over the world will be able to ask and answer questions, exchange ideas and opinions, engage in dialogs, and start their own initiatives. On 9 September 2006, 112 of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists, writers, scientists, social entrepreneurs, philosophers and humanitarians from around the world will come together in Berlin, Germany, as guests of dropping knowledge. On 10 September, dropping knowledge will launch a freely accessible Copyleft knowledge portal and dialog forum, seeded with Audivisual content from the first Table of Free Voices.

by Howard Nemerov, September 27, 2006, on chronwatch.com

Gun control activists said on Monday the world was awash in small arms, fueling violence, and called for global cooperation and stricter limits on the trade.

A human rights report by a consortium of groups highlighted the impact of guns on the lives of women, saying they were often the “silent victims” of the small arms trade.

“Given that they are almost never the buyers, owners or users of small arms, (women) suffer disproportionately from armed violence,” said Denise Searle of Amnesty International, one of the groups releasing the report.

“Where guns are available, more women are likely to be killed.”[1]

Continue Reading…

ADB Launches New Medium-Term Strategy to Strengthen the Poverty-Reducing Impact of its Assistance

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – ADB has launched its new medium-term strategy, covering 2006-2008, to strengthen the poverty-reducing impact of its assistance. To this end, it has adopted five priorities: (i) catalyzing investment, (ii) strengthening inclusiveness, (iii) promoting regional cooperation and integration, (iv) managing the environment, and (v) improving governance and preventing corruption. (Read the article on ADB).

And read all this and much more also on weitzenegger.de – The website for International Development Cooperation, and its (english) Newsletter.

Still three Seminars about EUs relations to the world, proposed by EUROPE2020:

Seminar ‘What common EU policy towards Asia?‘, Oktober 2006, Bankok. mail.

Seminar ‘What common EU policy towards Africa?‘, December 2006, Johannesburg. mail.

Seminar ‘What common EU policy for the EU in 2020?, EU neighborhood, UN reform, Human resources, Democratic legitimacy, February 2007, New York, mail.

articles, reflections, discussions, informations, and 3 books about human economy:

• Minimum wage ‘fuels the black economy’ – CBI, Oliver Morgan and Heather Stewart, Sunday September 24, 2006, The Observer,
• Freedom House will hold an international conference on September 26 in Washington D.C.,
• MoD targets Libya and Iraq as ‘priority’ arms sales targets, Antony Barnett, Sunday September 24, 2006, The Observer,
• Recent developments In Kurdistan and Iraq, By Mufid Abdulla, 9/24/2006, KurdishMedia.com,
• THE GLOBAL ECONOMY,
• The Hyper-Human Economy Is Coming, October 2004,
• Blueprint: Hyper-Human Economy?
• Econ Papers,
• From ‘Political’ to ‘Human’ Economy,
• How-Do-You-Know about the Economy,
• The desert reeks,
• Sentient nature and human economy: the ‘human’ science of early Nationalökonomie, History of the Human Sciences, Vol. 18, No. 1, 23-54 2005,
• Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy, June 27, 2002,
• a human economy, march 19, 2006,
• Contractor killers, David Whyte, April 2004,
• economics on wikipedia,
• ecological economics on wikipedia,
• Basic elements of human economy, a scetch for a holistic picture of human economy,
• Principles and Values for New Economic Systems,
• Otemon Gakuin University, Dept. of Huan Econmy,
• Books:
• Human Ecology, Human Economy, on ipgbook, same on amazon,
• THE HUMAN ECONOMY, by Eli Ginzberg, and also on abebooks,
• Humanitation II: some aspects of a human economy.

Newropean’s Magazine, September 200:, IMF confirms LEAP/E2020’s anticipations on Global Systemic Crisis.

While LEAP/E2020 publishes its GlobalEurope Anticipation Bulletin N°7, continuing its work of anticipation of a global systemic crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) publishes two reports (the semi-annual Global Financial Stability Report and the World Economic Outlook, September 12 and 13, 2006) which confirm the forecasts released by LEAP/E2020 throughout the year.

In these two reports, the IMF draws a disturbing picture of the risks weighing over the global economy. It analyses and comments at length the following trends: US real-estate bubble collapse, US economy recession, US Federal Reserve’s dilemma regarding interest rates developments, long-term fall of the dollar, long-term rise of oil prices. These are precisely the economic and financial indicators used by LEAP/E2020 to develop its forecast of a crisis.

Collapse of US real-estate bubble:

(Read this whole long article on this page of europe2020.org, see also their Homepage in english, and in french).

My own comment: it is obvious that sometimes this prophecies act as a self fullfilling prophecy, that means: when every one believes that something will happen, then IT HAPPENS.

In any way, I think that some people have a strong interest in such a crisis:  the owners of the big  Federal banks, loaning/creating after every crisis new money and – by the depts of the deptees – are able to dictate pratically all life conditions to the peoples.

Already heard about?

Some articles:

• The arms trade, Special Report, the Guardian,
• Shut DESO Day, Join us on 16th Oct 2006 for an inspiring Day to shut DESO, the government’s gunrunners,
• Control arms trade, the Lack of controls on the arms trade is fuelling conflict, poverty and human rights abuses worldwide. Every government is responsible. The Control Arms campaign is asking governments to toughen up controls on the arms trade,
• Arms Control Association,
  and September 2006,
• arms control on wikipedia,
• Arms Control – Missile Defense,
• Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security ACDIS,
• Glossaries of Arms Control/Nonproliferation Terms and Names (China),
• Against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (Canada),
• Non-Proliferation, Arms-Control, International Security NAI (Univ. of California),
• Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (Japan),
• Edwin Ginn Library, Convention Docs to be downloaded,
• Europa World, Arms Control,
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI,
  SIPRI Documents,
• Federation of American Scientists FAS,
  and Biological and Chemical Weapons Control,
• Carnegie Endowment for Internatinal Peace,
• Safer World,
• Wisconsin Project,
• Foreign Policy FP magazine,
• Arms control on Global Issues,
• Center for arms control and non-proliferation,
• Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), US gov,
  with a Contact-link on this page,
• Arms Control Wonk ACW, on Sept. 21, 2006,
• Center for International Security and Cooperation CISAC (at Stanford),
• US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency ACDA,
• Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies,
• Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (USgov),
  Reports,
• Nonproliferation and Arms Control (NPAC), Technology Working Group (TWG), US.

Received by newsletter, by Divina frau-meigs – WSIS Edu Mailinglist.

Call for papers:

languages, translation and communication in the French-speaking world – Every year, dozens of doctoral students defend their theses in languages, translation and communications in both France and Québec. Under the influence of globalization and the widespread use of the Internet, issues of linguistic and cultural diversity have given rise to research studies on both sides of the Atlantic. Many of these studies carried out in either English or French have focused on the information society, its social impact and its political and cultural challenges. Most unfortunately, there are few opportunities for doctoral students and researchers, each working in his/her own corner of the “global village”, to meet and exchange views. Consequently, people tend all too often to work in isolation whether in France or Québec.

Continue Reading…

Reçu par newsletter, by Divina frau-meigs – WSIS Edu Mailinglist.

Appel à communications:

les langues, la traduction et la communication – Chaque année, en France comme au Québec, des dizaines de thèses sont soutenues dans le domaine des langues, de la traduction et de la communication bilingue et multilingue. Avec la mondialisation et la généralisation de l’usage de l’Internet, les problématiques de la diversité linguistique et culturelle suscitent de plus en plus d’intérêt chez les doctorants des deux côtés de l’Atlantique. De nombreux travaux de recherche sont menés en français comme en anglais sur des sujets touchant à la société de l’information, ses manifestations sociales et ses enjeux culturels et politiques. Mais il existe malheureusement peu d’occasions de contacts et d’échange entre les doctorants et chercheurs qui mènent ces travaux dans leur coin du « village global » et, souvent, sans avoir connaissance de ce qui se fait ailleurs, en France comme au Québec.

Continue Reading…

By Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Batam, September 20, 2006.

Some 500 activists gathering in Batam grouped under the International Peoples Forum called Monday on all nations to hold international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the IMF and World Back fully accountable for the social impact they have on developing countries.

“We call on the governments, members of the World Bank and the IMF Board of Directors, to keep these institutions fully accountable for their impact on human rights, equity, and the sustainability of development,” Ravindranath of the Jubilee South said representing the forum.

“We find the World Bank and IMF responsible for policies and actions that lead to the intensification of poverty and deprivation, the undermining of national sovereignty and democratic governance, and the subversion of the right to development,” he added.

Continue Reading…

Read on Africa Interactive, September 19, 2006, Media workers and government officials have gathered in Ghana for Africa’s International Media Summit. The summit aims to improve the world’s perceptions of the continent and encourage further development. Delegates will discuss ways of re-branding Africa for a brighter future and enhance development. Messan Mawugbe, chief Executive Officer of Centre for Media Analysis, said that there had to be a conscious and determined effort to tackle the major factors contributing to the negative impressions of the Continent and to present it in a more positive light.

Negative image: The Summit, running from 18 till 20 September, will be held every year for five years. The African Communications Agency (ACA) is organizing the event, with the support of the African Union and other regional development groups. Mawugbe said in spite of establishing a new Africa through initiatives like NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development), many issues negatively affected the image of Africa, which were mostly portrayed by the international media.

Continue Reading…

Linked with Sir Bill Morris – England, and with Jeremy Corbyn – England.

• CBI Confederation of British Industry,
• TUC Britain at work,
  With member unions representing over six and a half million working people, we campaign for a fair deal at work and for social justice at home and abroad.
• GMB Union, Homepage, about us: GMB is a strong, modern, dynamic trade union focused on one thing – protecting our members in the workplace.
• UNISON Labour Party Conference
• TGWU Transport and General Workers’ Union
  Fighting for working people, T&G bringing the web to workers
• CWU The Communication Workers Union.
  CWU was formed in January 1995 when the Union of Communication Workers joined forces with the National Communications Union. CWU members work in the Post Office, BT and other telephone companies, cable TV, Accenture HR Services, the Alliance and Leicester and Girobank. Our members’ expertise includes engineering, computing, clerical, mechanical, driving, retail, financial and manual skills.
• RMT the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
  RMT is Britain’s fastest growing trade union, representing 75,000 members in almost every sector of the transport industry, from mainline and underground rail to shipping, buses and road-freight.
• Amicus Homepage, the New Union,
  Amicus the union is dedicated to serving the needs and best interests of its members who are currently experiencing life in the modern workplace. Representing all workers in both the public and private sectors, Amicus is dedicated to improving their standard of living and the quality of their lives through effective relationships with employers and government. Amicus is keen to stress the New Union will be the ‘Union for Life.’ From leaving school, through apprenticeships, training, or higher education, the Union will have a range of programmes offering advice, support and information specially tailored for young people just starting out at work, whether part-time whilst studying, or at their first job.
• Special reports (from Unions), the Guardian.
• (Last) Political Alerts, the Guardian.

SINGAPORE, September 17, 2006 – Today, the leaders of the African Development Bank Group, Asian Development Bank ADB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank Group agreed on a framework for preventing and combating fraud and corruption in the activities and operations of their institutions. This builds on the work of a joint Task Force established on February 18, 2006 by the leaders of these institutions.

The institutions recognize that corruption undermines sustainable economic growth and is a major obstacle to the reduction of poverty. The leaders have outlined the following joint actions to combat fraud and corruption:

• agreement in principle on standardized definitions of fraudulent and corrupt practices for investigating such practices in activities financed by the member institutions;
• agreement on common principles and guidelines for investigations;
• agreement to strengthen the exchange of information, as appropriate and with due attention to confidentiality, in – connection with investigations into fraudulent and corrupt practices;
• agreement on general integrity due diligence principles relating to private sector lending and investment decisions;
• agreement to explore further how compliance and enforcement actions taken by one institution can be supported by the others.

(Read all on this page of the Asian Development Bank).

The Prospective Agenda for the 2007 G8 Heiligendamm Summit, by Laura Sunderland, Senior Researcher, G8 Research Group, September 6, 2006.

This prospective agenda is compiled by the G8 Research Group from public sources as an aid to researchers and other stakeholders interested in the 2007 G8 Summit, which will be hosted by Germany in Heilgendamm on June 6-8. It will be updated periodically as the Heiligendamm Summit planning evolves and as more information becomes available about its intended and actual agenda.

See all on G8 Information Center.

Documents on all G7/G8 Summit Meetings available on this link.

Merger of the World Bank’s environment and infrastructure networks.

Mainstreaming or undermining sustainability? While mainstreaming environmental and social sustainability into Bank operations has been a longstanding goal of internal reformers and external critics for the past 20 years, certain criteria have to be met before the latest development is celebrated. The World Bank plan to merge its environmental and social development units with the department that oversees large infrastructure investment could end up leaving the ”wolf guarding the henhouse”. The new ”Sustainable Development Network” will have to be monitored closely to ensure that the Bank does not wrongly promote oil and gas projects, frequently the target of criticism about negative environmental and social impacts, as ”development” or ”anti-poverty” projects. Read the full article by
Bruce Jenkins at Bank Information Center on above link, or read all this and much more on weitzenegger.de – The website for International Development Cooperation, and its (english) Newsletter.

Rich and poor countries are linked in many ways—by foreign aid, commerce, migration, the environment, and military affairs. The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) rates 21 rich countries on how much they help poor countries build prosperity, good government, and security. Each rich country gets scores in seven policy areas, which are averaged for an overall score. Go to Center for Global Development and watch all the grafics, by country and by year.

Read all this and much more on weitzenegger.de – The website for International  Development Cooperation, and its (english) Newsletter.

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:20:12 +0200
From: “Dr. Francis MUGUET” < mail>
To: Edu Mailinglist mail>
Reply To: mail
Subject: [WSIS Edu] [Fwd: E-Learning: "E-learning 2.0"]

For info: Development Gateway Foundation, dgCommunities: E-Learning, September 12, 2006.

1. NEW! HIGHLIGHT: E-learning 2.0
2. RESOURCES
3. SPECIAL REPORT: Aid & the MDGs: One Year After the World Summit
4. MEMBER DIRECTORY: Update Your Profile for Networking & Collaboration
5. DISTRIBUTE YOUR CONTENT
6. VIRTUAL CONSULTATION FOR INTER-AMERICAN MINISTERIAL MEETING ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

1. NEW HIGHLIGHT: “E-learning 2.0″: Some of you must have heard of the Web 2.0. According to Wikipedia “O’Reilly Media coined the phrase Web 2.0 in 2004 to refer to a supposed second-generation of Internet-based services that let people collaborate and share information online in perceived new ways”. dgCommunities are concrete examples of those next generation Internet tools.

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The Socialism of the Twenty-First Century’ In Latin America and Venezuela, and the Eradication of Extreme Poverty in the World, by Dr. Zeki Ergas, on Peace Journalism, September 23, 2006.

The whole essay can be found in globalmarshallplan, Share the World Resources, and also in peacejournalism.

Excerpts: … ‘When the elephants fight, the grass suffers,’ says an African proverb. The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Round – whose raison d’être was, supposedly, the development of the poor countries — collapsed after five years of negotiations (it was launched in 2001).

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Need for Holistitc Approach to N-Delta Development, Posted to the Web on Vaguard, September 11, 2006.

A focus group participant said: “The economy is largely agrarian and as such, farming and trade in farm produce constitute the main sources of livelihoods. But the youths who mostly prefer urban life seldom participate in such jobs which they term as ‘menial’.”
People need opportunities to acquire skills and develop capacities that lead to productive and sustainable livelihoods. Some occupations, like traditional agricultural activities, need to be improved to attract youths.

The partnership in the Niger-Delta between UNDP and Shell is currently assessing vocational institutions in some states, with a view towards defining the existing gaps in capacity, sparking greater demand for these institutions and enhancing their performance.

The income from oil industry activities, including temporary construction work or short-term contracts, as well as from compensation for oil spills and the ‘conflict economy’, vastly exceed the sums earned in traditional occupations. To enhance agricultural productivity and improve other enterprises and to encourage fuller participation in suitable activities, improved technology is needed. As the study for this report found, the residents of the Niger-Delta are mostly peasant farmers without any help from the government or financial institutions.

Continue Reading…

On 16 September the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) get together for their annual meetings in Singapore. The decisions the World Bank and IMF make affect the lives of millions, forcing poor countries to cut vital spending on health and education, or to privatise their public services.

Poor countries urgently need to have their voices heard, so that they can challenge the policies that affect their citizens. The way that the IMF is run is high on the agenda at the Singapore meetings. Our Chancellor, Gordon Brown, is chair of the IMF’s governing body and we need him to take action.

Targeting the annual meetings:

Poor countries get a rough deal from the strings and conditions attached to World Bank and IMF loans. These conditions often mean that debt relief is delayed, while vital spending on health and education is squeezed. One of the main reasons for this is that poor countries have almost no say in how these institutions are run, or the decisions they make.

The meetings will discuss how the IMF makes decisions, and while some better off countries like Turkey and Mexico may receive more of a say, the poorest countries in Africa could be even worse off than they are at the moment.

What is ActionAid calling for?
We are in support of reforms to give developing countries a greater voice in the decision-making of the IMF and the World Bank – decisions which have a major impact on the lives of poor people.

What the IMF and World Bank need to do: (Read here the whole article).

Click here for more action details.

Linked with Thierry Fagart – Haiti & France, with Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, with HURAH INC. Human Rights Accompaniment In Haiti, and with Shocking Lancet Study about Haiti.

Read their Newsroom. See also Issues.
The economic development program began in 1989. The goal of this program is to provide training for local community-based groups in the rural communities of Dame-Marie, Moron, and Anse d’Hainault. The program works in these low-income rural areas to strengthen the long term economic stability in each community. AFSC hopes to accomplish this by providing community-based groups with the financial and technical support needed in the following areas of community development. 5 basic programs are applied:

• Reforestation,
• Community Store,
• Animal rearing,
• Fishing,
• Education and Community Organising.

The American Friends Service Committee carries out service, development, social justice, and peace programs throughout the world. Founded by Quakers in 1917 to provide conscientious objectors with an opportunity to aid civilian war victims, AFSC’s work attracts the support and partnership of people of many races, religions, and cultures.

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First two other links: China aktuell data supplement, from the German Institute of Global and Area-Studies GIGA.

And ‘China‘, from the World Fact Book.

From siteresources.worldbank,

by George E. Peterson and Elisa Muzzini: Basic infrastructure services are those that households and businesses tend to use every day. The primary components are roads and transportation services, water supply and distribution, and sanitation—wastewater collection and removal, and solid waste collection and removal. These services are often bundled together under the heading of “urban services.” However, parallel infrastructure systems are found in rural areas, where roads, irrigation networks, and latrines are critical to life. Irrigation systems, in particular, are sometimes underestimated as infrastructure networks. In the Philippines, irrigation systems account for 80 percent of national water consumption.Efforts to decentralize infrastructure services raise distinctive issues regarding policy design and implementation. Because of their capital intensiveness, these systems require decision making at several different stages:

• Preparing capital investment plans and setting priorities for individual capital projects.
• Operating a network system to provide services and maintaining facilities to sustain the physical capital.
• Financing the system by both mobilizing capital to pay for the initial investment and generating revenues to cover operations and maintenance—that is, ensuring financial sustainability … (Read more on Chapter 10, pages 209 to 236).

Other worldbank Docs about resources.

Pan European Forum – Human Rights in the Information Society, Empowering children and young people. Octobre 5-6, 2006, Yerevan, Armenia.

You can register here.

In English:

The Directorate General of Human Rights of the Council of Europe together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, is organising a Pan-European Forum on “Human Rights in the Information Society: Empowering children and young people”. The aim is to ensure that children and young people have the skills and knowledge to deal with on-line content and communications in full respect of their human rights.

The Forum will take place in Yerevan on 5 and 6 October 2006. Please take a look at the information below AND/OR at the website for the preliminary draft programme and other information.

Continue Reading…

Linked with Sunita Narain – India, with Centre for Science and Environment, with Down to Earth, with Bt fails in China, and with Time to tell the truth … .

Economywatch.com is a complete portal on the world Economy with a special focus on Indian Economy, keeping in view its growing Potentiality. This user-friendly site offers a wide range of information regarding the current world economy and India’s performance in the era of Market Friendliness. The special coverage includes Insurance, Finance and Mortgage Industry in the World Market. Details analysis upon Budget and Economy, Business and Economy and International Economic Events are the steps in the same direction.

Some Themes interesting specially India:

• Indo-USA Trade Relations,
• Indo-China Trade Relations,
• Indo-Japan Trade Relations,
• International Economic Events 2006.

Here the Download-page on the UNCTAD site.

Highlights:

Since 2002, world economic expansion has had a strong positive impact on growth and helped support progress towards the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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Why the WTO Doha Round talks have collapsed – and a path forward:

A resumee made by weitzenegger.de – The website for International  Development Cooperation, and its (english) Newsletter:

To date, most press coverage of the Doha Round collapse has focused on the blame game – which countries’ failure to make specific agricultural concessions is to blame. But the under-recognized, but extremely important story is that the underlying cause of the breakdown is the growing rejection of the WTO, and more broadly of the corporate-led globalization model, by many people worldwide based on this model’s effects on their lives. Poor countries that have achieved economic growth – Argentina, Argentina, and China – did so by not following WTO policies. The ‘loss’ of Doha is in fact a gain. World Bank research reveals that under the ”likely” Doha scenario, the Middle East, Bangladesh, much of Africa and (notably) Mexico would actually face net losses. Alleged gains that are projected to accrue to Brazil and India would be largely concentrated in those countries’ agribusiness and manufacturing industries respectively, while subsistence farmers – a much, much larger percentage of those populations – would see tiny gains or net losses. The focus of energy now should be on how the world’s governments can develop a multilateral trade system that preserves the benefits of trade for growth and development, while pruning away the many anti-democratic constraints on domestic policy making contained in the existing WTO rules. Read the full article by Lori Wallach and Deborah James at the Common Dreams News Center.

You’ll read much more on Commondreams.org.

Linked with James J. Puplava – USA.

“Believe It!”, by Jim Puplava & Eric King – An investor would be fortunate enough if he or she were to encounter one or two secular bull markets in their lifetime. Secular bull markets can last a long time and make investors a lot of money. If an investor can get onboard early enough and simply ride the bull, it is one of the few ways that real fortunes can be made.

New bull markets** when they begin are seldom recognized. Emerging trends are difficult to discern when they begin because investor attention is still focused on the last trend not recognizing that the rules of the investment game have been altered. Supply and demand fundamentals alter and change investment markets, giving rise to new bull markets and bringing others to a close. The key is to recognize when one trend is coming to a close and another trend has emerged to take its place.

This is one of those times.

Read this exhaustive long article on USA Gold on usagold.com).
** A bull market is a prolonged period of time when prices are rising in a financial market faster than their historical average, in contrast to a bear market which is a prolonged period of time when prices are falling. Investors can be described as having bullish or bearish sentiments. Market trends are witnessed when bulls (buyers) outnumber bears (sellers), or vice versa, consistently over time. In general, a bull or bear market refers to the market and sentiment as a whole but it can also be used to refer to specific securities, sectors, or similar (”bullish on IBM”, “bullish on technology stocks” or “bearish on gold”, for example). (See on wikipedia/Market trends).

Linked with Michael W. Hodges – USA.

The Grandfather Economic Report, by Michael Hodges, June 20, 2006 is published in the U.S.A. on Storm Watch as a public service (click on the title of the searched article) – updated regularly on the website.

Excerpt: … It is is a series of picture reports of threats to the economic future of families and their children, compared to prior generations – - from incomes to debt to education quality to health care to international trade balances to energy and national security. You are now at the brief chapter on Family Income (starting with this summary page and followed by the full report). Trends in family income, debt and savings are some of those threats facing our young generation. Welcome. We hope your visit will find useful information to help you and your loved ones. Knowledge is Power …

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AN UNECE Press Release: Geneva and Bangkok, 24 July 2006 – Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan Inaugurate the Chu-Talas Rivers Commission.

Water relations in Central Asia will take a significant step forward on 26 July 2006 when the newly created Chu-Talas Rivers Commission is inaugurated in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The Chu-Talas Rivers Commission represents a mutually beneficial way for Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to share the responsibility for water infrastructure used by both countries. As part of the bilateral agreement, Kazakhstan has agreed to pay part of the operating and maintenance expenses for a number of Kyrgyz dams and reservoirs supplying water to both countries.

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The meteoric increase in home prices in the United States during the past five years has been the mainstay of economic growth, not only in the United States but in the rest of the world as well. This year, home prices in the United States have reversed course. As the downward slide in home prices gathers pace in the months ahead, the U.S. economy is likely to weaken substantially. This weakness could contribute to the possibility of a global economic recession in 2007. (Read the whole long article on PINR, the Power and Interest News Report).
See also the article ‘Current U.S. Federal Reserve Policy Could Accelerate Inflation‘, of August 07, 2006, also on PINR.

“It is like paradise and hell. They throw our petitions in the dustbin. They have everything. We have nothing… If we protest, they send soldiers. They sign agreements with us and then ignore us. We have graduates going hungry, without jobs. And they bring people from Lagos to work here.”

Eghare W.O. Ojhogar, chief of the Ugborodo community in Delta State (of Nigeria)

In describing the situation in Nigeria, Eghare presents us with a microcosm of a modern Inferno, Purgatorio, e Paradiso (about which there is little divine or comic). In the timeless struggle between the “haves and “have nots”, alarming numbers of “useless eaters” (”have nots”) are sliding from Purgatorio into the abyss of abject poverty’s Inferno.

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