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Trading Up
Catherine Ashton

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

Faced with the first truly global economic crisis in the era of globalisation, developed countries have been focused on mitigating the effects on our own economies. One could be excused for thinking that in all of this, development goals have been forgotten. They have not, and the European Union for one is as committed as ever to giving the developing world a fair deal – including on trade. This means the best possible market access, the means to make use of it, and the time to adjust to new global realities.

CUBA: OBAMA EXTINGUISHES THE HOPES HE RAISED
Leonardo Padura Fuentes

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

For three generations of Cubans, the standoff between the governments of Washington and Havana has been like a nightmare it seemed impossible to awake from, writes Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a Cuban writer and journalist whose novels have been translated into more than fifteen languages.

NEOLIBERALISM: A SURVIVOR BY DEFAULT
Walden Bello

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The recent collapse of the global economy, caused by among other things the lack of regulation of financial markets, has further eroded the credibility of neoliberalism. And yet it continues to exercise a strong influence on the majority of economists and economic managers, for whom, despite its obvious shortcomings, it remains the default discourse, writes Walden Bello, member of the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines, president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition and senior analyst at the Bangkok-based research and advocacy institute Focus on the Global South.

HUMAN EXISTENCE IS AT REAL AND IMMINENT RISK
Maurice Strong

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The current economic and climate change crises are both rooted in the unsustainable nature of the existing economic system. The rapid and unexpected economic meltdown, which began in the United States and quickly spread throughout the world demonstrated dramatically that the phenomenon of globalization and interdependence has a dramatic downside of shared risks and vulnerability, writes Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, first Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Secretary General of the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

BRAZIL: SHOWING THE WORLD HOW TO END HUNGER
Andrew MacMillan

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

It is scandalous that in a world of ample food supplies, over one billion people face constant hunger -and the number is still rising. What makes matters worse is that we know how to end hunger, and yet few governments are doing so, writes Andrew MacMillan, a rural economist and former Director of the Field Operations Divison of FAO.

A LAY EUROPE FOR ALL FAITHS
Emma Bonino

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

Exponents of the Catholic Church and the Italian government have reacted angrily to the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights requiring the removal of crucifixes from all schools in the country, writes Emma Bonino, vice-president of the Italian Senate and a leader of the Radical Party.

AMERICAN WORKERS FACE UNCERTAIN RETIREMENT
Mark Sommer

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The postwar promise of steady work and a secure retirement lasted just one generation before the profligacy of politicians, snowballing private and public debts, the venality of the financial sector, the decline of American manufacturing and other adverse trends rendered it moot, writes Mark Sommer, host of the award-winning, internationally-syndicated radio programme, A World of Possibilities.

NO FINANCIAL REFORM IN SIGHT AS BANKS RESUME BUSINESS AS USUAL
Roberto Savio

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

Despite universal clamour for reform, the financial system has gone back to business as usual, as if nothing had happened. In mid-October it was reported that the sum of derivatives, the high-risk financial instrument that set off the crisis, has continued to increase to a total of USD 445 trillion, 6.5 times the gross world product, writes Roberto Savio, founder and president emeritus of the Inter Press Service (IPS).

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL, TOO BIG IS UGLY
Hazel Henderson

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

Since the financial crises of 2008-2009, many experts have called for the downsizing of the bloated financial sectors and curbing their trading activities and ever-more mysterious financial "products" such as credit default swaps (CDSs), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) whose totals soared to $658 trillion of these bets between traders in the few biggest banks in the world. We now know that CDSs, CDOs and all the alphabet soup of such "financial products" were really bets that should be relegated to betting parlors and regulated by gaming commissions, writes Hazel Henderson, president of Ethical Markets Media.

CUBA: THE INVISIBLE FUTURE
Leonardo Padura Fuentes

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The economic and structural crisis that upended Cuban society in the 1990s after the disappearance of the Soviet Union created a rupture in Cubans' image of their future, writes Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a Cuban writer and journalist whose novels have been translated into a dozen languages.

20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: A LOST OPPORTUNITY
Ignacio Ramonet

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The historic opportunity presented by the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago has been squandered, writes Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique in Spanish.

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This page contains abstracts of the columns. Editors interested in acquiring the full text, please contact romacol@ips.org specifying the name and address of the publication as well as a proposed rate. Unfortunately, we cannot comply with requests from individuals or organisations that do not represent print media outlets.

AFGHANISTAN: Insurgents Infiltrate Security Forces

LEBANON: Migrant Women Dying on the Job

POLITICS: U.N. in Final Push for 2015 Development Goals

CLIMATE CHANGE: Health at Risk

RIGHTS-MEXICO: State Held Responsible for Three Juárez Killings

POLITICS-BOTSWANA: I Lost the Election, But I Am a Winner

CLIMATE CHANGE: The Danish Example

CHILE: Mapuche Detainees Say They Were Framed

CLIMATE CHANGE-MEXICO: A Policy of Pretence

Q&A: "Karzai Assigned a Rabbit to Take Care of the Carrot"

COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Conflicto se agudiza velozmente

POBLACIÓN-BRASIL: Quilombo de resistencia cultural negra

CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO-CHILE: El costo de no hacer nada

DERECHOS HUMANOS-HAITÍ: Misión de la ONU despierta ira

MUJERES-ASIA PACÍFICO: Mortalidad materna es "lo más triste"

Q&R : Reconnaître les avantages de ralentir la croissance démographique

AFRIQUE : Utilisation croissante du téléphone cellulaire pour le planning familial

OUGANDA : "L’expulsion du Mont Elgon nous a réduits en mendiants"*

REFUGIES-RD CONGO : Les humanitaires reprennent à zéro au nord Congo

EAU-ZAMBIE : Des inquiétudes avant la saison des inondations

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