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Dambisa Moyo, author of Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa
Greenspan recommends the banks be broken up ( - Bloomberg.com
- The major question remaining, then, seems to be how such breaking apart occurs. It is in the interests of the big financial institutions to retain their power. - pickinjava on 2009-10-18
FINANCE: IMF Rebuts Critical Report on Lending - IPS ipsnews.net
The IMF responded to the report by the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) with a lengthy rebuttal asserting that it "reaches seriously misleading conclusions about the pro-cyclicality of policies in IMF-supported programs, relying on faulty analysis and often inaccurate information."
Z Space - Patrick Bond
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On the other hand, the cost of market failure could at least be offset, somewhat, by ideological advance. The main gains so far were in delegitimating the economic liberalisation philosophy adopted during the 1994-2008 governments of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki (presided over by Manuel).
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As for the rest of Africa, similar opportunities to contest financial system orthodoxy now arise. At this stage, it is practically impossible for staff from the most powerful external force in African economic policy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to advise elites with any credibility.
The IMF's October 2006 Global Financial Stability Report, after all, claimed that world finance showed 'exceptionally low market volatility.' Moreover, global economic growth 'continued to become more balanced, providing a broad underpinning for financial markets.'
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Policy support instrument: Helping hand or more thumb screws? (Bretton Woods Project)
In October, the IMF board approved the establishment of a Policy Support Instrument (PSI), a non-lending programme which will provide policy advice to poor countries and send a signal to donors and markets about the quality of a country's economic policies. Critics suspect the instrument is little more than a new way "to extend Fund domination".
BIC's new handbook for advocacy on extractive industry revenues | Bank Information Center: Monitoring the projects and policies of the World Bank, IMF and other international financial institutions
The Handbook is intended as a tool for civil society organizations, journalists and other members of the public interested in learning more about transparency and fiscal management in the natural resource sectors. It distills and builds upon information contained in the IMF’s document, with a focus on areas especially pertinent for civil society groups seeking to better understand how extractive industry (EI) sectors are managed. The Handbook aims to help civil society groups hold governments and private companies accountable for the exploitation of natural resources in their country.[2]
In producing this Handbook, BIC is not endorsing the extractive industries or asserting that improved transparency, alone, would address the myriad social, environmental and economic impacts associated with natural resource exploitation. Rather, this document aims to provide citizens in resource-rich countries with one more tool to strengthen their efforts to hold industry actors and governments accountable.
Weapons of mass financial destruction, by Gabriel Kolko
Last month a major US hedge fund, Amaranth Advisors, lost more than half its assets in a week, speculating on natural gas prices. The company proved correct the chief worry of such major financial institutions as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund: that financial reality is now out of control.
Paper: Comment on IMF and World Bank Structural Adjustment Programs and Poverty by William Easterly
Center for Global Development : A Funny YouTube Video about Foreign Assistance?
The U.S. Foreign Assistance Act -- a cornerstone of America’s support for global development -- is so badly out of date and needs the next American president to help bring it into the 21st century. That's the message of a new YouTube video launched this week by the Center for Global Development. “The situation would be funny if it weren't so pathetic,” said CGD director of communications and policy Lawrence MacDonald. “
MIGA—Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Bretton Woods Project)
Created in 1988 MIGA aims to encourage foreign direct investment by providing guarantees, known as political risk insurance, to foreign investors against loss caused by non-commercial risks in developing countries. MIGA, which is part of the World Bank Group, also provides technical assistance such as capacity building and advisory services to help countries attract foreign investment.
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MIGA claims that insurance is only provided if a project is judged to be: economically and financially viable; in line with a host country�s development objectives and labour standards; and is "environmentally sound."
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However earlier this year the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) criticised the due diligence of MIGA with respect to investment in the copper-silver mining project in Katanga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The audit concluded that risks to local communities and human rights were not adequately considered. A MIGA backed paper mill in Fray Bentos, Uruguay, has also been the centre of some controversy. The Center for Human Rights and Environment has filed complaints with the CAO and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (an organisation to ensure adherence of international human rights law in the Americas). Allegations centre on the violation of MIGA's environmental and social safeguards, the abuse of the human rights of local stakeholders, which includes violations of the rights to: participation; access to information; development; health; a healthy environment; and the right to water.
As Global Wealth Spreads, the IMF Recedes
Ghana had joined a long list of developing countries in Africa and beyond enjoying record periods of growth, with the robust economy leaving it no longer in need of more IMF cash.
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Ghana had joined a long list of developing countries in Africa and beyond enjoying record periods of growth, with the robust economy leaving it no longer in need of more IMF cash.
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The IMF, founded in 1944 to foster the reconstruction of the global economy in the wake of World War II, is entering its largest period of upheaval since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Over the next year, the Washington institution will slash its 2,900-person workforce by 13 percent through a combination of buyouts and some layoffs, reflecting a loan portfolio shrinking so fast that the IMF is seeking to sell off $6 billion in gold reserves to create a new long-term source of income.
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The Equator Principles
A benchmark for the financial industry to manage social and environmental issues in project financing
Training for nothing? (Bretton Woods Project)
An evaluation of the World Bank’s training for capacity building reveals serious flaws...that undermine country ownership; the same criticism is being levelled at the IMF over...plans to charge for technical assistance [Independent Evaluation Group (IEG
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