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| The
Global Financial Crisis
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It
is now more than a year
since the sub-prime
lending crisis in the
US mortgage sector came
to light. The unprecedented
and still unfolding
financial crisis in
the developed world
brings with it the end
of the illusion of the
market being ''efficient''.
This is the time for
a fundamental rethinking
on financial liberalisation
in order to reduce systemic
and global instability.
This section presents
papers and articles
that seek to explain
the causes and consequences
of the U.S. subprime
mortgage crisis. Through
a critique of the underlying
structure and dynamics
of deregulated finance,
they analyse how this
crisis has led to a
generalized credit crunch
in other financial sectors,
which ultimately affects
the real economy and
the world economy at
large.
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Vertically
Integrated Unit Labour Costs by Sector:
Mexico and USA 1970-2000  |
| Pablo
Ruiz-Nápoles |
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Real
effective exchange rates have been
calculated by relative unit labour
costs for many countries in the
world economy. In this paper we
develop a methodology to estimate
vertically integrated unit labour
costs by sector, using input-output
techniques, for the Mexican and
US economies in the period 1970-2000.
The results are then compared with
the measurement of ‘Revealed’ Comparative
Advantage by sector, of the Mexican
economy, in order to establish whether
Mexican foreign trade by sector
was related to its relative labour
costs, during this period. To test
this relationship, econometric analysis
for panel data is utilized. |
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| Globalisation
and Health, 1980 - 2000: Pathways
of Impact and Initial Evidence
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| Giovanni
Andrea Cornia, Stefano Rosignoli &
Luca Tiberti |
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This
paper tries to shed light on the
relation between globalisation policies
and health and argues that globalization
policies contributed – through different
pathways - to a slowdown in the
pace of improvement of the social
determinants of health. This caused,
in turn, a corresponding deceleration
(relative to the 1960-80 trends)
in health gains in several regions
and also globally. The authors,
though not claiming to provide a
final conclusion, argue that there
is strong enough case to believe
that the unsatisfactory health trends
of the Globalization Era is related
to a premature and acritical application
of liberalisation-globalisation
policies. |
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| Migration
and Gender Empowerment: Recent Trends
and Emerging Issues |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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This
paper attempts to study the issue
of women migrant labourers as women
today form a significant section
of national and international migrants.
The process of migration, and how
that can be gender-differentiated,
is discussed with particular reference
to the various types of female migration
that are common: marriage migration,
family migration, forced migration
and migration for work. The paper
also explores the issues and problems
of women migrants in the process
of migration and in the destination
country. |
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| Rethinking
Macro Economic Strategies from a Human
Rights Perspective |
| Radhika
Balakrishnan, Diane Elson & Rajeev
Patel. |
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This
report is a follow up to the previous
report of 2005. Amidst the ongoing
financial crisis, the report provides
the basis for the political agenda
that must be advanced in order to
ensure that the fundamental rights
and interests of the "sufferers"
are protected and expanded. This
document proposes a novel focus
and methodology to evaluate macroeconomic
policies from the perspective of
the progressive realization of the
people's economic and social human
rights, and the States' compliance
with their minimal, basic responsibilities
to their people. |
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| Reflections
on the Left |
| Prabhat
Patnaik |
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The
results of the recent Indian election suggest that
the Left needs to pursue its resistance to imperialism
along with an alternative approach to “development”,
which defends the interests of its class base. If
the Left abandons anti-imperialism, it will not only
erode its existing class base, but also push the "basic
classes" into the arms of extremist ideologies. |
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| Inflation
Fears and Commodity Prices |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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Even
as the global downturn continues to cause trade flows
to decline and jobs to be lost, there may be upward
pressure on certain prices in the near future. However,
unlike the monetarist arguments, the reasons for the
expected inflationary spiral lie not in fiscal expansion
or in supply-demand mismatch. Instead, they reflect
the continuing possibility that financial speculation
can cause sharp changes in the prices of commodities
in the world market.
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| Will
Pinning the Blame on China Help Correct Global Imbalances? |
| Terry
McKinley |
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US'
propensity to live beyond its means is the central
source of the current exacerbated state of global
imbalances. Trying to shift the blame onto China serves
only to cloud this reality. |
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| Finance
Capital and Fiscal Deficits |
| Prabhat
Patnaik |
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Economic
explanations for the opposition of finance to increased
borrowing-financed government expenditure are inadequate.
The real basis of the opposition is political. The
“social legitimacy” of capitalism gets seriously compromised
by the fact that State expenditure can take the economy
to near-full employment irrespective of the “state
of confidence” of the capitalists. |
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| The
Global Financial Community |
| Prabhat
Patnaik |
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Lenin
in Imperialism had talked about a financial oligarchy
presiding over vast amounts of money capital through
its control over banks and using this capital for
diverse purposes. In the current epoch of ''globalization''
when finance capital itself is international in character,
the controllers of this international finance capital
constitute a global financial oligarchy. |
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| Immigration
in a Development Context |
| Manuel
Riesco |
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While
developing countries discuss a lot about migration
from developing countries, it is the latter that has
to face the problem more. Migration from developing
countries to developed countries is much less than
migration faced by developing countries, either from
less developed neighbours, or from the hinterlands
to the industrial bases. |
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| Lessons
from Global Corporate Frauds |
| Jayati
Ghosh |
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Neo-classical
policies, when they are adopted wholesale, sow the
seeds of their own destruction by bringing about a
wave of control frauds. When control frauds produce
bubbles, they drive the market into deep inefficiency
and can produce economic stagnation once the bubble
collapses. |
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| How
did China reduce Rural Poverty? |
C.P.
Chandrasekhar &
Jayati Ghosh |
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Poverty
reduction in China is frequently seen as the result
of the rapid export-led industrialisation of the country
following its market-oriented reforms. But the article
argues that the main factors were institutional changes
in rural areas, especially land reforms, which enabled
the peasantry to take advantage of terms of trade
movements in their favour. |
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