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Welcome
to the monthly newsletter for journalists about the impact of subsidies,
produced in partnership by IPS
- Inter Press Service and GSI
- Global Subsidies Initiative.
THIS
MONTH'S FOCUS:
The bailout of U.S. financial institutions
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Was the U.S. government right in bailing out U.S. financial institutions? Will it boost the economy? Reverse the recession? A senior economist answers these and many other troubling questions. |
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ABOUT
THIS NEWSLETTER
Subsidies — transfers of public money to private interests— are so
common that for the most part they go unnoticed; they can also be arcane and complex,
posing tremendous challenges for journalists. Yet, many experts believe that subsidies
are one of the most critical factors in determining the sustainability of a government’s
economic, social and environmental policies. By conservative estimates, over US$1
trillion is spent annually on government subsidies worldwide. That money has far
reaching effects, going well beyond the stated policy goals used to justify the
subsidy itself. This monthly IPS-GSI Subsidy E-newsletter is designed to help
journalists identify ways in which subsidies crucially affect efforts to achieve
a more sustainable future.
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"Bailout
Could Make Things Worse"
An interview with Dean Baker*
The U.S. government’s
700 billion dollar bailout package is designed to avert a complete
financial meltdown. But will it? Global Subsidies Initiative
(GSI) interviews senior economist Dean Baker …
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More
information about subsidies
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The Global Subsidies Initiative cooperates
with an international network of researchers
working on subsidy related issues. Journalists
working on stories that involve subsidies,
and who are in search of expertise,
information and support are invited
to contact Javed Ahmad, the GSI's Director
of Communications, at info@globalsubsidies.org.
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Dean Baker - Bio
Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. He previously worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor at Bucknell University. His blog, Beat the Press, features commentary on economic reporting. He received his Ph.D in economics from the University of Michigan.
SUBSIDIES
STORIES FROM IPS - RECENT ARTICLES
DEVELOPMENT: Challenging the Bio-fuel-Hunger Paradigm
By Indranil Banerjie
NEW DELHI - Participants at The Third India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Business Forum 2008 came together here to debunk the belief that development of bio-fuels would invariably exacerbate global hunger. Conventional wisdom has it that increased production of bio-fuel -- particularly ethanol -- will invariably result in decreasing acreage for food grain production, rising food prices and a surge in hunger and malnutrition. Participants at the Forum -- held in New Delhi during the lead-up to the third IBSA Summit -- declared that this was not necessarily true.
OBAMA: "Subsidising Big Oil Makes No Sense"
Bankole Thompson interviews BARACK OBAMA
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan - Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama sat down with IPS correspondent Bankole Thompson again on Thursday for a one-on-one interview in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where over 15,000 enthusiastic Obama supporters turned out to hear his message of change at downtown's Calder Plaza.
U.S.: Great Place for the Oil Business
By Stephen Leahy
UXBRIDGE, Canada - Why do U.S. oil companies -- some of the most profitable corporations on the planet -- receive 20 to 40 billion dollars a year in subsidies from the U.S. government?
AFGHANISTAN: Subsidised Fuel Trail Winds Back to Pakistan
By Anand Gopal
KABUL - In a teeming petrol market on the outskirts of Kabul, black market traders sell fuel to everyone from individual customers to large business groups. Although much of this petrol comes from Iran or the Central Asian countries, a good amount also hails from Pakistan, where government subsidies have made the fuel much cheaper than in Afghanistan.
PAKISTAN: Tax Payers Pay for Subsidised Fuel to Afghanistan
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR - Petrol pumps in Pakistan’s border regions do brisk business. Jerry cans of fuel are carried both clandestinely and openly across the porous frontier for sale in neighbouring Afghanistan.
MALAYSIA: Murum Dam - Public Funds for Corporate Profit?
By Anil Netto
PENANG, Malaysia - Who will foot the bill for the Murum resettlement? ''Is it Sarawak Energy or will it be passed on directly to the state government and hence the tax payer,'' asked one Sarawak-based activist, who declined to be identified.
MALAYSIA: Power-Surplus Sarawak Funds Another New Dam
By Anil Netto
PENANG, Malaysia - Preliminary work on a 3 billion ringgit (875 million dollar) dam in Murum in the north Borneo state of Sarawak has put the spotlight on a controversial scheme to build a string of public-funded dams to provide cheap electricity for energy-intensive industries to the state.
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