China Offers a ‘Marshall Plan’ to Some of Europe

China's display of largesse towards debt-ridden European nations has divided observers, inviting comparisons on one side to a Chinese Marshall plan for Europe, and to a Chinese communist takeover of the continent on the other.

Compromise on Reforms Eludes IMF Fall Meetings

When the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund got under way this week, the agenda ranged from ongoing talks about "currency wars" between countries to how to maintain progress on poverty reduction in the face of economic crises, to reforming the mandates and governance of the Washington-based international financial institutions.

Support Growing for Degrowth

In the face of a global recession that has not yet run its course, there is growing demand now for an economic model away from reliance on continued growth.

EU Takes On Chinese Currency, Softly

The European Union is riding in the middle of an escalating currency spat between China and the United States, perceived by many in Beijing as a smokescreen for Washington's efforts to sap China's growth and contain its rise.

G20 Summit Cracks Open Door to Five Non-Members

The G20, a group of powerful political and economic decision- makers criticised for its exclusivity, has invited five non- members to its next summit meeting in South Korea in November.

EUROPE: Where the Roma Begin to Prosper

The "gypsy market" in Brasov is bustling with activity on a Saturday morning. It's one of the few places left where pensioners and other low-income Romanians can buy decent clothes cheaply. And also here, the power dynamics between Roma and non-Roma is silently shifting.

Greek Society Falling, Falling…

People walking casually past a sleeping or unconscious person has become a recurrent scene in downtown Athens these days. At Omonia square in the heart of the Greek capital one sees signs of social degeneration and segregation that were unknown only a decade ago.

SPAIN: Renewable Energy a Remedy for Economic Crisis

One of the causes of Spain's deep economic crisis is the country's limited ability to export goods with high added value. But the pioneering renewable energy sector has the potential to fill that gap.

DEVELOPMENT: A Fat Cat Tax for Lean Times

As world leaders convened Monday for the first day of a summit dedicated to resuscitate efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the question of how to finance countries' acceleration efforts looms large.

LATIN AMERICA: Crisis Not a Thing of the Past for NGOs

The countries of Latin America, with few exceptions, have weathered the global recession of the past two years relatively well, while they simultaneously continued the process of shedding neoliberal policies in their most fundamentalist form. But in financial terms, non-governmental organisations have not fared so well.

AFRICA: Liberalised Services Still Require Proper Regulations

With African countries' trade remaining inordinately dependent on natural resources exports, their economies could benefit from liberalisation of trade in services but only as long as proper domestic regulatory frameworks are put in place, some trade experts argue.

U.S.: Money for Prisons, Not for Social Services

Many of those who have lost their jobs and homes in the United States due to the lingering economic recession are ending up in jail, according to a new study released by an independent think tank Thursday.

One in Seven U.S. Citizens Sinks into Poverty

Poverty rates in the United States have climbed to their highest level since 1994, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hunger Drops Mere Half a Percent over Last Decade

Ten years after setting the goal of halving the proportion of people suffering from poverty and hunger by 2015, only mixed success can be found for the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the degree of success is dependent not only on what country is examined but which evaluation is used.

ECONOMY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Threat of States Collapsing Looms Large

The mooted restructuring of the revenue-sharing agreement of the world’s oldest customs union could lead to at least two of its Southern African members collapsing into "failed states" status as well as macroeconomic crises in two of their neighbours in the sub-region.

TRADE: It’s the End of the Export-Led Growth Model, Says UNCTAD

While the recovery from the financial and economic meltdown remains fragile in especially the developed world, the outlook for Africa inspires optimism, according to UNCTAD. The agency also believes the crisis might be the death- knell for the export-led economic growth model -- especially African countries should leave it behind.

LABOUR-MEXICO: Employment Agencies Multiply, But Regulation Lags

The global economic crisis has taken its toll in Mexico, as elsewhere, leading thousands of people to turn to private employment agencies to find jobs -- even though some of their labour rights may be left unprotected.

US: New Banking Overhaul More Like An Under-Haul

On July 21, 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the most sweeping financial industry regulatory reform since the Great Depression of the 1930s. But, experts point out that the bill does not address some of the real problems behind the structural instabilities of the U.S. economic system.

Civil Society Watchdogs Crucial in New Global Order

Six hundred delegates from more than 80 countries flocked to Montreal Aug. 20-23 for the CIVICUS World Assembly in search of innovative ways to approach global challenges like poverty and climate change.

Q&A: “Democracy Deficit Is the Biggest Obstacle to Development”

Three scenarios were laid before the delegates here attending the CIVICUS World Assembly, a venue that attracts civil society, donors, government and business leaders from every region of the world.

Q&A: “Women Are the First to Cook and the Last to Eat”

Three hundred women from more than 30 countries converged in Canada last weekend for the Montreal International Women's Conference 2010 (MIWC), with the aim of building a global militant women's movement in the 21st century.