Globalisation

Foreign Direct Investment: Myths and realities

By Yilmaz Akyüz
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is perhaps one of the most ambiguous and the least understood concepts in international economics. Common debate on FDI is confounded by several myths regarding its nature and impact on capital accumulation, technological progress, industrialization and growth in emerging and developing economies.

WTO: Giant Steps in the World Conference

By Roberto Azevêdo
World Trade Organization (WTO) members concluded the Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi on 19 December by securing an historic agreement on a series of trade initiatives. The “Nairobi Package” pays fitting tribute to the Conference host, Kenya, by delivering commitments that will benefit in particular the organization’s poorest members.

Companies Sue Developing States through Western Europe

By Frank Mulder
Many Europeans fear the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) because it could enable American companies to file claims against their states. The strange thing, however, is that Western Europe is becoming a big hub in this mechanism, called the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), leading to billion dollar claims against poorer countries.

Cubans Want to Know When They Will Feel the Effects of Thaw with U.S.

By Patricia Grogg
While the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba is moving ahead, and the U.S. and Cuban flags have been proudly waving in Havana and Washington, respectively, since last July, the year gone by since the thaw has left many unanswered questions.

2016: The Forthcoming Adjustment Shock

By Isabel Ortiz
Analysis of the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) expenditure projections for 187 countries between 2005 and 2020 reveals that there have been two distinct phases of government spending patterns since the onset of the global economic crisis.

Cities Emerge as Urgent Climate Solution at COP21

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
As the climate conference advances into its final stages amid the colossal challenge of having 195 countries agree on a single and unified global policy on climate change, urban areas appear a a different issue but complementary solution for all.

Soy, an Exotic Fruit in Brazil’s Amazon Jungle

By Fabiana Frayssinet
In the northern Brazilian state of Pará, the construction of a port terminal for shipping soy out of the Amazon region has displaced thousands of small farmers from their land, which is now dedicated to monoculture.

“Paris Is Not the End of a Climate Change Process but a Beginning”

By Marianela Jarroud
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet says the climate summit in Paris “is not the end of a process but a beginning,” and that it will produce “an agreement that, although insufficient with respect to the original goal, shows that people believe it is better to move ahead than to stand still.”

Leading Powers to Double Renewable Energy Supply by 2030

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Eight of the world’s leading economies will double their renewable energy supply by 2030 if they live up to their pledges to contribute to curbing global warming, which will be included in the new climate treaty.

Refugee Crisis May Threaten Development Aid to World’s Poor

By Thalif Deen
As the spreading refugee crisis threatens to destabilize national budgets of donor nations in Western Europe, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday appealed to the international community not to forsake its longstanding commitment for development assistance to the world’s poorer nations.

Central America Seeks Recognition of Its Vulnerability to Climate Change

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
For decades, the countries of Central America have borne the heavy impact of extreme climate phenomena like hurricanes and severe drought. Now, six of them are demanding that the entire planet recognise their climate vulnerability.

Brazil’s Megaprojects, a Short-lived Dream

By Mario Osava
Working as a musician in a military band is the dream of 21-year-old Jackson Coutinho, since hopes that a petrochemical complex would drive the industrialisation of this Brazilian city near Rio de Janeiro have gone up in smoke.

Opinion: The West Vote for a Better Yesterday

By Roberto Savio
The recent elections in Switzerland and Poland are good indicators of what will happen elsewhere in Europe, with this irresistible growing wave of refugees. But let us first make some crucial considerations.

Opinion: TPP is Bad for One’s Health

By N Chandra Mohan
Reflecting President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia, the US, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations have inked a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. This is the largest mega free trade agreement (FTA) in two decades and represents 40 per cent of the global economy.

Opinion: From European Union to Just a Common Market

By Roberto Savio
The success in the recent Swiss elections of the UDC-SVP, a xenophobic, anti European Union, right wing party, opens a number of reflections.

OPINION: Time to Reform the Global Casino

By Hazel Henderson
The year 2015 highlights the global shift from traditional money-based, gross domestic product (GDP)-measured economic growth to the new models of sustainable, inclusive human development embodied in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ratified by its 193 member nations.

Trans-Pacific partnership raise the barriers for the access to affordable medicines

By Carlos M. Correa
The pharmaceutical industry from the US and Europe scored a major victory with the adoption, in 1994, of a binding agreement on intellectual property (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights - TRIPS) in the context of the nascent World Trade Organization (WTO).

If the World Trade Organisation did not Exist, it Would Have to be Invented

By Roberto Azevêdo
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is a relative newcomer on the international stage. This year we are marking our 20th anniversary.

Opinion: India’s Compact with Africa

By N Chandra Mohan
The third India-Africa Forum Summit to be held in New Delhi later this month – in which 54 African countries will participaate – is expected to result in a deeper engagement between India and Africa. This summit takes place at a time when both need each other more than ever before. Both remain bright spots in a bleak and blighted growth landscape. Out of 189 countries, only 63 are expected to grow by 4 per cent and more this year, 36 of which are in Africa. But many countries there are adversely impacted by China's diminishing appetite for commodities and shrinking trade. India is currently one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

TPP is “Worst Trade Agreement” for Medicine Access, Says Doctors Without Borders

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
“The TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership] will…go down in history as the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries,” said Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a statement following the signing of the TPP trade deal.

Opinion: International Tax Cooperation Crucial for Development

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
It has become clear that the South, including the least developed countries, has little reason to expect any real progress to the almost half century old commitment to transfer 0.7 percent of developed countries’ income to developing countries. But to add insult to injury, developing countries have, once again, been denied full participation in inter-governmental discussions to enhance overall as well as national tax capacities.
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