Finance against people
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Rwanda: A look back at the 1994 genocide
6 April 2021 - by Eric Toussaint
Starting on 7 April 1994, in less than three months, nearly one million Rwandans – the exact figure has not yet been determined - were exterminated because they were (or supposed to be) Tutsis. Tens of thousands of moderate Hutus were also (...) -
Debt-driven suicides continue unabated in Sri Lanka
3 April 2021 - by Piyumi Fonseka
Sometimes a loan obtained to save a life can end up taking another life, in the debt-stricken villages of Sri Lanka. A 24-year-old mother killed her child and committed suicide two months ago due to her inability to repay a loan of Rs. 400, 000 (...) -
A movement for a moratory on the debt of region affected by Wakashio
2 April 2021 - by Stefan Gua
A movement to demand a moratorium on the debts of households and businesses in the disaster areas of Wakashio. This is the request of Lasanble Solider Mahébourg / lakot Sid-Es. They were some fifteen demonstrators of this collective gathered in (...) -
The bitter realities behind the Hingurakgoda satyagraha
2 April 2021 - by Amalini de Sayrah
On International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021, in a small tent located at the Polonnaruwa Raja Sabha Mandapaya, women sat down to begin a satyagraha against the microfinance debt that has crippled rural economies and left them helpless. Current (...) -
Series: Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21th Century: an ABC
The evolution of wealth inequalities over the last two centuries
1 April 2021 - by CADTM
In France just before the Revolution of 1789, the proportion of national wealth held by the top 10 percent was about 90 percent, and the fraction possessed by the top 1 percent was as much as 60 percent. After the Revolution, the proportion held (...) -
Series: Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st century: an ABC
Concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1%
29 March 2021 - by CADTM
Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century [1] is an indispensable book for anyone interested in learning more about the unequal distribution of wealth in the world today. As I read this major 950-page study, which is supplemented by a large (...) -
[Video] « SYSTÅM DËBT - How to become a wealthy creditor! »
24 March 2021 - by CADTM, ZinTV, Entraide et Fraternité
In this video with subtitles in 4 languages (FR, NL, EN, ES), ZIN TV, Entraide et Fraternité and the CADTM offer you their explanation of the “debt system” in the form of a tutorial cynically addressed to capital holders who benefit from this (...) -
Thomas Piketty and Karl Marx: Two totally different visions of Capital
9 March 2021 - by Eric Toussaint
In his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty has gathered his data meticulously and provided a useful analysis of the unequal distribution of wealth and income, yet some of his definitions are somewhat confusing and even (...) -
India: from loans to credit since 4000 years and the existence banks for 2500 years
24 February 2021 - by Eric Toussaint, Sushovan Dhar
The first credit in India dates back 4000 years. The existence of loans is proved to exist during the Vedic period, which is between 2000 and 1400 BC. The existence of banks in India dates back to 500 BC. A treatise on the art of politics of (...) -
Development or Underdevelopment?
4 February 2021 - by Amali Wedagedara
The Sri Lankan economy revealed a principal contradiction during the last two weeks. The Colombo Stock Market was becoming one of the best performing stock markets in the world. In parallel, the real Sri Lankan economy is collapsing. A suicide (...) -
Planting budgetary time bombs in Africa: the Macron Doctrine En Marche
14 January 2021 - by Ndongo Samba Sylla, Daniela Gabor
‘A French Jeremy Corbyn, and in power!’ you’d think after reading the first few paragraphs of Macron’s recent interview in Le Grand Continent. He condemns the Washington Consensus, the paradigm of ‘less state intervention, privatisations, structural (...) -
IMF’s continued VAT push inconsistent with rhetoric on progressive taxes
6 January 2021 - by Bretton Woods Project
Summary IMF backs regressive VAT despite progressive tax rhetoric in pandemic response Broader tax trends steadily shift burdens to women and those least able to pay In September, the IMF hosted the first of a series of webinars (...) -
World Bank: Investigate Cambodia’s Micro-Loans
5 January 2021 - by Human Rights Watch
The World Bank Group should investigate alleged coerced land sales and other rights abuses linked to predatory lending and over-indebtedness in the micro-loan sector, Human Rights Watch said today. These longstanding problems have worsened (...) -
11 questions / 11 answers about the new global debt crisis and how it can be radically reduced
29 December 2020 - by Eric Toussaint, Olivier Bonfond, Mats Lucia Bayer
Introduction: The current crisis is the most severe since 1929. It is a multi-dimensional crisis of capitalism as it affects simultaneously democracy, health, the economy, climate, environment and social rights. The current health crisis (...) -
What do FTAs mean for African women? A critical look into the African Continental Free Trade Area
15 December 2020 - by GRAIN
The recently ratified African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) looms over Africa. An initiative of the African Union, this mega free trade deal aims to consolidate African markets, boost trade between African countries, and ultimately (...) -
G20 debt proposal continues to favour creditors
14 December 2020 - by Bretton Woods Project
Summary: G20 announces disappointing common framework for debt restructuring Framework relies on much-critiqued IMF and World Bank debt sustainability analysis Debtor countries must agree to IMF treatment as condition of debt relief (...) -
Total Uganda case in France: the Court of Appeal of Versailles remands the case to the commercial court
11 December 2020 - by Survie, Les Amis de la Terre, CCFD-Terre Solidaire , ActionAid France-Peuples Solidaires, Collectif Ethique sur l’étiquette
The Versailles Court of Appeal today issued its decision on the case against the oil giant Total led by six French and Ugandan associations - Friends of the Earth France, Survie, AFIEGO, CRED, NAPE and NAVODA - which constitutes the first legal (...) -
Micro credit : empowerment or victimisation?
10 December 2020 - by Sushovan Dhar, Sankha Subhra Biswas
The pandemic and the ensuing lock-down has hit India like never before. A report by K Chandra Shekhar and Kasif Mansorr from Azim Premji University states “According to the ILO report, in India, more than 400 million informal workers may get (...) -
Complicity of International Financial Institutions in Violation of Human Rights in the Context of Economic Reforms
30 November 2020 - by Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky
This Article demonstrates that the introduction of austerity measures does not contribute to economic recovery, but instead has negative consequences in terms of economic growth, debt ratios, and equality, and routinely results in a series of (...) -
‘We do not get a chance at happiness’: the Bangladeshi fishermen caught by debt
23 November 2020 - by Rafiqul Islam Montu, Kaamil Ahmed
Hilsa fishermen must borrow to buy equipment but have to sell their catch at a low price to moneylenders – creating a generational debt trap Kalam Sheikh’s life revolves around the few months when he goes in search of Bangladesh’s prized hilsa (...) -
Series: 1944-2020, 76 years of interference from the World Bank and the IMF (Part 27)
The World Bank, the IMF and the respect of human rights
25 October 2020 - by Eric Toussaint
“When I came to the Bank, we were not allowed to mention the word ‘corruption’. It was called the “c” word. Well, maybe we need to mention the “r” word which is ‘rights’” James Wolfensohn, 1 March 2004 The question of “human rights” has never been a (...) -
Series: 1944-2020, 76 years of interference from the World Bank and the IMF (Part 26)
World Bank and IMF: 76 Years is Enough! Abolition!
15 October 2020 - by Eric Toussaint
At a time when the IMF and the World Bank are meeting together from 12 to 18 October 2020, mainly virtually, Eric Toussaint, international spokesperson for the CADTM, makes an assessment of the World Bank and its alter ego the IMF and proposes (...) -
Putting an end to the EU’s neo-colonial policies in the field of trade and investment: Economic pressures from above, social reaction from below
22 September 2020 - by Patrick Bond
Summary: The European Union and Africa have had exceptionally conflictual relations even after slavery and colonialism ended. Still today, African-European civil society relationships from below are often arrayed against a nexus of state and (...) -
President Trump’s man elected to head the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
17 September 2020 - by Ariela Ruiz Caro
Failures in the region’s coordination have allowed President Trump’s candidate to easily win the election of the IDB presidency despite the violation of the institution’s rules. In an expeditious process, on September 12, Mauricio Claver-Carone (...) -
Series: 1944-2020, 76 years of interference from the World Bank and the IMF (Part 24)
From Paul Wolfowitz (2005-2007) to David Malpass (2019-...): the US President’s men control the World Bank
14 September 2020 - by Eric Toussaint
In 2020, the World Bank (WB) and the IMF are 76 years old. These two international financial institutions (IFI), founded in 1944, are dominated by the USA and a few major allied powers who work to generalize policies that run counter the (...)
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