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Saturday, November 07, 2009 16:33 GMT

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NO FINANCIAL REFORM IN SIGHT AS BANKS RESUME BUSINESS AS USUAL
Roberto Savio

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

Despite universal clamour for reform, the financial system has gone back to business as usual, as if nothing had happened. In mid-October it was reported that the sum of derivatives, the high-risk financial instrument that set off the crisis, has continued to increase to a total of USD 445 trillion, 6.5 times the gross world product, writes Roberto Savio, founder and president emeritus of the Inter Press Service (IPS).

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL, TOO BIG IS UGLY
Hazel Henderson

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

Since the financial crises of 2008-2009, many experts have called for the downsizing of the bloated financial sectors and curbing their trading activities and ever-more mysterious financial "products" such as credit default swaps (CDSs), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) whose totals soared to $658 trillion of these bets between traders in the few biggest banks in the world. We now know that CDSs, CDOs and all the alphabet soup of such "financial products" were really bets that should be relegated to betting parlors and regulated by gaming commissions, writes Hazel Henderson, president of Ethical Markets Media.

CUBA: THE INVISIBLE FUTURE
Leonardo Padura Fuentes

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The economic and structural crisis that upended Cuban society in the 1990s after the disappearance of the Soviet Union created a rupture in Cubans' image of their future, writes Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a Cuban writer and journalist whose novels have been translated into a dozen languages.

20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: A LOST OPPORTUNITY
Ignacio Ramonet

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The historic opportunity presented by the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago has been squandered, writes Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique in Spanish.

20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: BEYOND THE FREE MARKET
Eric Hobsbawm

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The short twentieth century was an era of religious war between secular ideologies. For historical rather than logical reasons it was dominated by the opposition between two and only two mutually exclusive types of economy, ‘Socialism’, which was identified with centrally planned economies of the Soviet type and ‘Capitalism’ which covered all the rest, writes Eric Hobsbawm, British historian and author.

20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: THE STORY CONTINUES
Mikhail Gorbachev

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world has not become a fairer place: disparities between the rich and poor have grown while the crisis of ideologies now threatens to become a crisis of ideals, values, and morals and strengthen the atmosphere of political pessimism and nihilism, writes Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991, Nobel Peace Prize 1990 and president of the World Political Forum (WPF).

FUNDS WITHOUT FUNDS: THE CHILEAN CASE
Manuel Riesco

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Chile's private pension system lost 30 percent of its overall value during the current financial crisis, writes Manuel Riesco, a Chilean economist, vice president of the Centre for National Studies of Alternative Development (CENDA), and director of the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty.

THE PRIVATISATION OF LIVELIHOOD
Vandana Shiva

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Globalisation and trade liberalisation policies have led to the privatisation of water and biodiversity and the concentration of land ownership in India, reversing six decades of land reform and introducing a new form of corporate zamindari -a feudal land tenure system- through instruments like "special economic zones", writes Vandana Shiva, an author and international campaigner for women and the environment.

NOBEL TO OBAMA: THE RIGHT TIME, THE RIGHT PERSON
Mario Soares

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Obama's greatest strength derives from the hope he arouses for a better world, one with more solidarity and justice. This is not a new utopia. Today it is possible to take a major step forward, like those taken during other crucial periods of history, writes Mario Soares, ex-president and ex-prime minister of Portugal.

A CULTURE OF PEACE - THE TIME HAS COME
Federico Mayor

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

The culture and economy of war and the hegemony of the "globalisers" have been a catastrophic failure and the cause of incalculable levels of suffering, hunger, and extreme poverty. A "new beginning" is needed urgently, writes Federico Mayor, president of the Culture of Peace Foundation and former Director General of UNESCO.

LOW-INTENSITY PROTECTIONISM, SO FAR
Pascal Lamy

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

World economic growth, as measured by the world's production of goods and services, has slowed abruptly in 2008 and the early part of this year. The contraction in demand led to a slowdown in production, and in international trade. World merchandise trade is projected to fall by a full 10 per cent this year, and foreign direct investment, which fell by 15 per cent in 2008, is projected to drop further, writes Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

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This page contains abstracts of the columns. Editors interested in acquiring the full text, please contact romacol@ips.org specifying the name and address of the publication as well as a proposed rate. Unfortunately, we cannot comply with requests from individuals or organisations that do not represent print media outlets.

MEXICO: Women Package the Sweet Taste of Nostalgia

POLITICS: Thai-Cambodia Diplomatic Row Bares Decades-Long Rift

SRI LANKA: Colombo’s Diplomatic Sparring Games with EU, U.S.

CLIMATE CHANGE-US: Too Little, Too Late for Copenhagen?

HONDURAS: Unilateral "Unity Government" Announced; Deal "Dead"

RIGHTS-NICARAGUA: Mudslinging Match Between Gov't, Activists

MIDEAST: Lessons from the Karine A -Déjà Vu All Over Again

AFRICA: We Are the Government

U.S.: "War Comes Home" with Ft. Hood Shootings

Q&A: Geert Wilders Gets a Big Email Hug

HONDURAS: La tentación del pragmatismo

CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO: Las complejas matemáticas del G-20

PETRÓLEO: Esquiva estabilidad para los precios

ESTADOS UNIDOS: La guerra por la culata

HONDURAS: Micheletti forma su propio "gobierno de unidad"

ZIMBABWE : Des défenseurs des droits demandent un embargo sur les exportations de diamants

SANTE-AFRIQUE : Un vaccin contre le paludisme à portée de main

POLITIQUE–COTE D’IVOIRE : La seule candidate s’engage pour réconcilier une nation divisée

DEVELOPPEMENT-MOZAMBIQUE : Regarder l’eau s’écouler

BENIN : Les trafiquants de migrants clandestins toujours à l’œuvre

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