Rheinmetall Plans to Make 700,000 Artill... Thu Apr 25, 2024 04:03 | Anti-Empire
America’s Shell Production Is Leaping,... Wed Apr 24, 2024 05:29 | Anti-Empire
Ukraine Keeps Snapping Up Chinese Drones Tue Apr 23, 2024 03:14 | Anti-Empire
Moscow Is Prosecuting the War on a Pathe... Mon Apr 22, 2024 12:26 | Anti-Empire
US Military Aid to Kiev Passes After Tru... Sun Apr 21, 2024 05:57 | Anti-Empire Anti-Empire >>
A Blog About Human Rights
UN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights
5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights
Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights
Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights
Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights Human Rights in Ireland >>
News Round-Up Fri Apr 26, 2024 00:42 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Lockdown?s Impact on Children to Last Well into 2030s, Says LSE Report Thu Apr 25, 2024 20:00 | Will Jones Children who started school during the pandemic will have worse exam results well into the next decade after losing six crucial months of learning, a new report from the London School of Economics has found.
The post Lockdown’s Impact on Children to Last Well into 2030s, Says LSE Report appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
A.V. Dicey Did Not Foresee the Gender Recognition Act Thu Apr 25, 2024 18:00 | Dr James Alexander When Dicey summarised the principle of parliamentary sovereignty he wrote: "Parliament can do everything but make a woman a man and a man a woman." Alas, thanks to the European Court of Human Rights, that's no longer true.
The post A.V. Dicey Did Not Foresee the Gender Recognition Act appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
My BBC Complaint About Chris Packham?s Daily Sceptic Slur Thu Apr 25, 2024 15:52 | Toby Young Last Sunday, Chris Packham made a false and defamatory allegation on the BBC about the team behind the Daily Sceptic, claiming they had "close affiliations to the fossil fuel industry". The BBC then signal-boosted it. ?
The post My BBC Complaint About Chris Packham?s Daily Sceptic Slur appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Another Clue Pointing to an American Origin of the Virus Thu Apr 25, 2024 14:18 | Will Jones It's increasingly clear the virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan. But could it have been made in the USA? Will Jones suggests the behaviour of the Chinese Government before and after the sequence was published gives us a clue.
The post Another Clue Pointing to an American Origin of the Virus appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Israel's complex relations with Iran, by Thierry Meyssan Wed Apr 24, 2024 05:25 | en
Iran's hypersonic missiles generate deterrence through terror, says Scott Ritter... Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 | en
When the West confuses Law and Politics Sat Apr 20, 2024 09:09 | en
The cost of war, by Manlio Dinucci Wed Apr 17, 2024 04:12 | en
Angela Merkel and François Hollande's crime against peace, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Apr 16, 2024 06:58 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
On World Economic Forum on East Asia 2014
international |
anti-capitalism |
news report
Saturday June 07, 2014 14:41 by Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)
All Glitz, Nothing New to Solve Poverty and Inequality
PHILIPPINES: The World Economic Forum ( WEF ) on East Asia 2014, a gathering of 70 government and public figures and 460 business leaders here in Makati City, conclude its three-day meeting today, May 25, 2014. The affair is about to wrap up as an expensive and glorified talking shop with no new ideas and solutions to offer to what is Asia’s, even East Asia’s , and especially the Philippines’ most stubborn and alarming problems: poverty and inequality.
The WEF 2014 theme : “ Leveraging Growth for Equitable Progress” is itself an admission that poverty and inequality are problems that undermine the triumphalist hype for economic growth that the region’s elites see as the main source of sustained economic progress. The discussions however never strayed from the old, worn-out free market, neo-liberal prescriptions that over three decades have failed to overcome these problems.
Worse, by showcasing the Philippines as a new model for an “ economic turn-around” touting it as “ Asia’s next economic miracle “ , WEF 2014 and its host, the Aquino government, are foisting a big lie before the region, the world and the Filipino people. Despite claims of moderate to high growth rates in the previous more than ten years, the Philippines registered no significant decline in the poverty ratio from 2006 to 2012 ( NSCB, 2012 ). Inequality has worsened. Seventy six percent ( 76%) of GDP growth for 2011 is equivalent to the income growth of the richest 40 families in the country. In 2009, the The Philippines’ gini coefficient ( WB, 2009 ) already made it the most unequal country in Southeast Asia ( no figures for Burma )and one of the highly unequal countries in the world. Nine million Filipinos have gone abroad, not by choice but by necessity, to seek jobs and a better life. More are yearning to follow.
The neo-liberal, free market formula that was pursued for more than two decades has resulted in a failed economy. Many industries have collapsed and agriculture stagnated. The limited land reform was stuck in the mud. Joblessness have become widespread. Education, health and housing services deteriorated further as the State conceded these areas to increasing corporate takeover. Gender inequality worsens on top of social inequality. National and people’s sovereignty has increasingly become a dead letter in the Constitution and the laws of the land.
On the other hand, the combined profit of 30 companies in the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index rose by 635 percent, compared to 59 percent growth of GDP and GDP per capita increase of 13 percent. Indeed, the neo-liberal, free market formula is an excellent one for corporate greed.
Annual climate change and ecological disasters have not only eaten away the little improvements made in poverty reduction and economic production but have added more figures to poverty ratios and thus, to inequality. The Yolanda devastation of last year has enormously proven this. As we expect and ought to brace for more climate change and ecological impacts, the government has been very slow in putting into place comprehensive adaptation and mitigation measures. Worse, it is passing on its responsibility for rehabilitation and reconstruction of devastated areas to big corporations.
Governance is cited as a bright prospect under the Aquino administration. This is fast becoming more spin than fact. After a few high-impact moves like the Corona impeachment, the anti-corruption drive settles to a slow grinding motion. The abolition of the pork barrel PDAF is decisively a citizen initiative supported by the media. In fact, the pork barrel scam exposed the administration’s extensive and aggressive play to use the pork barrel beyond the requirements of transparency and accountability.
No, there is no turn-around happening for the Philippine economy. Without dismantling neo-liberalism and finding solutions to inequality, the nation is headed to another lost decade as the FDC SONA Statement of 2013 warned.
http://www.fdc.ph/
|