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Friday, April 4, 2025
News and Views from the Global South
Malnutrition Not Due to Cash Poverty Alone
The World Bank set its US ‘dollar-a-day’ poverty line using its 1990 data. Despite many doubts and criticisms, its poverty numbers fell until the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
Western Climate Hypocrisy Exposed by NATO Energy Policy
NATO geopolitical strategy has now joined the ‘coalition’ of Western geoeconomic forces accelerating planetary heating, now led again by re-elected US President Donald Trump.
America First Deepens World Stagnation
Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) appeal captured US mass discontent against globalisation. In recent decades, variations of America First have reflected growing ethnonationalism in the world’s presumptive hegemon.
Imperialism (Still) Rules
Many in the West, of the political right and left, now deny imperialism. For Josef Schumpeter, empires were pre-capitalist atavisms that would not survive the spread of capitalism. But even the conservative Economist notes President Trump’s revival of this US legacy.
An ‘Exorbitant Privilege’ for All?
Ending US dollar dominance alone will not end monetary imperialism. Only much better multilateral arrangements to clear international payments can meet the Global South’s aspirations for sustainable development.
Food Systems Worsen Diets, Health
Corporate-dominated food systems are responsible for widespread but still spreading malnutrition and ill health. Poor diets worsen non-communicable diseases (NCDs), now costing over eight trillion dollars yearly!
Financing for Development Priorities Today
The forthcoming fourth United Nations Financing for Development conference must address developing countries’ major financial challenges. Recent setbacks to sustainable development and climate action make FfD4 all the more critical.
New Geopolitics Worse for Global South
The new geopolitics after the first Cold War undermines peace, sustainability, and human development. Hegemonic priorities continue to threaten humanity’s well-being and prospects for progress.
New Approaches Urgently Needed to Tackle Resurgent Social Crises
Despite uneven economic recovery since the pandemic, poverty, inequality, and food insecurity continue to worsen, including in the Asia-Pacific region, which used to fare better than the rest of the Global South.
Western Finance Ruining Economies of the Rest
Western financial policies have been squeezing economies worldwide. After being urged to borrow commercial finance heavily, developing countries now struggle with contractionary Western monetary policies.
World Inequality Still Rising Despite Some Convergence
Despite earlier income convergence among nations, many low-income countries (LICs) and people are falling further behind. Worse, the number of poor and hungry has been increasing again after declining for decades.
Another Nobel for Anglocentric Neoliberal Institutional Economics
New institutional economics (NIE) has received another so-called Nobel prize, ostensibly for again claiming that good institutions and democratic governance ensure growth, development, equity and democracy.
IPEF: Much Ado about Nothing
After 2.5 years, US President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is increasingly irrelevant due to its own limitations and broader US foreign policy shifts.
Net Zero by 2050 Delays Needed Urgent Climate Action
Net zero emissions by 2050 prioritise mitigation for climate stabilisation. Pledges to achieve this still distant target have grown but inadvertently delay urgently needed climate action in the near term.
The Global South in the New Cold War
Marginalised and dominated economically by the Global North, developing countries must urgently cooperate to better strive for their shared interests in achieving world peace and sustainable development.
Global Poverty Grows as Super-Rich Get Richer Faster
Oxfam expects the world’s first trillionaire within a decade and poverty to end in 229 years! The wealth of the world’s five richest men has more than doubled from 2020, as 4.8 billion people became poorer.
Handling Financial Crises in the South
When history repeats itself, the first time is a tragedy; the next is a farce. If we fail to learn from past financial crises, we risk making avoidable errors, often with irreversible, even tragic consequences.
More Poverty for the Poor
Many low-income countries (LICs) continue to slip further behind the rest of the world. Meanwhile, people in extreme poverty have been increasing again after decades of decline.
US Fed- Induced World Stagnation Deepens Debt Distress
For some time, most multilateral financial institutions have urged developing countries to borrow commercially, but not from China. Now, borrowers are stuck in debt traps with little prospect of escape.
Finance Healthcare, Not Insurance Premia
Comparative research on healthcare financing options shows revenue-financed healthcare to be the most cost-effective, efficient, and equitable, while all health insurance imposes avoidable additional costs.
Government Debt Is Symptom, Not Cause
Developing country governments are being blamed for irresponsibly borrowing too much. The resulting debt stress has blocked investments and growth in this unequal and unfair world economic order.Next Page »
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
