people first economics

people first economics

people first economics Edited by David Ransom and Vanessa Baird WORLD changing

People First Economics This revised and updated second edition published in the UK in 2010 by New Internationalist TM Publications Ltd Oxford OX4 1BW www.newint.org New Internationalist is a registered trademark. Original edition 2009. Copyright and permissions are indicated at the end of each individual piece. Where there is no such indication, copyright is jointly held by the author and by New Internationalist. Front cover and book design: Andrew Kokotka Series editor: Chris Brazier All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing of the Publisher. Printed by TJ International Limited, Cornwall, UK, who hold environmental accreditation ISO 14001. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-1-906523-83-1

Contents Introduction David Ransom and Vanessa Baird... 7 The Age of Possibility David Ransom... 11 The Market that Failed JAYATI GHOSH... 19 Beyond the Crash a Green New Deal Ann Pettifor...25 In Praise of Pluralism JOSEPH STIGLITZ... 37 Not As It Seems Noam Chomsky... 47 Public Revolt Builds Against Rip-off Rescue Plans Naomi Klein... 59 No More of the Same Susan George... 63 Deglobalization Walden Bello... 71 Naked Emperors Vanessa Baird... 77 The Trouble with Interest Tarek El Diwany... 97 Starting Afresh peter stalker... 109

Making Money George Monbiot...121 Can Pay, Won t Pay John Christensen... 127 Rich Get Poorer, Poor Disappear Barbara Ehrenreich... 139 Jobs First Yash Tandon... 143 Equality Is Better For Everyone Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett... 155 To Live Well Nicola Bullard... 165 How to Save the World, Life and Humanity Evo Morales... 177 How to Take Part in the Economy Michael Albert...181 Open Source Anti-Capitalism Derek Wall... 193 Just or Bust Danny Chivers...205 Carbon Charade Patrick Bond... 223 Now, a Real Chance to Tackle Global Poverty John Hilary...229 Action, contacts and resources... 241 Index... 245

Introduction interest in the first edition of this anthology, published in 2009, has prompted a revision for 2010. The writers, thinkers and activists who first contributed to it were not afraid of change. Much of what they said then has proved remarkably prescient since, though minor updating has followed subsequent events, like the collapse of the Copenhagen climate talks. Fresh contributions have come from the likes of Jayati Ghosh in India and Joseph Stiglitz in the US, as well as a reworking of the seminal thoughts of Walden Bello in the Philippines. They don t all agree on each detail of the way forward, but they are in agreement about one thing there s no way back. So what? Even the most conservatively inclined politicians and analysts have made radical statements. But the devil is in the detail. Commitments to clean up finance, tighten regulation and clamp down on the economics of greed turn into modest tweaks that do little or nothing to change direction. Loudly trumpeted proposals signally fail to address the social and economic injustices that underpin the current economic system. 7

Introduction The problems with it are well known to the New Internationalist. We have been writing about them for years. Perhaps because we take a global perspective, especially from the point of view of the most disadvantaged in the majority world, we have never been taken in by the globalization is good for you pitch. We know it has only been good for some people in some countries. For the vast majority it has widened the gap between rich and poor, led to chronic under-employment and facilitated the plundering of natural resources by multinational corporations. Nobody knows more about the impact of debt than the peoples of the Global South; or about the way International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions on loans have compounded poverty. Today the IMF is once again a major player on the world stage and once again there is one punishing rule for the poor and another, much more lenient and accommodating, for the equally debt-ridden rich countries. Once again it is the most disadvantaged who are hit hardest. We decided to call this book People First Economics partly because New Internationalist was involved in the remarkable Put People First coalition of civil society movements in Britain that called for social, economic and environmental justice at the time of the G20 London meeting in April 2009. It should go without saying that economics needs to serve the needs of the people not the other way around. But you could be forgiven for thinking that people had to be forced into some procrustean, mathematically defined framework free-market liberalism, for example because that s the way it s been for so many years. The purpose of this book is to shift the focus to where we think it belongs the needs of people and the environment. The two cannot be easily separated; nor should they be. At one point, while putting together this collection, we considered organizing it under separate headings such as economic, social, political or environmental. But we became increasingly aware 8

that such an approach might be part of the problem, not part of the solutions we are aiming for. So instead of artificial boundaries we have opted for a more fluid approach involving cross-references between pieces so that you can, if you choose, navigate your way down various streams of interest or concern. You can read this book progressively, from start to finish, or you can move around within it. Either way, we hope your reading will lead you to the Action section which concludes the book. Taken together, we think the essay and articles collected here suggest that another world is not just possible but essential, and already in the making. David Ransom and Vanessa Baird New Internationalist Oxford 9