The economic crisis continues.
USA: Bolstered by the policies of the Obama administration, Wall Street is waging a political offensive to shed the minimal limits on executive pay that were tied to government bailout funds and to further weaken regulations on the banks’ speculative practices: here.
The northern Detroit suburbs of Oakland County, Michigan, will be particularly hard hit by the General Motors bankruptcy and restructuring plan. The area will lose 6,600 of the 9,000 jobs being cut in Michigan: here.
Ireland’s proposed National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) will channel state spending into the hands of the very banks and property developers whose reckless and criminal speculation has brought the Irish economy to the brink of ruin: here.
From Business Week:
Anxious Japanese Are Working Themselves to Death
As the recession bites, cases of job-related mental illness and karoshi, or death through overwork, are rising
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Hi,
LabourNet UK has been updated with the following stories since we were last in
touch:
UK WORKPLACE
* CWU Re-states Position on Postal Services Bill
http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/0906/cwu1.html
* Purnell’s departure: end workfare now
http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/0906/pcs2.html
* Private contractors and Agenda for Change
http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/0906/privafc1.html
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HBOS ex-boss lands Boots job
FAT CATS: The boss in charge of HBOS when the bank faced collapse last autumn was confirmed as the new chief executive of high street giant Alliance Boots today.
Failed boss Andy Hornby will return to the business front line at the beginning of July – less than nine months after the bank escaped nationalisation through a rescue takeover by Lloyds TSB.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/britain/news_in_brief__10
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AAPSO AFRO-ASIAN PEOPLES’ SOLIDARITY ORGANIZATION
PERMANENT SECRETARIAT
Consultative Status- ECOSOC, DPI, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNESCO.
Observer Status- NAM and African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights
89, Abd El Aziz Al-Saoud St. Manial El Roda, Cairo, Egypt
Tel: 23622946 Fax: : 23637361
E. Mails: aapso@tedata.net.eg / aapso@idsc.net.eg
Our Web site: http://www.aapsorg.org
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
An International symposium on
The Global Financial Crisis and its Impact on the Non-Aligned States South-South Cooperation
18-19 May 2009
The 15th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is due to be convened in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in July 2009. Notably, this is the second time that Egypt hosts the NAM Summit.
This Summit is of especial importance that is mainly attributed to the historic experiment of the Movement and its significant role in the international politics since the mid-fifties. Firstly, it acted as an important axis in the post-World War II international politics, the period which witnessed a cold war between the world’s two blocs. Secondly, it managed to play a significant role in the current international politics after the United States had become a single super power assuming the leadership and influence in the world.
On this occasion, the Permanent Secretariat of the Afro-Asian Peoples’ Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) held an international symposium on “The Global Financial Crisis and its Impact on the Non-Aligned States –South-South Cooperation” on 18th and 19th May 2009. Many Arab, African and Asian figures participated in the symposium.
The symposium analytically tackled the negative effects of the global financial crisis on the south countries, represented in the decline in stock markets, the increase of public budgets deficit as a result of the downswing in international trade and the economic shrink which affected the prices of the raw materials exported by the south countries. This is in addition to the decline of the remittances of their citizens working abroad and the decrease of the GDP growth rates in most of the south countries. The growth rates may even be negative in some of these countries.
The economic experts affirmed that the potential social effects of this crisis on the countries of the south are serious in terms of the decrease of the real standard of living and the increase of poverty and malnutrition. All such circumstances usher in high rates of crimes, family disintegration and many other harmful social effects.
The economists put forward a proposal on the methods which enable the south developing countries to break the finance monopoly and treat their economic problems. The solution, according to that proposal, lies in enhancing the south-south cooperation and regaining their overseas investments. Moreover, there is now a golden opportunity for the south countries to reconsider the WTO agreements and seek to end the globally finance monopoly. However, this can not be realized unless there will be internal reforms in the south countries, represented in having a political will and good management of the economic resources and the opportunities existed in the light of this crisis and stressing the necessity of establishing democratic regimes.
The experts further called for establishing a “south finance corporation” concerned with financing the small and medium enterprises (SME) in order to eliminate poverty. However, this aim could only be achieved by reducing the role of both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in favor of SME finance channels working for the benefit of the south countries.
The experts confirmed that the success of the south-south cooperation mainly depends on providing a strategy of science and technology and extending the basic needs which preserve the dignity and freedom of man, in particular the food needs.
In conclusion, the participants called upon the coming NAM Summit to work on building an independent policy on the global level, restoring the balance to the international politics and building mutual cooperation relations that guarantee achieving common interests in the framework of the international peace and cooperation. They also called for finding an alternative economic system, especially that the current international system witnesses the emergence of new economic powers from the south countries. This certainly makes the NAM capable and influential enough to play a key role between the various economic entities. The participants further called on NAM MEMBERS TO CHANGE THE RESOLUTION CONFINING the participation of the civil society to the plenary sessions only and not allowing the civil society to participate in the ad hoc committees in order that more civil society movements could participate and enrich the discussions in a positive manner.
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