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NEW APPROACHES TO ECONOMICS

October 19th, 2011

 

The Editor
The Adelaide Review
GPO Box 651

ADELAIDE SA 5001

editor@adelaidereview.com.au

Dear Sir/Madam
RE: LETTER TO THE EDITOR – NEW APPROACHES TO ECONOMICS

Along with others who want to see our international economic
system adopt more humane and fairer economics, I was  interested to read John Spoehr’s article, Debt and the Global Financial Crisis (The Adelaide
Review October 2011) about Ann Pettifor, a co-founder of Jubilee 2000 and the Green New Deal Group. 

I was particularly pleased you printed John’s article as I had
intended being at her Adelaide meeting, but was unable to do so. John’s article inspired me to do some further reading about Ann’s work and I discovered that she is also a fellow of nef (The New Economics Foundation) and that she shares ideas about the current international economic crisis on her blog Debtonation.org.
nef is an independent think-and-do tank with the slogan “economics as if people and the planet mattered” and it aims to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions that challenge mainstream thinking on economic, environment and social issues. It works in partnership with many sections of the UK society and internationally to create more understanding and strategies for change that increase the well-being of people and the environmental sustainability of the planet. 
It seems that there are now a number of groups of internationally renowned economists who have similar aims and are campaigning for better economic outcomes for “the wretched of the earth”.
Another initiative that I discovered recently is a group promoting what they term as the Robin Hood Tax. This campaign is being promoted by NGOs (Non Government Organisations) and progressive economists and politicians internationally.

One of its major supporters should be well known to Adelaideans. I refer to Professor Geoff Harcourt, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide and Emeritus Reader in the History of Economic Theory at Cambridge University. He was well known as a leading figure in the Campaign for Peace in Vietnam and the Vietnam Moratorium in SA during the 1960s and 1970s.
Geoff is also known internationally for the major contributions he has made to
the understanding of the ideas of the economists, Maynard Keynes and Joan
Robinson as well as his commitment to international economic justice.
The Robin Hood Tax is a package of financial transaction taxes which supporters say could be implemented globally, regionally or unilaterally by individual nations.  But there is another way. Thousands of Robin Hood Tax
campaigners believe that banks, hedge funds and the rest of the financial sector should pay their fair share to clear up the international economic mess they helped create.
Currently, the main proposals are:
* A Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)
  This type of tax involves a very small tax of about
0.05% on transactions like stocks, bonds, foreign currency and  derivatives. It is thought this
  could  raise £250 billion a year globally. Its proponents say it has the advantages of being well tested, cheap to implement and hard to avoid.

  It is also thought that Transaction taxes  will reduce the number of the most risky transactions occurring which helped to trigger the recent financial  crises.

*  A Bank Levy

This is basically a flat-rate levy imposed on large financial institutions. Under huge pressure from their voters and from campaigners, a number of countries, including the UK, France and Germany have already introduced a bank levy, but at rates that have not raised nearly enough to be effective in helping the poor and the planet.

* The Financial Activities Tax (FAT)

  Supporters of this tax claim that it could raise billions through taxing excess profits and remuneration. Broadly, it is equivalent to a GST-type tax, but that it is only levied on the financial sector. It is estimated that it could raise £3.9 billion a year in the UK alone – and up to $93 billion across the OECD countries. The UK government has said it is open to implementing a FAT tax, but only together with a group of other countries, for example at EU level.

I believe that if we want to develop programs that will effectively combat world poverty and protect our environment, these initiatives should be strongly supported. Such taxes would not impose an extra financial burden on the poorest in the world community, but would ensure that super wealthy individuals and corporations, including those who currently pay very
little or no tax because of legal loop-holes, would contribute their fair share into combatting

poverty and improving the world’s environment.  

Yours sincerely

Andrew (Andy) Alcock



Posted in Environment, Humanitarian Aid, International Politics, Social Justice, Socialism
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Letter to the Editor – The Guardian Weekly – Assistance to Haiti

January 24th, 2010

Congratulations to The Guardian Weekly for the insightful articles and comments on the recent Haiti earthquake (TGW 22.01.10).

I was interested to read Peter Hallward’s comment comparing the effects of the 2008 earthquake on Haiti and Cuba. Cuba was spared a huge death toll because it avoided the neoliberal “reforms” of other developing countries.

By the way, Cuba has sent 400 doctors and health care workers to Haiti to assist in those injured in this latest  disaster. In addition, Cuba has trained 400 Haiti doctors. I have also heard that there are 300 Cuban doctors in Timor Leste and 300 places for East Timorese medical students in Cuban medical schools.

For a small, developing country like Cuba, these efforts should be commended.

In contrast, I recently discovered that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a package of $100 million to help Haiti.

However, it appears that this is a loan which will have to be repaid.  Surely, this is not the type of ‘help’ that Haiti needs  right now as will put the country further into debt:.  Haiti desperately needs money delivered quickly to give support to the injured and those made homeless.

The last thing it needs right now is more debt. Already, Haiti is $641 million in debt to the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) and the IMF. This comes after many years of exploitation by many countries including France, Britain and the US.

Loans for disaster relief, given the problems already being faced by Haiti are totally inappropriate. The IMF and the international community cannot possibly expect Haiti to pay back a  loan for emergency relief  following this disaster and international pressure should be put on the IDB and the IMF to waive the debt and to provide interest-free grants that will assist to alleviate the human needs now and to embark on viable reconstruction and equitable social programs for the future.


Posted in Cuba, East Timor, Humanitarian Aid
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