economics « CitizenVox

Posts Tagged ‘economics’

October20

IMF-Supported Macroeconomic Policies and the World Recession

By: Editor

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjLH4GBvcvA]

If you are a fan of deep discussions about financial policy and international market forces, then you’ll want to check out this video from a panel discussion held last week at Public Citizen’s offices in Washington, D.C. The panel focused on the International Monetary Fund’s role during the global financial crisis and included Public Citizen President Robert Weissman, Mark Weisbrot, co-cirector of the Center for Economic Policy Research, James Roaf of the IMF, Asia Russell, the director of Health GAP and Jo Marie Griesgraber, executive director of the New Rules for Global Finance Coalition.

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Posted in: Trade0 comments

October16

Exactly who does the Chamber represent? Not me. Not you

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Hear that thud? That’s the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s new advertising campaign hitting the brick wall of skepticism. Steven Pearlstein in the WaPo isn’t buying it:

The Campaign for Free Enterprise, of course, is not really about creating 20 million jobs over the next decade — if Chamber members could double their profits while creating not a single new job, that would suit them just fine. Rather, it’s nothing more than a desperate attempt to repackage the same old anti-tax, anti-regulation, anti-government rhetoric in hopes of derailing the major initiatives of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress.

Economist Simon Johnson at the Baseline Scenario says

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Posted in: Congress, Consumer Protection0 comments

September22

Countdown to Pittsburgh: Will the G-20 re-regulate global markets?

By: Editor

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7dGUdPl6vs]

Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch program, talks about what’s at stake at the G-20 economic summit to be held Thursday and Friday in Pittsburgh, Pa. Public Citizen was one of the many groups that wrote to President Obama last week, urging him to “advocate a global regulatory floor, and oppose any efforts to impose a ceiling” on re-regulation in the upcoming G-20 Summit.

You can prep for the G-20 over at the Public Citizen Web page.

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Posted in: Trade0 comments

September24

Reckless bailout plan must have taxpayer protections

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Over the past few days, we have witnessed Congress readying to approve possibly the most reckless and certainly the most costly bailout in this country’s history. The speed at which the government is leaping to aid Wall Street titans and their accomplices in the financial services sector is breathtaking. Taxpayers should be alarmed at the unfathomable price tag, which they are being told they must pay and which itself is a guesstimate. They also should balk at the scope of the proposed bailout, which includes not just mortgage instruments but all financial service companies, including foreign companies. Today, Public Citizen and Consumer Watchdog outline provisions that must be in any bailout package – if one is approved. These are designed to protect taxpayers’ wallets, cut off opportunities for corruption and defend against future economic misbehavior.