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	Wall Street"s Toxic Message by Joseph E. Stiglitz USA   July 2009   Every crisis comes to an end-and, bleak as things seem now, the current economic crisis too shall pass. But no crisis, especially one of this severity, recedes without leaving a legacy. And among this one"s legacies will be a worldwide battle over ideas-over what kind of economic system is likely to deliver the greatest benefit to the most people. Nowhere is that battle raging more hotly than in the Third World, among the 80 percent of the world"s population that lives in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, 1.4 billion of whom subsist on less than $1.25 a day. In America, calling someone a socialist may be nothing more than a cheap shot.   In much of the world, however, the battle between capitalism and socialism-or at least something that many Americans would label as socialism-still rages. While there may be no winners in the current economic crisis, there are losers, and among the big losers is support for American-style capitalism. This has consequences we"ll be living with for a long time to come.   The fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989, marked the end of Communism as a viable idea. Yes, the problems with Communism had been manifest for decades. But after 1989 it was hard for anyone to say a word in its defense. For a while, it seemed that the defeat of Communism meant the sure victory of capitalism, particularly in its American form. Francis Fukuyama went as far as to proclaim "the end of history," defining democratic market capitalism as the final stage of social development, and declaring that all humanity was now heading in this direction.   In truth, historians will mark the 20 years since 1989 as the short period of American triumphalism. With the collapse of great banks and financial houses, and the ensuing economic turmoil and chaotic attempts at rescue, that period is over. So, too, is the debate over "market fundamentalism," the notion that unfettered markets, all by themselves, can ensure economic prosperity and growth. Today only the deluded would argue that markets are self-correcting or that we can rely on the self-interested behavior of market participants to guarantee that everything works honestly and properly..   * Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, is a professor at Columbia University. Visit the related web page
	Helping the world’s hungry promotes peace and stability by UN News / Reuters & news agencies   10 July 2009 (UN News)   By helping the world’s hungry, who now number over one billion people, the international community can also secure a more peaceful and stable future for all, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations in L’Aquila, Italy.   The G8 meeting, has agreed to mobilize $20 billion over three years for a strategy focusing on sustainable agriculture development to ensure global food security.   Addressing the summit’s session of food security, Mr. Ban said that last year’s major spike in food and energy prices affected hundreds of millions of people. “It amplified suffering, hardship and political unrest. We lost ground in our race to reach the first Millennium Development Goal,” he stated, referring to the globally agreed target of halving poverty by 2015.   While global food prices have come down from their peaks in 2008, they are still high in many developing countries, he noted. The Secretary-General added that the situation is only getting worse with today’s volatile markets, breakdown in world trade, climate change effects and falling income from job losses. “We need to do more, faster. The food crisis is permanently harming millions of children. They need our help. This is about even more than alleviating human suffering; it is about global peace and stability.”   Mr. Ban outlined four areas in need of concrete action, beginning with need to combine new initiatives to maximize their impact and avoid duplication. He also cited the need to commit to a comprehensive approach that tackles both the immediate and long-term dimensions of the problem.   Also crucial is to support national food security strategies, working through regional institutions, as well as to ensure that countries have the financial support they need for immediate assistance and longer-term actions.   UN agencies have welcomed the G8’s food security initiative, with the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) saying it signals an “encouraging shift of policy” in favour of helping the poor and hungry to produce their own food.   Director-General Jacques Diouf voiced confidence that G8 leaders will translate their pledge into concrete action. “I am convinced that you will ‘walk the talk’ not only for natural ethical considerations but also for sound economic reasons and, last but not least, to ensure peace and security in the world,” he told the summit.   In addition, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo Nwanze, noted that the G8 leaders had recognized that food security has two dimensions: food aid for critical situations and sustained investment in agriculture to break the poverty cycle. Investing in smallholder agriculture is the corner stone of this new push for development because it is the key to boosting economic growth and reducing poverty, he added.   The independent UN expert on the right to food said heads of State will have to do more if they want to help the billion people now suffering from hunger.   While welcoming the pledges, Special Rapporteur Olivier De Schutter highlighted a number of issues that need to be tackled, including food price volatility, social protection, and protection of the rights of agricultural workers.   “Only then will real progress be made to ensure greater enjoyment of the right to food now denied to so many,” said the expert, who reports to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.   Mr. De Schutter called for a global action plan on food security, firmly based on human rights, focusing on five areas: reducing volatility in global agricultural markets; encouraging States to build social protection schemes; channelling resources to scale up sustainable agriculture systems; protecting agricultural worker rights; and reforming global governance for food and agriculture.   10 July 2009 (Reuters/AFP & news agencies)   The G8 group of rich nations and 19 partner countries agreed to spend $20 billion dollars to boost agriculture and food security in the developing world. "There is an urgent need for decisive action to free humankind from hunger and poverty," G8 leaders said in a statement issued on the last day of their summit in Italy, at which they were joined by African heads of state.   US President Barack Obama said the issue of food security was of huge importance to all nations in the world. With richer nations having a moral obligation to help poorer nations.   Mr Obama said the G8 nations had agreed to commit $20bn for the new initiative. "We do not view this assistance as an end in itself," he said. "We believe that the purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it"s no longer needed, to help people become self-sufficient, provide for their families and lift their standards of living."   Mr Obama said "There is no reason Africa should not be self-sufficient when it comes to food," recalling that his relatives in Kenya live "in villages where hunger is real", though they themselves are not going hungry. He said Africa had enough arable land but lacked seeds, irrigation and mechanisms for farmers to get a fair price for their produce.   African nations told the wealthy nations they must honour their commitments, old and new -- mindful that some in the G8 had fallen well short of their 2005 promise to increase annual aid by $50 billion by 2010, half of which was meant for Africa.   South African President Jacob Zuma "We can"t say it"s enough, but at least it begins to do very concrete things." Nigerian Agriculture Minister Abba Ruma said the new pledge was " commendable in view of the current global recession". But cautioned that it must be "disbursed expeditiously. It is only then we will know that the G8 is living up to its commitment and not just making a pledge and going to sleep".   The number of hungry people has risen in the past two years and now exceeds 1 billion people, reversing decades of declines. The current global recession is expected to see another 100 million more go hungry.   Kanaya Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said he welcomed the announcement of more investment in agriculture in the developing world. "It is time for us to switch because food security is not just food aid," he said. "It is the ability of people to produce food locally and for them to be able to have access to local markets."   The plan represented a "shift from food aid -- which is like providing medication after the child is ill -- to providing assistance to help the countries themselves to put in place the right policies to be able to produce food by themselves," said Mr Nwanze, head of UN agricultural agency IFAD.   There are 500 million small-holder farmers in the world, and they produce 80 per cent of the food that feeds the world"s population, according to IFAD. Food security, or ensuring adequate access to food, has jumped to the fore of the political agenda recently. High prices last year led to food riots in some 35 countries.   Though prices have receded from mid-2008 highs, they remain historically high. A recent estimate by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, a UN agency based in Rome, said the number of hungry people this year was a record 1 billion people or one in six people in the world.   "We know that the best way to tackle poverty is through growth of the agricultural sector," said Oliver Buston, the European director of anti-poverty group ONE. But he expressed concern that the amount of money to be pledged was not enough. For Africa alone, Mr Buston said, an additional $US25 billion is needed over the next three years.   The leaders of developed countries also heard calls from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to freeze repayments on loans to African countries to help them weather the economic crisis. Mr Mubarak, asked the rich countries to "arrange a temporary freeze on African debt" and to extend credit to the continent on preferential rates. He also said they should seek the means to cover the deficit in development finance caused by the economic crisis.   The leaders expressed concern about "the growing scarcity of water resources and by the dramatic lack of sustainable access to water and sanitation in many African countries," which they said was a major impediment to development. In a declaration they agreed to work for water and sanitation improvements at national and international levels.   Japan and the European Union also called for a code of conduct for responsible investment after growing farmland acquisition or "land grabs" in emerging nations.   * Below is a link to the G8 Summit statement on food security. Visit the related web page
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