Apr 03 2009
G-20 Ignores Protesters, Moves Ahead with Neo-Liberal Agenda to Solve Crisis
At their London meeting yesterday, the Group of 20 countries agreed to reform the international finance system through the use of regulations, registries, and executive pay caps. More significantly they agreed to set aside a 1.1 trillion dollar “recovery fund,” the majority of which will be used by the International Monetary Fund. There was also agreement to shun protectionist measures and ensure the continued free flow of capital. But just outside the halls of the meeting, thousands of protesters from all over Europe and the world gathered to denounce the summit as illegitimate and to demand people’s needs over the needs of banks and corporations. On Wednesday April 1st, a day designated as Financial Fools day, a demonstration outside two major banks turned into a battle between several dozen police and several hundred protesters. One man collapsed and died after the protests but details surrounding his death are as yet unclear. An overwhelming show of force by police curtailed some demonstrations on Thursday, day two of the two day summit. The heads of the G20 nations seemed to take little notice of the tumult outside and it remains to be seen how effective their agreed-upon actions will be on stabilizing the global economy.
GUEST: Robin Hahnel, professor emeritus of economics at American University, currently a visiting at Portland State University, author of several books including “Panic Rules!: Everything You Need to Know About the Global Economy,” “The ABCs of Political Economy: A Modern Approach,” and “Economic Justice and Democracy: From Competition to Cooperation.”
Read Robin Hahnel’s article about what the G-20 protesters want at: http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/
women/the_way_we_live/article6011322.ece
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