World

Still No Fix as World Economy and Trade Tumble

Nov 6th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have issued new reports that show continued bad news for the global economy and project the first decline in output in advanced economies since World War II. While the IMF’s World Economic Outlook said prospects for global growth have deteriorated over the past month [...]



Bangladeshis Among the World’s Happiest

Oct 15th, 2008 | By Abeng News | Category: World

In 2004, Richard Layard, from the London School of Economics, led a research initiative that proved the people of Bangladesh are the happiest in the world. As this seemed an antithesis to the hardships inherent to the abject poverty often used to describe life in the South Asian country, director, Golam Rabbany, was propelled to [...]



Consequences of Financial Crisis on Low Income Countries Can be Dramatic

Oct 14th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

P. Changal Reddy, Secretary General of the Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations presents Dominique Strauss-Kahn with a shawl on behalf of the farming community. Civil society organizations (CSOs) have been told by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn that the impact of the financial crisis on advanced economies is likely to be severe and low-income countries [...]



Financial Crisis – Fund Touts $650 Billion Global Injection

Oct 7th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

New International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposals to address the global financial crisis, that includes an estimated $650 billion dollar capital injection, sound strikingly like the package passed in the US Congress on October 3, and the additions touted by Democratic Party presidential candidate, Barack Obama. Touting a “deleveraging process”, the proposals are set out in [...]



$60 Billion Rise in Fuel Bill of Poor Countries, $7.2 billion in Food, IMF Forecasts

Sep 25th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

Some 50 developing countries remain at risk through 2009 as a result of food and fuel price increases, according to an updated assessment from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that while the international community is currently focused on the ongoing financial crisis in advanced economies, “it is important not [...]



Hip-Hop Republicans

Aug 26th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

Most would say that the terms “hip-hop” and “Republican” don’t go together, and that a “Hip-Hop Republican” is an oxymoron. However, Richard Ivory and Tiffany Shorter, the founder of and a blogger for www.hiphoprepublican.com, respectively, say differently. CNN iReport met the two in New York’s Central Park to learn more about what it means to [...]



Experience and the US Presidency

Aug 24th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

John McCain, won’t approve this message … or will he? Now that the Obama campaign has announced Senator Joe Biden as his running mate, the McCain camp, according to the BBC, “has been raking through the Democratic primary archives for quotes by Hillary Clinton and others for use in adverts and press releases questioning Mr [...]



WTO Talks Collapse

Jul 28th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy announced after long hours of hard talking that ministers have failed in their effort to agree on blueprint agreements in agriculture and industrial products. He told a press conference after speaking to members that out of a to-do list of 20 topics, 18 had seen positions converge but the gaps could [...]



Obama Tells Berlin of the Need for Global Partnership

Jul 24th, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

People from all over Europe turned out in Berlin to hear Barack Obama. Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you [...]



Global Economy Could Rebound – If…

Jul 21st, 2008 | By Mark Lee | Category: World

While economic growth is expected to slow in the second half of 2008 due to rising inflation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts a reverse in trend in 2009. As part of its quarterly World Economic Outlook update, the IMF also reported there is a need to shift purchasing power from commodity users to producers. [...]