Global Trade

There was more than a little of the surreal to President Bush's speech yesterday. The speech, billed as a major policy address on Bush's get-tough-on-corporate-crime agenda, came amidst days of news revelations of President's own questionable behavior as an executive of Harken Energy. Read More

Of late, there has been much discussion of corruption in the public sector of many developing countries. It was inevitable corruption of public servants that, in part, made it important to privatize in developing countries. Advocates of privatization also lauded the private sector's ability to compete. But I'm not sure these private sector advocates quite had in mind the abilities that American corporate capitalism has demonstrated so amply recently: corruption on an almost unfathomable scale. They put to shame those petty government bureaucrats who stole a few thousand dollars or even a few million. The numbers bandied about in the Enron, WorldCom and other scandals are in the billions, greater than the GNP of many countries. Read More

April's big business-led coup in Venezuela failed, where international finance's coup in Argentina in recent months has succeeded. Greg Palast gives us the inside track on two very different power-grabs. Read More

Group of Eight leaders launched their long-awaited action plan for Africa, promising a new dawn for the continent, but aid activists said the promises amounted to peanuts. Read More

CALGARY -- Canada is committed to preserving and protecting the environment during all phases of the G-8 Summit which is set to open in Kananaskis, Alberta on Thursday and Friday, government environmental officials have pledged. A parallel peoples' forum, the Group of Six Billion, says theirs is the gathering that reflects full respect for the environment and human rights. Read More

Labor unions around the world faced a difficult year in 2001 due both to direct and sometimes violent repression, as well as the continuing pursuit by major multinational corporations of cheap labor in poor countries, according to the latest in a series of annual reports by the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). Read More

OLEY, PA -- Who really rules the world now? Is it governments or a handful of huge, multinational companies? The wealth of American car giant Ford is worth more than the economy of South Africa. A handful of hugely rich men, like Bill Gates, have a wealth greater than most of Africa. Is there now an alliance between the superpowers of wealth, politics and military might? THE NEW RULERS OF THE WORLD -- A Special Report by John Pilger takes the viewer behind the hype of the new 'global' economy, where the divisions between rich and poor have never been greater. Read More

On June 26 and 27, 2002, the leaders of the world's most industrialized countries, the G8, will meet in Kananaskis, Alberta. They will make critical decisions that will have global impact. Past G8 Summits have consistently failed to offer an effective means for individuals, civil society or even other states, to provide input to, or engage in, meaningful dialogue with G8 leaders. Read More

San Diego-based Sempra Energy is dodging US environmental laws by building power plants in Mexico -- and shipping the electricity back to California. Read More

WASHINGTON -- The White House and Congress are trumpeting their determination to bring economic opportunity to the people of Africa. But first, a few million sub-Saharan farmers will have to suffer. Read More