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For at least two years, the need to better understand and oppose neo-liberal capitalism and the self-serving Bush administration has become increasingly urgent. Using tactics that are clearly alarming and potentially criminal, both appear devoted primarily to advancing corporate agendas and wealthy elites at the expense of the planet and most of its inhabitants.

Globalization and war not only have detrimental effects on human life. They are destroying the Earth’s life-support systems. In short, an economic model backed by military might has the potential to turn our world into one giant killing field. Sub-commandante Marcos, leader of the Mexican indigenous rebel Zapatistas, calls it "a war against humanity." In a communiqué to World Trade Organization (WTO) protesters in Cancun, Mexico this September, he explained, "The globalization of those who are above us is nothing more than a global machine that feeds on blood and defecates in dollars." read more

With the collapse of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) September summit, Cancun looks destined to join Waterloo, Stalingrad, and Seattle as a place name that becomes shorthand for an historic event. The second of the institution’s five summits to end in deadlock, this one will likely assume landmark status as the first time that the Global South (Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America) united to reject the economic aggression of wealthy Northern countries, specifically the United States, European Union (EU), and Japan. read more

The Turn Around Agenda

It’s time to turn trade around. In November 1999, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Third Ministerial Meeting in Seattle collapsed in spectacular fashion, in the face of unprecedented protest from people and governments around the world. We believe it is essential to use this moment as an opportunity to change course and develop an alternative, humane, democratically accountable and sustainable system of commerce that benefits all. This process entails rolling back the power and authority of the WTO. read more

The destructive turbulence of global markets has aroused interest in a measure that would not only calm the financial waters but also perhaps eliminate abject poverty. In 1978, Professor James Tobin proposed a 0.5 percent tax on foreign exchange transactions. The effect of what has since become known as the Tobin Tax would be to reduce exchange-rate volatility caused by short-term, speculative transactions, which enrich the few and impoverish the many.

The value of international exchange transactions is generally estimated at more than $1.5 trillion each day, of which a mere 5 percent is directly related to settlements for traded goods and services. The short-term transactions can mostly be classified as unproductive speculation. read more