Tag Archives: ChristinaW

by Christina Chang | June 21, 2010 · 12:39 pm

Robin Hood Tax: Momentum building towards budget and G20

EU Heads of State got us a step closer to Robin Hood taxes and to fairer finance last week.

At their Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday, European Leaders agreed that “Member States should introduce systems of levies and taxes on financial institutions to ensure fair burden-sharing and to set incentives to contain systemic risk”.

This goes further than the idea of a simple bank levy that seemed to be gathering momentum. Such a levy would not have raised much cash and was not enough to tackle underlying problems in financial markets – just to create a fund to bail us out next time they would inevitably go wrong. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Actonpoverty, advocacy, Christina Weller, ChristinaW, climate change, economic crisis, EU, financial transaction tax, FTT, Put people first, Robin Hood, Robin Hood Tax

by Christina Chang | April 7, 2010 · 12:57 pm

Economic Crisis: Two cheers for the United Nations

This month, CAFOD was invited to speak at the UN High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development and UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) special high level meeting with the World Bank, IMF (International Monetary Fund), WTO (World Trade Organisation) and UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development).

It was encouraging that recurring themes in the discussions between member countries showed signs of life of attempts to learn bigger lessons from the economic crisis than have been present, for example, in G20 declarations.

The trick now will be to put political momentum behind a progressive UN voice to give all countries a say in how we rebuild the global economy.

Continue reading →

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Tagged as #MDG, #RHT, Christina Weller, ChristinaW, CIDSE, economic crisis, G20, IMF, Robin Hood Tax, Stiglitz Commission, UN High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, World Bank, World Trade Organisation, WTO

by Christina Chang | March 2, 2010 · 11:22 am

Robin Hood Tax: Some answers to critics

Pledge your support for the Robin Hood Tax

As the dust settles after the launch of the Robin Hood Tax campaign in the first week of February, it is not surprising that our critics are beginning to bite back. Especially as some sectors see a potential sting for profits.

Whilst fuller responses are being posted on the Robin Hood campaign website, it’s worth looking at some of the misperceptions behind some of the criticisms. Continue reading →

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Tagged as #RHT, Christina Weller, ChristinaW, economic crisis, financial crisis, financial transaction tax, Robin Hood, Robin Hood Tax, Tina Weller

by saraheve | January 12, 2010 · 12:05 pm

Financial crisis: Lessons we missed

Despite a recognition that poor countries will be hardest hit by the crisis even though they did not cause it, the development perspective has been largely absent from G20 debate, and therefore the political response to the financial crisis so far.

CAFOD partner NGO Forum on Cambodia met with European Policy makers at the European Development Days, in October, funded by DFID and BOND, as part of an effort to address this gap. They urged that “no country should be left behind” in the global recovery.

Developing countries have not been completely ignored. Unprecedented commitments by the G20 to examine innovative financing, efforts to put their own houses in order and support for protecting the poorest will help developing countries overcome the impacts of the global downturn, but they are only part of the picture. Continue reading →

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Tagged as advocacy, Cambodia, ChristinaW, economic crisis, financial crisis, G20, low carbon growth, NGO Forum, World Bank

by Nick Capeling | December 7, 2009 · 5:00 pm

WTO: Why negotiations always have skewed results

Last week, the world’s trade ministers pledged to complete the Doha Round of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Ministerial Conference in Geneva was intended as a retreat of sorts for the world’s trade ministers, to allow them to reflect on the workings of the WTO and to send a signal about its relevance to the economic crisis and to climate change.

Rather than take the opportunity for a proper rethink, the chance to push for a final reboot of negotiations has proven irresistible, especially to Director General Pascal Lamy who has called for a rush to finalise a deal in 2010.

Trade ministers are not doing the WTO any favours by pretending that its rules have borne up well to the challenge of current crises or by insisting that the Doha round will improve matters.

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Tagged as ChristinaW, climate change, Doha, Food and Agriculture Organisation, G77, IMF, poverty, trade, trade rules, World Bank, World Trade Organisation, WTO