IMF

4 Lessons From Iceland & Greece For Movements Fighting Austerity

July 10, 2015 George Lakey, www.wagingnonviolence.org Strategize! Austerity, Europe, IMF

By George Lakey in Waging Nonviolence - After dining on cod on July 7, European leaders representing the economic elites went back to work figuring out how to run over the Greek majority in Europe’s first democracy. The serving of cod, presumably from Iceland, is ironic considering that it was the Icelanders who six years ago defied European investors — and by doing so saved their economy and bolstered their well-being. Movements for justice around the world have much to learn from keeping in mind both of these national dramas. When Iceland’s 1 percent brought the economy to its historic crisis in 2008, Icelanders could not get any money from their ATMs. It was the worst economic collapse in Europe since World War II.

Greek Villagers’ Secret Weapon

July 5, 2015 Gregory Katz, www.ap.org Create! Austerity, European Union (EU), Food and Agriculture, Greece, IMF

By Gregory Katz in AP. KARITAINA, Greece (AP) — Ilias Mathes has protection against bank closures, capital controls and the slashing of his pension: 10 goats, some hens and a vegetable patch. If Greece's financial crisis deepens, as many believe it must, he can feed his children and grandchildren with the bounty of the land in this proud village high in the mountains of the Arcadia Peloponnese. "I have my lettuce, my onions, I have my hens, my birds, I will manage," he said, even though he can no longer access his full pension payment because of government controls imposed six days ago. "We will manage for a period of time, I don't know, two months, maybe three months, because I also want to give to our relatives. If they are suffering, I cannot leave them like this, isn't that so?"

The IMF Defaulted On Greece A Long Time Ago

July 2, 2015 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Educate! Austerity, Debt, Europe, Greece, IMF

By Jerome Roos in RoarMag - Tuesday marked the deadline for Greece to transfer a 1.6 billion euro debt repayment to the IMF. The country’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis had already announced that his government could not — and would not — pay. And so, at 6pm Washington-time, 1am locally, Greece officially defaulted on the IMF. The default is an unprecedented event in the history of finance: never before has a developed country fallen into arrears on a loan from the Fund. Unsurprisingly, the international press is already conjuring up unflattering comparisons with notorious failed states like Zimbabwe and Somalia, which are among the few countries to have gone down the same path of utter financial ignominy.

IMF & Germany Seek To Finish Off Even a Moderate Left In Greece

June 28, 2015 C J Polychroniou, www.truthout.org Educate! European Central Bank, Finance and the Economy, Germany, Greece, IMF, Syriza

By C J Polychroniou in TruthOut. Negotiations between Greece and its official creditors - the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank - are currently in renewed deadlock. Yet, only a few days ago, in the Euro summit on Monday, June 22, all indications were that Europe’s political beasts and the "criminal IMF" were ready to accept thelatest capitulation on the part of the Greek leftist government, which, since coming to power in late January, has spent a lot of time doing nothing more than "yelling, kicking and screaming" against austerity and the bailout program (and treating senior-level EU officials with disdain in public as part of its well-orchestrated populist theatrics) while at the same time seeking to assure Greece’s euro partners that it is committed to keeping the country in the euro area and that it would fulfill all its obligations to the creditors.

Athens Protesters Call For Greece To Defy Troika & Leave Euro

June 22, 2015 Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, www.irishtimes.com Resist! Austerity, Europe, Greece, IMF, Syriza

By Ruadhán Mac Cormaic in Irish Times - From the steps of the imposing parliament building, Katherina Sergidou gestures at the swelling crowd that stretches out across Syntagma Square, filling the night sky with defiant chants. “We’re here to show there are a lot of us,” she says proudly. “A big window has opened – a window of change.” On the eve of an emergency EU summit aimed at striking an 11th-hour deal to end the stand-off between Greece and its lenders, thousands took to the streets of Athens last night to keep up the pressure on Greece’s government, led by the left-radical Syriza, and to show defiance in the face of pressure from the EU and the IMF. The protest, organised by left-wing parties and trade unions, was also designed as a response to a right-wing protest held in the city at the weekend.

IMF Study: Inequality Hurts Growth, Calls For Wealth Redistribution

June 17, 2015 Aditya Tejas, www.ibtimes.com Educate! Capitalism, IMF, wealth inequality

By Aditya Tejas in International Business Times - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a new report that income inequality is harming economies around the world, calling it the “defining challenge of our time.” The Monday study, which was the result of research from five IMF economists, drew attention to the issue of global inequality, dismissed “trickle-down” economics and urged governments to target policies toward the bottom 20 percent of their citizens. The study surveyed advanced, emerging and developing economies from 1980 to 2012, and found that inequality was exacerbated by technological progress, weakened labor groups, globalization and regressive tax policies. Weakened labor market laws were found to be associated with a boost in the income of the richest 10 percent.

Jamaica Suffering ‘Most Austere Budget In The World’ By IMF

April 8, 2015 Center For Economic and Policy Research, www.cepr.net Educate! Austerity, Economic Justice, IMF, Jamaica

Ahead of President Obama’s trip to Jamaica this week, a new paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) finds that Jamaica is running the most austere budget in the world, with a primary surplus of 7.5 percent, due to its IMF agreement, and that the government’s interest payments on the debt and austerity have brought public investment to a low. The paper, “Partners in Austerity: Jamaica, the United States and the International Monetary Fund” by Jake Johnston, notes that Jamaica has a debt-to-GDP ratio of nearly 140 percent and its public interest burden is one of the very highest in the world, at over 8 percent of GDP last year.

Four Reasons Québec Is On The Streets Fighting Austerity

April 1, 2015 David Gray-Donald, www.rabble.ca Resist! Austerity, Canada, IMF, Quebec

Night demonstrations -- a fixture in the 2012 Quebec student movement -- were held on Tuesday in Montreal and Quebec City, and again on Friday in Montreal, with thousands filling the streets as well as hundreds of armoured police. The mobilization against austerity measures was met by strong police reaction. On Thursday of the same week, the Quebec Liberal government tabled a budget "balanced" by large cuts to education, health care and other social services spending. A Popular Protest Against Austerity and the Petro-Economy was held on Saturday March 21 with between 5,000 - 10,000 taking to the streets of Montreal. The event was repeated with another large turnout on Saturday, March 28, with more protests held in Montreal and around Quebec.

IMF: Weaker Unions = Higher CEO Pay

March 9, 2015 Sarah Anderson, www.inequality.org Organize! IMF, Labor Unions, wealth inequality

As labor unions have declined in most countries around the world, CEO paychecks have ballooned. And that’s not just a coincidence, according to new research from the International Monetary Fund. In the latest issue of the IMF’s Finance & Development journal, researchers Florence Jaumotte and Carolina Osorio Buitron give a preview of their forthcoming study on the links between unionization rates and inequality. Jaumotte and Osorio Buitron also dare to point out that “top earners’ compensation may be larger than what is justified by their contribution to the economy’s output.”Their article — entitled, I kid you not, “Power from the People” — notes that “weaker unions can reduce workers’ influence on corporate decisions that benefit top earners, such as the size and structure of top executive compensation.”

The Real World War III: Corporations vs. Nationhood

February 19, 2015 Sam Smith, www.prorevnews.blogspot.com Resist! Corporatism, IMF, NAFTA, Nationalism, Ukraine

The recent IMF loans to Ukraine with their dictatorial provisions are one more example of the world’s concealed great war, which is to say the massive invasion of nationhood by corporations. Far more dangerous than any current military threat, corporations have already taken huge territories, legal and financial as well as geographical. Our politicians, many of them covert allies of the corporations, say little of this. And the major media, massive corporations themselves, steadfastly hide the truth from their audience. For America, not since the Civil War has the sovereignty and constitution of this land come under such assault. In the two previous great wars the damage mostly occurred across two great oceans. Now the victims of the battle are in the heart of our land, witness the deleterious economic effects of NAFTA, the political disaster of Citizens United and the corporate assault on our public schools parading as education reform.

More Evidence Of Western Takeover Of Ukraine: Agriculture

January 30, 2015 Frederic Mousseau, www.ipsnews.net Educate! Food and Agriculture, IMF, Ukraine, Urban Agriculture

As unusual as it may seem, this appointment is consistent with what looks more like a takeover of the Ukrainian economy by Western interests. In two reports – The Corporate Takeover of Ukrainian Agriculture and Walking on the West Side: The World Bank and the IMF in the Ukraine Conflict – the Oakland Institute has documented this takeover, particularly in the agricultural sector.The Ministry of Finance went to Natalie Jaresko, a U.S.-born and educated businesswoman who has been working in Ukraine since the mid-1990s, overseeing a private equity fund established by the U.S. government to invest in the country.

World Bank And IMF Deals Open Ukraine To GMOs

August 30, 2014 Joyce Nelson, www.globalresearch.ca Educate! GMO, IMF, Monsanto, Ukraine, Wikileaks

Finally, a little-known aspect of the crisis in Ukraine is receiving some international attention. On July 28, the California-based Oakland Institute released a report revealing that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under terms of their $17 billion loan to Ukraine, would open that country to genetically-modified (GM) crops and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. The report is entitled “Walking on the West Side: the World Bank and the IMF in the Ukraine Conflict.” [1] In late 2013, the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, rejected a European Union association agreement tied to the $17 billion IMF loan, whose terms are only now being revealed. Instead, Yanukovych chose a Russian aid package worth $15 billion plus a discount on Russian natural gas. His decision was a major factor in the ensuing deadly protests that led to his ouster from office in February 2014 and the ongoing crisis. According to the Oakland Institute, “Whereas Ukraine does not allow the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, Article 404 of the EU agreement, which relates to agriculture, includes a clause that has generally gone unnoticed: it indicates, among other things, that both parties will cooperate to extend the use of biotechnologies. There is no doubt that this provision meets the expectations of the agribusiness industry. As observed by Michael Cox, research director at the investment bank Piper Jaffray, ‘Ukraine and, to a wider extent, Eastern Europe, are among the most promising growth markets for farm-equipment giant Deere, as well as seed producers Monsanto and DuPont’.” [2]

Students Nix IMF Chief’s Commencement Address

May 15, 2014 Eric Stoner, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Finance and the Economy, IMF

The student petition stated, the IMF has promoted policies that have hurt the poor, and strengthened “imperialist and patriarchal systems that oppress and abuse women worldwide.” Selecting Lagarde, therefore, goes “directly against Smith’s values to stand in unity with equality for all women, regardless of race, ethnicity or class.” It would be one thing if the economic policies pushed by the IMF that have been so devastating to so many people around the world were safely in the past. But, unfortunately, they are not. Look at the $17 billion IMF loan to “help” Ukraine in its time of need. Approved at the end of April, the IMF package comes with many of the usual strings attached, including cuts to pensions, subsidies and social services that benefit poor and working people. In essence, it’s hawking the tired austerity measures that have exacerbated the economic crises in Spain, Greece and so many other places.

BRICs Countries To Set Up Their Own IMF

April 19, 2014 Olga Samofalova, www.rbth.com Educate! BRIC, IMF

Very soon, the IMF will cease to be the world's only organization capable of rendering international financial assistance. The BRICS countries are setting up alternative institutions, including a currency reserve pool and a development bank. The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have made significant progress in setting up structures that would serve as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are dominated by the U.S. and the EU. A currency reserve pool, as a replacement for the IMF, and a BRICS development bank, as a replacement for the World Bank, will begin operating as soon as in 2015, Russian Ambassador at Large Vadim Lukov has said. Brazil has already drafted a charter for the BRICS Development Bank, while Russia is drawing up intergovernmental agreements on setting the bank up, he added. In addition, the BRICS countries have already agreed on the amount of authorized capital for the new institutions: $100 billion each. "Talks are under way on the distribution of the initial capital of $50 billion between the partners and on the location for the headquarters of the bank. Each of the BRICS countries has expressed a considerable interest in having the headquarters on its territory," Lukov said.

Jubilee USA Pushes IMF/World Bank To Focus On Debt Burdens

April 13, 2014 Staff, www.jubileeusa.org/ Resist! Finance and the Economy, IMF, World Bank

Ahead of the meetings, IMF Managing Director Christine LaGarde and World Bank President Jim Kim spoke publicly about inequality and focused on the IMF's April World Economic Outlook Report. The report forecasts cautious improvement for several advanced and emerging economies, including the United States, but notes that the recovery is uneven and vast inequality persists. One of the principle issues the report reviews is how sustainable the debt loads are for both G20 and developing countries. Over the last year, the G20 has vigorously debated how to deal with unsustainable country debts and speculative investments, root causes of the global financial crisis. One year ago in Washington, G20 Financial Ministers discussed the possibility of an international sovereign bankruptcy process in order to provide stability in the international financial system. The IMF staff also released a paper ahead of last year's meetings, which explored aspects of the process. Last fall during the St. Petersburg Summit, G20 heads of state discussed the process and invited the IMF to continue to review debt sustainability and debt issues. IMF staff continues to actively explore more stable debt restructuring processes. "The IMF is right to focus the conversation on high debt burdens that promote inequality and limit recovery," shared Eric LeCompte. "Everyone agrees there is a problem and hopefully everyone is moving to agreement that more orderly and predictable debt restructuring processes are the answer."

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