Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(Rakodi, 1997; Potts, 1997). And it is not just the urban areas that have suffered
because, as Potts and Mutambirwa (1998) have shown, the strength of rural urban
economic interaction means that the destiny of the countryside is often tied to that
of the town and city. The idea that economic growth, driven by the free market,
would ultimately benefit everyone via the magical notion of 'trickle-down economics'
has been a fiction. The hegemonic dominance of the 'Washington Consensus' forged
between the IMF (on 19th Street), the World Bank (on 18th Street) and the US
Treasury (on 15th Street) focused on a one-size-fits-all strategy, emphasizing down-
scaling government intervention in the economy, deregulation, rapid liberalization
and privatization. In most cases, this strategy did not work (Africa, Latin America)
but where it was tempered or ignored (East Asia, China) economic resilience and
development was able to emerge from the global economic turbulence of the 1990s.
The Asian Development Bank, by contrast, argued for alternatives, a 'competitive
pluralism', in which governments in developing countries, although basically relying
on markets, were active in shaping and guiding these markets through promoting
new technologies, and by insisting private businesses seriously consider the social
welfare of their employees and the wider society in which they live. Stiglitz, however,
is not opposed to globalization as such, for he believes that with appropriate
regulation, equitable trade laws, good nation-state and corporate governance it can
be a genuine force for global good. There are alternatives to the Washington
Consensus, which he develops in both
Fair Trade for All
(Stiglitz and Charlton,
2005) and
Making Globalization Work
(Stiglitz, 2006).
Stiglitz acknowledges that making globalization work 'will not be easy' (2006:
13), suggesting a number of general actions that can, and should, be initiated to
produce a more comprehensive approach to global development. These include:
Increase foreign assistance from the rich countries to the poor to the value of
at least 0.7 per cent of their GDP.
Cancellation or relief of foreign debt, with regard to the decision by the G-8 at
Gleneagles in 2005 when the debts owed by the eighteen poorest developing
nations to the IMF and World Bank were written off.
Genuine fair, rather than free trade, recognizing the limitations of economic
liberalization and iniquities produced by global corporate monopolies and cartels.
Protection of the global environment on which all economies ultimately depend
through a sensible and workable public management of global natural resources
and regulations on their usage and on actions, giving rise to 'externalities' and
costs.
Good, democratic, government, including enhanced possibilities for democratic
regulation of the economic and participation in decision-making processes at all
levels.
The voice of the developing nations ought to be listened to more frequently. The
fictional trial of international financial institutions that took place in Sissako's 2006
film
Bamako
is taking place in many other forums within global civil society. The
USA ought to recognize, and act on, its moral obligations to emit fewer greenhouse
gases, particularly CO
2
, offer more aid and negotiate better trading arrangements.
