DUBLIN HAS the odious task of hosting the World Economic Forum (WEF)
from 19 - 20 October. The WEF, which is a representative "think tank"
for the top thousand multinational corporations in the world, plans to
hold a summit on "European Competitiveness".
The latest rich list produced by the Forbes magazine shows that the
collective wealth of the world’s 1,210 billionaires has reached a new
record high of $4.5 trillion - up nearly $1 trillion on last year’s
total.
THE FINANCIAL speculators and hedge funds that so spectacularly
contributed to the financial crisis resulting in the ’Great Recession’
have now turned their attention to the international food market with
devastating consequences.
In about three weeks, a Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly of the
United Nations will be held in New York to review progress in reaching
the Milennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In the past few weeks there’s been a noticeable shift in tone in the
business pages and journals. Their confidence in the so-called
“recovery” has faded, and has been replaced by anxiety.
Wages have been slashed, unemployment has exploded and our public
services have been cut savagely as the economic crisis developed in
Ireland. All of this is the result of the policies of the right-wing
government and the actions of a small group of speculators, bankers and
developers.
