by
Jason Hickel
a term for the loans provided by the IMF and the World Bank to countries that experienced economic crises, which come with strings attached: privatisation and deregulation, mainly (the conditions are also known as the Washington Consensus)
22
Leveraging debt, they imposed 'structural adjustment programs' that reversed all the economic reforms that global South countries had painstakingly enacted.
notable
7 years ago
Leveraging debt, they imposed 'structural adjustment programs' that reversed all the economic reforms that global South countries had painstakingly enacted.
notable
7 years ago
Uruguay Round
(en)
the 8th round of multilateral trade negotiations (MTN) conducted within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), spanning from 1986 to 1994 and embracing 123 countries as "contracting parties"; led to the formation of the WTO (starting Jan 1 1995) from the ashes of the GATT
23
Today, power imbalances like these, enshrined in the Uruguay Round of the WTO, are estimated to cost poor countries around $700 billion each year in lost export revenues.
on US/EU being allowed to subsidise agriculture while poorer countries can't (because market size determines leverage in negotiations)
uncertain
7 years ago
Today, power imbalances like these, enshrined in the Uruguay Round of the WTO, are estimated to cost poor countries around $700 billion each year in lost export revenues.
on US/EU being allowed to subsidise agriculture while poorer countries can't (because market size determines leverage in negotiations)
uncertain
7 years ago
unequal exchange
(en)
a concept within Marxist economics referring to unequal labour values; can be applied historically to the origins of international wage differentials. proponents of concept: Samir Amin; John Roemer; Immanuel Wallerstein; Ernest Mandel
28
there is a yawning gap between the 'real value' of the labour and goods that poor countries sell and the prices they are actually paid for them. This is what economists call 'unequal exchange'.
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7 years ago
there is a yawning gap between the 'real value' of the labour and goods that poor countries sell and the prices they are actually paid for them. This is what economists call 'unequal exchange'.
notable
7 years ago
trenchant
(en)
(adjective) keen, sharp / (adjective) vigorously effective and articulate / (adjective) caustic / (adjective) sharply perceptive; penetrating / (adjective) clear-cut, distinct
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a trenchant indictment of our global economic system
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7 years ago
a trenchant indictment of our global economic system
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7 years ago
a economic theory relating to the origin of capital (Adam Smith saw it as a peaceful process with natural imbalances in wealth distribution; Karl Marx saw it as a violent enclosure of the commons etc etc)
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Adam Smith [...] called this 'previous accumulation' [...] Karl Marx called it 'primitive accumulation', perhaps to highlight its barbaric nature, for the process of accumulation was violent
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7 years ago
Adam Smith [...] called this 'previous accumulation' [...] Karl Marx called it 'primitive accumulation', perhaps to highlight its barbaric nature, for the process of accumulation was violent
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7 years ago
temporal fix
(en)
one way of addressing overaccumulation in capitalism: put it into long-term investments that will improve productivity in the future
168
a 'temporal fix'. Capital can be invested in long-term projects like infrastructure, education and research that will improve the future productivity of capital.
the example he gives is the New Deal. he also explains that it's less popular cus it means capitalists have to wait quite a while for the benefits
notable
7 years ago
a 'temporal fix'. Capital can be invested in long-term projects like infrastructure, education and research that will improve the future productivity of capital.
the example he gives is the New Deal. he also explains that it's less popular cus it means capitalists have to wait quite a while for the benefits
notable
7 years ago
spatial fix
(en)
(in the context of capitalist crisis) avoiding the low-growth phase problem by exporting manufacturing to places with cheaper labour, thereby raising profits for a while
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To avoid having to confront domestic resistance, which can be politically costly, policymakers might solve a crisis of over-accumulation by resorting to a 'spatial fix'--in other words, by opening up new consumer markets, labour markets and investment markets abroad.
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7 years ago
To avoid having to confront domestic resistance, which can be politically costly, policymakers might solve a crisis of over-accumulation by resorting to a 'spatial fix'--in other words, by opening up new consumer markets, labour markets and investment markets abroad.
notable
7 years ago
Manichaeism
(en)
an ancient religious movement that has to do with duality? "an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness"
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This Manichean view fits nicely with our already existing assumptions
on TI's corruption report (rich countries do well, poor countries do badly)
notable
7 years ago
This Manichean view fits nicely with our already existing assumptions
on TI's corruption report (rich countries do well, poor countries do badly)
notable
7 years ago
land grab
(en)
the buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals, esp following the 2007-2008 world food crisis
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A land purchase qualifies as a grab when it entails a transfer of at least 500 acres to be converted from smallholder production, collective use or ecosystem services to commercial activity. Land grabs may provide abstract economic benefit--increasing GDP, for instance
notable
7 years ago
A land purchase qualifies as a grab when it entails a transfer of at least 500 acres to be converted from smallholder production, collective use or ecosystem services to commercial activity. Land grabs may provide abstract economic benefit--increasing GDP, for instance
notable
7 years ago