by Jerry Harris, SolidarityEconomy.net . Euro Social-Democrats Warnings on High Road European social-democrats have supported globalization as the road to better economic development, but are now warning corporations to share the profits. Joaquin Almunia, the European monetary affairs commissioner said workers were not getting the rewards from increased productivity and the situation was unsustainable. Mr. Steinbruck, the German finance minister, said soaring profits are igniting a “crisis in legitimacy…there have been falls in real wages, real incomes, that have been bad for domestic demand and we have suffered from that for quite a long time.” Adding to the debate was Franz Munterfering, chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party. Referring to hedge funds and private equity groups Munterfering labeled them “locusts.” When criticized he replied, “I have no regret (more...)

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by Jerry Harris, SolidarityEconomy.net .Third World corporations on world stage Antoine van Agtmael, former World Bank official head of the Emerging Markets Growth Fund, says new Third World corporations are a better breed than their developed world peers. In his new book, The Emerging Markets Century he lists the 25 emerging multinationals set to dominate the world. Among them are Samsung and Hyundai from S. Korea, Embraer and  Aracruz from Brazil, Yue Yuen the athletic shoes manufacturer from Taiwan and Telmex from Mexico. To make Agtmael’s list companies need have a top three market share in enough markets to be global players and be (more...)

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by Jerry Harris, SolidarityEconomy.net . US bars students and loses scientists Tighter visa laws have keep thousands of potential foreign students from enrolling in US universities and make it difficult for US companies to hire and meet with foreign employees. Some estimates put the loss to the US economy at $30B. On the flip side cuts in government funding of scientific research is forcing many young scientist to leave the US, most going to the UK, Australia and Singapore. Says Xandra Breakefield from Harvard Medical School, “The situation is incredibly bleak, I find myself telling (more...)

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by Jerry Harris, SolidarityEconomy.net .Abdullah Badawi rejects Clash of Civilizations The prime minister of Malaysia and chairman of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference rejected the well known “clash of civilizations” thesis of Harvard’s Samuel Huntington. Speaking of rising conflicts throughout the Middle East and world Abdullah Badawi said, “They may mobilize themselves along ideological or religious lines. But at heart the conflicts are driven by the impulse for power, territory and resources, and by resistance to this.” He also called on (more...)

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by Jerry Harris, SolidarityEconomy.net . Brazilian capital moves abroad For the first time Brazilian companies invested more abroad than the amount of direct investments coming into Brazil. In 2006 Brazilian companies had foreign investments of $26B compared to inward investments of $18B. CVRD lead the way with a $17.6B acquisition of Canadian miner Inco. CVRD is the world’s biggest exporter of iron ore and the second biggest mining group in the world. They have operations in 11 countries with their     biggest market being China. These figures point to the growth of the transnational capitalist class in the third world and trade relations growing outside the US/European axis. (more...)

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by Jerry Harris . S. Korean president hits US President Roh Moo-hyun hit out at the US in strong language saying that S. Korea was “clinging to the crotch of the US’s pants and hiding behind the US’s ass.” Polling extremely low perhaps Roh is returning to his leftist roots that got him elected in the first place. . China keeps growing China’s growth is replacing the US as the engine of the world economy. China is the world’s largest consumer of steel, cement, copper, aluminum and zinc and the second largest oil consumer. Says Robin Bhar of UBS, “The fact that growth in the developing world will offset the decline in demand from the US represents a turning point for commodity markets, which have been historically tied to the expansion and contraction in the US economy.” (more...)

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by Jerry Harris .Saudi Arabia blackmails the UK Just how far has the British empire fallen? The great colonizers are now cowered by threats from Saudi Arabia fearing the loss of jobs and defense contracts. It appears that the UK defense giant BAE set-up a multi-million dollar slush fund for Saudi princes in order to obtain multi-billion dollar defense contracts. When the Serious Fraud Office threatened an investigation the Saudis hit back threatening to cancel a $79 billion deal for Typhoon fighter jets and move work to France. Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped in and told Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, to drop the case. As Blair stated: “Had we allowed things to go forward, we would have done immense damage to the true interests of this country, leaving aside the fact that we would have lost thousands of highly skilled jobs and very, very important business for British industry.” (more...)

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by Jerry Harris . Transnational capitalists own half the world The richest two percent of the world’s adults own 50 percent of the world’s assets. If the world’s wealth was evenly distributed each person would have $20,500 of assets. Instead the poorest half of the population holds only one percent of wealth. This year the 170,000 employees of the big five US investment banks (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns) pocketed $36 billion in bonuses. Their overall compensation of about $60 billion was equivalent to Vietnam’s gross domestic product. Marc Faber, author of “Gloom Doom & Boom” notes; “Something is a bit bizarre in the world. The liquidity of the global middle class is not there but the liquidity of Goldman Sachs partners is soaring.” (more...)

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by Jerry Harris . Bill Gates wants Bolivia on-line Gates wrote Bolivia’s socialist president, Evo Morales, offering Microsoft’s help “in the goal of providing all of Bolivia’s people access” to the internet. Gates added, “I am excited to know that our campaign is contributing to your government’s plan” to promote education and economic improvements. Microsoft has just launched a new Word program in Quechua, one of the major languages spoken in Bolivia. (Financial Times, 11/21/06, Gates seeks common ground with Morales) . GM crops on over one billion acres Genetically modified crops are growing at 10 percent a year. Over the past ten years GM crops have been (more...)

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