The G20: What happens next?

April 6, 2009
Now the dust has settled, we’ve caught up on lost sleep, and recovered from that slight hint of Stockholm Syndrome created by the collective hysteria of a summit, it’s time to stand back and think about what happens next. As part of that exercise, here are the forward-looking processes that the G20 put in place to review, monitor, propose further
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Oxfam’s full post mortem on the G20 summit

April 3, 2009
OK, this is the last post on the G20 for a few days. This is Oxfam’s more considered analysis of the communiques and accompanying intelligence gleaned over the course of the last few days. Hope it makes sense. Summary (for full paper click here): G20 leaders met for the second time in London on 2 April, as the global economic
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Fidel uses Oxfam killer fact

April 3, 2009
I’ve been up since 5am writing on Oxfam’s post mortem on the G20 summit (will post on it later today), but have been completely distracted by this email that just came in to alert me that Fidel Castro is citing Oxfam’s work, including our latest killer fact, in his regular ‘reflections of Comrade Fidel’ column in Granma, Cuba’s Communist Party
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Final post from the London Summit – full analysis to follow tomorrow

April 2, 2009
So, it’s 7.30pm, some 14 hours after I started blogging this morning, and Obama is wrapping up his press conference. He looks exhausted. And the big question is, has this been a historic day or not? The answer is ‘maybe, but it’s too early to say’, but at least there’s a ‘maybe’ in there. I feel unusually optimistic for the
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G20: What’s in Play as Summit Day dawns?

April 2, 2009
The big day dawns in a fog of confusion and press reports of rifts between continental Europe and the Anglo Saxons, following what were portrayed as rival press conferences by Obama and Brown in one part of London, and Sarkozy and Merkel in another. Today will show how much of this was just playing to the domestic gallery – Sarkozy
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How to read the G20 Communique – some thoughts

April 2, 2009
Had a great day yesterday meeting my fellow g20voice bloggers, a wonderfully diverse crew from every corner of the world who will be blogging furiously at the G20 summit today. I led a discussion on how to read the communiqué that should emerge some time this afternoon: this can be pretty stressful, since they are written in diplomatic code and
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How the global crisis is affecting Latin America and the Caribbean, and which governments are responding well

April 1, 2009
Here are the main findings of a new paper of mine on the impact of the global economic downturn on Latin America and the Caribbean. It’s part of Oxfam’s series of studies of the development impact of the global crisis (for an overview click here). Top line message, how governments are responding to the crisis is to a large part
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The global bank bailout is enough to end (that’s ‘end’, not just halve) world poverty for 50 years

April 1, 2009
Here are some killer facts on the global economic crisis and the response. First the bail out: globally, as of January 2009, a calculation for Oxfam shows that banks and other financial service firms have already received or been promised at least $8.424 trillion. The breakdown is $903 billion of government capital injections; $661 billion of toxic asset purchases; $1.38
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What does the leaked draft G20 communique tell us about development and climate change?

March 31, 2009
The FT has got its hands on a leaked copy, as has der Spiegel (a different draft, it seems, but I can’t find that one on the net). The FT version is nice and short (24 paras). Here’s what it says on Oxfam’s main asks for the summit, namely:
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How the global crisis is hitting Zambia (and the mining companies are taking advantage)

March 31, 2009
As part of Oxfam’s flurry of studies of the development impact of the global crisis (for an overview click here), here’s a summary of a new paper of mine on the impact of the global crisis on Zambia. The main story is perhaps how the mining lobby has used the crisis to reverse some progress on taxing copper revenues.
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The UN/Stiglitz Commission recipe for reforming globalization

March 30, 2009
I finally got round to reading the report of the UN Commission of Experts on reforms of the international monetary and financial system, chaired by Joseph Stiglitz. It’s very sensible, comprehensive and solution-oriented. Trouble is, is anyone listening? Regrettably, the UN process seems largely delinked from the G20/IMF/World Bank leadership on the crisis (see previous post on this). Highlights from
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The impact of the global crisis on women workers – new report

March 30, 2009
A powerful new Oxfam report is released today, ahead of this week’s crisis summit in London. Written by my colleague Bethan Emmett, it pulls together preliminary research in 10 countries across Asia and Latin America to show that women working in export manufacturing industries, e.g. garments and electronics, are often first to be laid off, frequently without pay or compensation. In
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