SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
All Pledge and No Punch in Pittsburgh
The G20 summit wrapped up in Pittsburgh Friday with pledges but little punch. Except in the streets.
On climate change, world leaders vowed "strong action" and on the
economy, "balanced economic growth." The summit endorsed granting more
voting rights at the IMF and World Bank to 'underrepresented' countries
like CHINA. With a billion people and the world's second largest
economy -- China may budge up from having 3.6% of all votes.
Sep 29, 2009
The G20 summit wrapped up in Pittsburgh Friday with pledges but little punch. Except in the streets.
On climate change, world leaders vowed "strong action" and on the
economy, "balanced economic growth." The summit endorsed granting more
voting rights at the IMF and World Bank to 'underrepresented' countries
like CHINA. With a billion people and the world's second largest
economy -- China may budge up from having 3.6% of all votes.
Underrepresented booming countries may get a bigger voice in global
finance. Nice. But under-represented people? Well there's the rub.
Around 200 people were arrested during the two-day Pittsburgh
summit. Heavy policing seems to be the only plan world leaders have
come up with for shutting reality out.
Reality, for those in the streets, not the suites, of the world, is
a whole new economy -- way more than a downturn -- and the prospect of
long-term, possibly permanent, unemployment.
Read the papers, and the stats are all there. In the US, job seekers
now outnumber job openings six to one. Official unemployment stands at
9.7 percent, its highest level in 26 years. If you're a teenager, it's
over 25 percent. No reason there to shun protest for fear of ruining
your job prospects, they're grim and only getting grimmer. That's if
radicals like Paul Craig Roberts, a former officer of the Reagan
Administration, are to be believed.
If measured according to the methodology used when he was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Roberts says "the unemployment rate today in the US is above 20%. Moreover, there is no obvious way of reducing it."
Consumer spending -- the engine that drove 70 % of the US economy
and by extension much of the world's -- isn't coming back. And that's
just the way it's going to be, President Obama's chief economic adviser
Larry Summers told the BBC (my sister, actually) in Pittsburgh.
"The US can't, shouldn't and won't continue to experience the
consumption-led growth of the past few years." said Summers. And the
world -- and we -- should just adjust...
The message is pledge-on! Endorse "strong action" on climate and
"balanced growth." But all those poor people out of work? They'll just
have to adjust.
While banks are doling out cash by the millions
to kill any new regulation of Wall St. (which clearly has its heart set
on making another buck off all that poverty...) There is one part of
the economy that seems actually to be getting stimulated: Policing. If
ever civil society finds a voice and decides actually to wield it,
they'll be ready. How else to reign in reality, for lawd's sake?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 GRITtv
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
The G20 summit wrapped up in Pittsburgh Friday with pledges but little punch. Except in the streets.
On climate change, world leaders vowed "strong action" and on the
economy, "balanced economic growth." The summit endorsed granting more
voting rights at the IMF and World Bank to 'underrepresented' countries
like CHINA. With a billion people and the world's second largest
economy -- China may budge up from having 3.6% of all votes.
Underrepresented booming countries may get a bigger voice in global
finance. Nice. But under-represented people? Well there's the rub.
Around 200 people were arrested during the two-day Pittsburgh
summit. Heavy policing seems to be the only plan world leaders have
come up with for shutting reality out.
Reality, for those in the streets, not the suites, of the world, is
a whole new economy -- way more than a downturn -- and the prospect of
long-term, possibly permanent, unemployment.
Read the papers, and the stats are all there. In the US, job seekers
now outnumber job openings six to one. Official unemployment stands at
9.7 percent, its highest level in 26 years. If you're a teenager, it's
over 25 percent. No reason there to shun protest for fear of ruining
your job prospects, they're grim and only getting grimmer. That's if
radicals like Paul Craig Roberts, a former officer of the Reagan
Administration, are to be believed.
If measured according to the methodology used when he was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Roberts says "the unemployment rate today in the US is above 20%. Moreover, there is no obvious way of reducing it."
Consumer spending -- the engine that drove 70 % of the US economy
and by extension much of the world's -- isn't coming back. And that's
just the way it's going to be, President Obama's chief economic adviser
Larry Summers told the BBC (my sister, actually) in Pittsburgh.
"The US can't, shouldn't and won't continue to experience the
consumption-led growth of the past few years." said Summers. And the
world -- and we -- should just adjust...
The message is pledge-on! Endorse "strong action" on climate and
"balanced growth." But all those poor people out of work? They'll just
have to adjust.
While banks are doling out cash by the millions
to kill any new regulation of Wall St. (which clearly has its heart set
on making another buck off all that poverty...) There is one part of
the economy that seems actually to be getting stimulated: Policing. If
ever civil society finds a voice and decides actually to wield it,
they'll be ready. How else to reign in reality, for lawd's sake?
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
The G20 summit wrapped up in Pittsburgh Friday with pledges but little punch. Except in the streets.
On climate change, world leaders vowed "strong action" and on the
economy, "balanced economic growth." The summit endorsed granting more
voting rights at the IMF and World Bank to 'underrepresented' countries
like CHINA. With a billion people and the world's second largest
economy -- China may budge up from having 3.6% of all votes.
Underrepresented booming countries may get a bigger voice in global
finance. Nice. But under-represented people? Well there's the rub.
Around 200 people were arrested during the two-day Pittsburgh
summit. Heavy policing seems to be the only plan world leaders have
come up with for shutting reality out.
Reality, for those in the streets, not the suites, of the world, is
a whole new economy -- way more than a downturn -- and the prospect of
long-term, possibly permanent, unemployment.
Read the papers, and the stats are all there. In the US, job seekers
now outnumber job openings six to one. Official unemployment stands at
9.7 percent, its highest level in 26 years. If you're a teenager, it's
over 25 percent. No reason there to shun protest for fear of ruining
your job prospects, they're grim and only getting grimmer. That's if
radicals like Paul Craig Roberts, a former officer of the Reagan
Administration, are to be believed.
If measured according to the methodology used when he was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Roberts says "the unemployment rate today in the US is above 20%. Moreover, there is no obvious way of reducing it."
Consumer spending -- the engine that drove 70 % of the US economy
and by extension much of the world's -- isn't coming back. And that's
just the way it's going to be, President Obama's chief economic adviser
Larry Summers told the BBC (my sister, actually) in Pittsburgh.
"The US can't, shouldn't and won't continue to experience the
consumption-led growth of the past few years." said Summers. And the
world -- and we -- should just adjust...
The message is pledge-on! Endorse "strong action" on climate and
"balanced growth." But all those poor people out of work? They'll just
have to adjust.
While banks are doling out cash by the millions
to kill any new regulation of Wall St. (which clearly has its heart set
on making another buck off all that poverty...) There is one part of
the economy that seems actually to be getting stimulated: Policing. If
ever civil society finds a voice and decides actually to wield it,
they'll be ready. How else to reign in reality, for lawd's sake?
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.