(April 15, 2008) In their paper’s abstract, Gulati and Ludington set out to expose the “murky reality” of the life of Alexander Nahum Sack, and how this reality conflicts with the “myth perpetuated in the odious debts literature.” The dominant theme, though insinuated rather than stated clearly, is that the odious debts movement has deliberately exaggerated Sack’s eminence in order to establish the doctrine as customary international law. The authors also make few distinctions among the various organizations in the debt forgiveness movement. I would recommend that the authors stick to the facts rather than assign motives, and be precise in their charges rather than employing broad brushes.
Other News Sources
China’s Three Gorges dam: An environmental catastrophe?
(April 8, 2008) Fan Xiao, a geologist at the Bureau of Geological Exploration and Exploitation of Mineral Resources in Sichuan province, is quoted saying recent landslides in the Three Gorges area are directly linked to filling the reservoir. Water first seeps into the loose soil at the base of the area’s rocky cliffs, destabilizing the land and making it prone to slides.
Voters strike blow against corruption
(April 7, 2008) In a country where corruption is a way of life, the election result is a breathe of fresh air.
The myth of Jatropha
(April 4, 2008) Superlatives abound whenever the talk turns to Jatropha. In a very short time the tropical shrub has mutated from being a poisonous wild plant into the world’s miracle plant for agrofuel production. But as has been demonstrated in India, this does not mean the end of the competition between gas tank and plate.
China wrung dry of water for thirsty Olympics
(April 2, 2008) China is planning to divert billions of gallons of water hundreds of miles from drought-stricken regions to feed Olympic development in the capital Beijing.
World Bank climate funds: “a huge leap backwards”
(April 1, 2008) The recently proposed climate investment funds to be administered by the World Bank are under heavy fire for proposing a governance structure that replicates the inequities of the Bank’s board, undermines the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) and fails to clarify whether money to these funds would be additional to G8 commitments on overseas development aid. Meanwhile World Bank’s support for coal-fired power generation is on the increase.
A Realistic Policy on International Carbon Offsets
(April 1, 2008) As the United States designs its strategy for regulating emissions of greenhouse gases, two central issues have emerged. One is how to limit the cost of compliance while still maintaining environmental integrity. The other is how to “engage” developing countries in serious efforts to limit emissions. Industry and economists are rightly concerned about cost control yet have found it difficult to mobilize adequate political support for control mechanisms such as a “safety valve;” they also rightly caution that currently popular ideas such as a Fed-like Carbon Board are not sufficiently fleshed out to reliably play a role akin to a safety valve.
New Estimates of Capital Flight from Sub-Saharan African Countries: Linkages with External Borrowing and Policy Options
(April 1, 2008) Over the past decades, African countries have been forced by external debt burdens to undertake painful economic adjustments while devoting scarce foreign exchange to debt-service payments. On the other hand, African countries have experienced massive outflows of private capital towards Western financial centers. Indeed, these private assets surpass the continent’s foreign liabilities, ironically making sub-Saharan Africa a “net creditor” to the rest of the world.
Kennedy Jr. lobbies hard against Chile dam project
(April 1, 2008) HidroAysén project a threat to Chile’s “pride and soul” says NRDC attorney
Planned Lao dam raises concerns on the Mekong
(March 28, 2008) The Lao government’s decision earlier this year to press ahead with plans to build the Don Sahong dam on the mainstream of the Mekong River in southern Laos is causing major concern in Cambodia and internationally.
China attracts private companies to provide clean water
(March 27, 2008) When Chen Xiangwen first moved to Beijing eight years ago, she expected to be able to drink the tap water. After all, she was living in a city about to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
World Bank funds Kenya’s ‘culture of corruption’
(March 26, 2008) World Bank funding has been called out as a large contributor to Kenya’s ‘culture of corruption’ in the wake of last year’s presidential election crisis.
China Southern Power Grid Company’s hydro project in Cambodia threatens forests, indigenous farmers
(March 26, 2008) Indigenous farmers and forests are threatened by one of at least four Chinese-funded hydropower projects approved by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen over the last two years, Reuters reported on March 26.
Chad’s checkmate
(March 26, 2008) World bank system to safeguard oil revenues hasn’t exactly worked as expected.
China Southern Power Grid Company’s hydro project in Cambodia threatens forests, indigenous farmers
(March 26, 2008) Indigenous farmers and forests are threatened by one of at least four Chinese-funded hydropower projects approved by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen over the last two years, Reuters reported on March 26.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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