In the video above, Sharmini Peries at The Real News Network asks Hudson, “In a recent interview [by former State Department official James Carden] published in The National Interest magazine you said that most media covers Russia as if it is the greatest threat to Ukraine. History suggests that the IMF may be far more dangerous. What did you mean by that?” Continue reading Has the IMF annexed Ukraine?
One of the upsides of having a global elite is that at least they know what’s going on. We, the deluded masses, may have to wait for decades to find out who the paedophiles in high places are; and which banks are criminal, or bust. But the elite are supposed to know in real time – and on that basis to make accurate predictions.
Just how difficult this has become was shown last week when the OECD released its predictions for the world economy until 2060. These are that growth will slow to around two-thirds its current rate; that inequality will increase massively; and that there is a big risk that climate change will make things worse. Despite all this, says the OECD, the world will be four times richer, more productive, more globalised and more highly educated. If you are struggling to rationalise the two halves of that prediction then don’t worry – so are some of the best-qualified economists on earth.
In the article, The Economist is praising China’s efforts to put forth a development bank to a certain extent. On one hand, the correspondent supports the better use of their savings, but China is basically throwing away their money by following, to use McMichael’s language, The Development Project by issuing loans to Venezuela, for example, who ended up just “wasting the money,” according to this author. What is interesting is that in this example of The Economist, we see the push for China to use these development loans, instead, by “hewing closer to the model of the Bretton Woods institution…” That, I feel, is a strong statement. Essentially, it is calling for China to jump on board to the “Globalization Project.”
China’s emergence into the development lending provides insight into what could be China’s pathway into either resurrecting the Development Project or perhaps into a quasi-privatization in which they are allowed to enter another country’s economy for resource extraction for their gain. In the case of Venezuela, China does have a interest in energy, so they probably expect to give up some of their oil resources to the thirsty Chinese economy — which looks like is already happening.
So let’s post some news articles, videos, academic papers, images, or whatever else you think shows some aspect of Global Political Economy. From there, just add to the post how it is an illustration of what we’re learning.