This article refers to a forthcoming analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations. The analysis identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy. The work, to be published later in 2012 in PLoS One, revealed a core of 1,318 companies with interlocking ownerships, each of which had ties to two or more other companies, and on average connections to 20 companies. Although they represented only 20% of global operating revenues, the 1,318 appeared to collectively own through their shares most of the world’s large blue chip and manufacturing firms – referred to by the authors as the “real” economy – representing a further 60% of global revenues. Further analysis of the web of ownership revealed that much of it tracked back to a “super-entity” of 147 even more tightly knit companies that control 40% of the total wealth in the network – these companies include financial giants like Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs. Crucially, by identifying the architecture of global economic power, the analysis could help make the global economy more stable, the author argues, adding that we may need global anti-trust rules, which now exist only at national level. The author argues that firms should be taxed for excess interconnectivity to prevent power being concentrated in the hands of a few.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
The concept of ‘green growth’ implies that a wide range of developmental objectives, such as job creation, economic prosperity and poverty alleviation, can be easily reconciled with environmental sustainability. The authors of this study, however, argue that rather than being win-win, green growth is similar to most types of policy reforms that advocate the acceptance of short-term adjustment costs in the expectation of long-term gains. In particular, green growth policies often encourage developing countries to redesign their national strategies in ways that might be inconsistent with natural comparative advantages and past investments. In turn, there are often sizeable anti-reform coalitions whose interests may conflict with a green growth agenda. The authors illustrate this argument using case studies of Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa, which are engaged in development strategies that involve inorganic fertilisers, biofuels production, and coal-based energy, respectively. Each of these countries is pursuing an environmentally suboptimal strategy but nonetheless addressing critical development needs, including food security, fuel and electricity. The study’s results show that adopting a green growth approach would not only be economically costly but also generate substantial domestic resistance, especially amongst the poor.
African Heads of States and Governments convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 23-30 January 2012 to launch a continent-wide free trade agreement (CFTA). The Summit focused on solutions to the numerous impediments that hinder intra-African trade including: trade facilitation, productive capacity, trade related infrastructure and trade policy. In this article, the author calls for greater regional integration given African countries smaller markets. Africa’s regional economic communities are adopting uniform policies among their members but they are expected to trade with the rest of the world under various international trade regimes, which is argued to undermine regional integration and trade diversification. The author observes that trade preferences should be viewed only as a temporary arrangement – what is needed is to extend the period of the current trade regimes (say until 2020) and consolidate their conditions in a manner that supports manufacturing and consolidates regional markets. International partners and African countries should adopt a policy that revolves around access to high-income and emerging market countries linked to progress in integration with neighbouring countries.
In this study, economy-wide and hydrological-crop models are combined to estimate and compare the impacts of current and future climate trends in Zambia. Accounting for uncertainty, simulation results indicate that, on average, the trends may reduce gross domestic product by 4% over a ten-year period and pulls over 2% of the population below the poverty line. Socio-economic impacts are larger during drought years, and climate variability is projected to be a binding constraint on development in Zambia, at least over the next few decades.
In this paper, the authors discuss the various aspects of occupational cancer in developing countries, focusing on the conditions of informal workers and firms. They found that estimating the burden of cancers attributable to occupational exposures is difficult as occupational cancers are usually clinically indistinguishable from those unrelated to occupation. Lack of reliable data is an obstacle to establishing the place for cancer prevention in public policies, particularly in poor regions. Workplaces are argued to be a substantial source of carcinogen exposures, together with psychosocial stressors that mediate exposure to cancer risk factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Enforcement of hazard control in workplaces is weak and workers’ organisations are not strong enough to ensure compliance with standards required for healthy and safe work environments. This situation is even more intense in the informal economy, where firms are beyond state control. There are reports of increased risks of cencer among informal workers compared to formal workers.
In this article, the author argues that regional integration and regional agricultural markets are particularly important for African agriculture, since national markets and institutions are too small to bring about the needed transformation of African agriculture. Great opportunities exist, with Africa having 60% of the world's total amount of uncultivated arable land and therefore an immense potential for agricultural productivity growth. However, the author believes more attention should be dedicated to increase the productivity of small-scale farmers, who contribute around 90% of Africa's agricultural production but remain largely locked out of trade dynamics. Regional integration and agriculture development, and in particular intra-African agricultural trade, offer a great potential for food security and pro-poor growth in Africa, if they can work in synergy, especially at the regional level. Various independent processes are under way to promote agricultural development and encourage regional trade in Africa, such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the development of trade corridors. However, weak communication across the agriculture and trade sectors/communities and the parallel - and at times competing - policy frameworks hamper the creation of much needed synergies.
In the lead-up to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) discussions during the European Union-India Summit in New Delhi on 10 February 2012, UNITAID has urged both parties to ensure that access to medicines, and particularly AIDS medicines, is not hampered by trade interests via provisions that could undermine the production, registration and availability of generic medicines. The agreement coincides with a delicate time for access to treatment efforts - the suspension of grants by the Global Fund and diminishing resources for health and development, said UNITAID, calling on the European Union to safeguard the right of millions of people in developing countries to continue accessing affordable life-saving medicines produced by the Indian generic industry. AIDS treatment has experienced startling progress over recent years, with almost seven million people starting treatment between 2003 and 2011, largely due to India's ability to produce low-cost, quality-assured generic medicines and to healthy competition among India's producers. However, such provisions as data exclusivity, patent term extensions and border measures could severely legally restrict manufacturers' ability to produce recently developed medicines and patient adapted formulations at low cost and to export those medicines to other developing countries.
An intellectual property (IP) conference for government ministers, to be held in April 2012 in South Africa, has stirred controversy among civil society advocates. Entitled “Africa Intellectual Property Forum: Intellectual Property, Regional Integration and Economic Growth in Africa”, the event is being organised by the United States government, and is being touted as the first Africa-wide ministerial-level event of its kind. The authors observe that the focus of the conference appears however to be stricter enforcement of IP rights, as most panels are concerned with enforcement and protection, and most speakers originate in developed country governments and industry. Non-governmental organisations who have worked on intellectual property rights have expressed disappointment, as they expected the conference would consider the 2007 World Intellectual Property Organisation Development Agenda, which consisted of 45 agreed recommendations intended to more fully incorporate the development dimension into WIPO activities, including technical assistance. They critique the agenda and an apparent underlying motive of encouraging strong IP legislation in those countries, at the expense of development and universal access to affordable medicines.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board has agreed to propose to the May 2012 World Health Assembly the establishment of a mechanism for international collaboration on counterfeit and substandard medical products, but with the exclusion of trade and intellectual property issues. The Executive Board resolution would “establish a new Member State mechanism for international collaboration among Member States, from a public health perspective, excluding trade and intellectual property considerations, regarding substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products”. The next Assembly in May will decide on this resolution. The mechanism would be reviewed by the World Health Assembly after three years, and countries will submit a progress report after one year. A contentious issue around counterfeits has been the suspicion on the part of some developing countries that concerns about counterfeit and substandard medicines are being purposely confused with trade in legitimate generic medicines from those countries. Removing intellectual property and trade from WHO discussions is intended to minimise the possibility of confusion.
Inter-African trade, which is high on the agenda at the upcoming African Union (AU) summit, will not remain the AU’s only priority in 2012. According to this report in Africa Review, the ambitious list of priorities consists of efforts to boost the continent’s global role, and plans to review the AU’s international partnerships in order to ensure they bring greater benefits to Africa. Peace and security continue to be a major concern, and AU intends to push its member states to strengthen democracy and good governance, an area closely linked to security concerns. The AU will take steps to establish food reserves and to secure access to markets and competitive prices for farmers. A free trade zone across the continent is envisaged to boost commerce between countries. At present, less than 15% of African trade stays on the continent - the rest is sold abroad.