Economic collateral damage – from suicides to human trafficking

Governments excuse their actions in war where there are innocent victims that fall casualties, calling them ‘collateral damage’, as though these human beings, invariably women and children, are parts of a building that falls unintentionally when another nearby building is the intended target. A similar thought pattern exists in describing the hundreds of millions of [...]

Sexism, nationalism and power: the endless DSK soap opera

It seems that the scandal involving former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan and the lady he had allegedly assaulted, has taken on a life of its on like a TV soap opera that has no end. It many dimensions include French nationalists on side making accusations against the US, American nationalists making accusations against the libertine [...]

International Monetary Fund: western past or Asian future?

Western Europeans demand that the US abide by tradition and allow for the next IMF chief to come from the EU, probably another French national like finance minister Christine Lagarde. Russia, Brazil and South Africa do not want the next IMF chief to come from Europe, but preferably from a developing nation. China and Japan [...]