the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

globinfo freexchange The main substantive achievement of neoliberalism has been to redistribute, rather than to generate, wealth and income. 'Accumulation by dispossession', meaning the commodification and privatization of land and the forceful expulsion of peasant populations, conversion of various forms of property rights into exclusive private property rights; suppression of rights to the commons; colonial, neocolonial, and imperial processes of appropriation of assets including natural resources; and usury, the national debt and, most devastating of all, the use of the credit system as a radical means of accumulation by dispossession. To this list of mechanisms we may now add a raft of techniques such as the extraction of rents from patents and intellectual property rights and the diminution of or erasure of various forms of communal property rights (such as state pensions, paid vacations, access to education and healthcare) won through a gen

The European Central Bank (ECB) has been slammed in a new report for a "a lack of political leadership," little "democratic oversight and accountability" leading to a "marked decline in public trust" at a time when the eurozone is facing crisis. According to Transparency International EU — in its report, Two sides of the same coin? Independence and accountability at the EC — a " lack of political leadership and decisive reform " has led the ECB to stray into the area of political decision-making, without appropriate democratic scrutiny. " This has been accompanied by a marked decline in public trust at a time when the ECB has been granted extensive new powers to supervise major European banks, " the report says. The report comes at turbulent time for the Eurozone countries, with Greece struggling to meet the terms of its third bailout, amid calls to leave the Eurozone, and Italy, Spain and Portugal all fai

Για κατάχρηση του ρόλου της κατηγορεί την Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα η διεθνής οργάνωση Transparency International και ζητά να λογοδοτήσει για τις πολιτικές αποφάσεις που λαμβάνει, επισημαίνοντας ότι αυτές θέτουν σε κίνδυνο την ισορροπία στην ευρωζώνη. Σε έκθεσή της η οργάνωση επισημαίνει ότι « οι διακριτικές εξουσίες της ΕΚΤ της επέτρεψαν να ασκήσει πίεση στις ελληνικές τράπεζες ενώ διαπραγματευόταν μεταρρυθμίσεις διάσωσης με την ελληνική κυβέρνηση ως μέρος της Τρόικας των διεθνών δανειστών ». Στην έκθεση τονίζεται επίσης ότι οι κινήσεις της ΕΚΤ « θέτουν σε κίνδυνο τη τρέχουσα εύθραυστη σταθερότητα της ευρωζώνης » και αναφέρεται και πάλι η περίπτωση της Ελλάδας αλλά και η τρέχουσα ανακεφαλαίωση του ιταλού δανειστή Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Η Διεθνής Διαφάνεια αναφέρεται επίσης στις μυστικές επιστολές που έστελνε η ΕΚΤ σε ηγέτες κρατών εκβιάζοντας τους να δεχθούν την πολιτική λιτότητας της ΕΕ. Ως παραδείγματα αναφέρονται οι κυβερνήσεις της Ιταλίας και της Ισπανίας ε

It’s alarming big European banks, unlike ordinary people are not paying their fair share of taxes, says Oxfam policy advisor Aurore Chardonnet. Tax dodging is a crime against the people, a robbery of the population, adds business consultant Gerald Celente. Europe’s 20 largest banks are involved in tax avoidance schemes, according to the latest Oxfam report entitled Opening the Vaults. The banks registered over a quarter of their multi-billion euro profits offshore. The report says in some cases the companies didn't pay any tax profit of €383 million. They made almost €630 million in countries where they had no employees at all. Oxfam policy advisor Aurore Chardonnet explained what is happening and why the situation is alarming. “ Big European banks are reporting far more profits in tax havens than their economic activity suggests in figures, ” she told RT. “ That means they report 20 percent of their profits in tax havens while they only have seve

The Scottish Parliament has voted to back Nicola Sturgeon’s request to seek new powers from London in order to trigger a second independence referendum. The motion passed thanks to the Scottish Greens' support, and despite Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives expressing opposition to what they called another “divisive” referendum campaign. The Scottish first minister has called for a second independence vote to take place between Autumn 2018 and Spring 2019, though she will need Westminster’s approval in order to actually implement her plans. Holyrood has backed Sturgeon’s motion, which urged MSPs to authorize the Scottish National Party (SNP) government to seek a Section 30 order from Westminster. The order, which the first minister said she would request "later this week," is needed for Scotland to hold a legally-binding referendum. In response to the debate, Sturgeon released a statement saying “ today’s vote must