Does the greatest financial crisis since the Wall Street crash of 1929 mean that the 'capitalism as we know it' has reached its end? TNI panelists analyse the causes and consequences of the on-going global financial crisis and discuss its profound implications for a changed world order.
The greatest financial crisis since the Wall Street crash of 1929 has been met by an unprecedented set of government actions to stem the tide of destruction. But is there also a coming sea change in economic theory and practice, as well as in politics, in the shift from a free market to intervention in the market? Is this the end of 'capitalism as we know it? What are the power politics and prospects to achieve change? What are the alternatives to these catastrophically failed ideas behind the 'neoliberal globalization' and 'corporate globalisation?
The debate was held at TNI, Amsterdam, 7 November 2008.
The complete seminar is available in mp3 audio format. The recording was made by Maria (Indymedia) and originally posted on www.globalinfo.nl
Barry Gills: overview of the extent, dynamics and phases of the crisis so far and the lessons we already can draw from it
(20:10 min, 18,5 Mb)
Myriam Vander Stichele: how the EU got involved into a crisis which was thought of of be an American one, and how did the crisis get institutionalized, and about what are the power games played behind it.
(13:50 min - 12,7 Mb)
Howard Wachtel: what is the history of the crisis (in the US), what does the Obama election mean for us and for the financial structure?
(14:45 min - 13,5Mb)
Intermezzo by Susan George on the position of TNI. And what must and can we do at this moment where it is possible and timely to intervene? "We have to say 'enough is enough'".
(MP3 - 2:20 min - 11,3Mb)
Speakers: Susan George, Board Chair of TNI and Honorary President of Attac France. Howard Wachtel, TNI Fellow and Professor of Economics at American University, Washington. Barry Gills, Professor of Global Politics, editor Globalizations journal and 'Rethinking Globalizations' book series. Myriam vander Stichele, Senior Researcher, Center for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and TNI fellow.
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Emeritus Professor of Economics, American University
Howard Wachtel is an expert on the financialisation of the global economy who foresaw the financial crisis long before it struck in autumn 2008. His book in 2003 Street of Dreams. Boulevard of Broken Hearts: Wall Street's First Century (London: Pluto Press) is a widely respected history of the infamous New York street.
Howard was the first co-ordinator of TNI's Global Economy Programme, during which time his publications included the famous The Money Mandarins: The Making of a New Supranational Economic Order (Pantheon 1986) and TNI’s The New Gnomes (1977) – the first analysis of Third World Debt.
A Professor Emeritus of Economics at American University in Washington DC, Howard works on the global economy and international money, labour and the American economy, and economic transformation in the planned economies of East-Central Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Third World. His recent work is about the current global financial crisis.
Senior Researcher, Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO)
Myriam Vander Stichele has been monitoring international trade negotiations and agreements since 1990, both at a regional and global level. She is an advisor to many NGOs whose indepth research on investment agreements and policies, and private investor strategies has sparked many international campaigns.
With an M.Phil in International Relations from Cambridge, Myriam's research is particularly focussed on the financial, food and supermarkets sectors, and the corporate strategies and services liberalisation related to these.
TNI fellow, President of the Board of TNI and honorary president of ATTAC-France [Association for Taxation of Financial Transaction to Aid Citizens]
Susan George is one of TNI's most renowned fellows for her long-term and ground-breaking analysis of global issues. Author of fourteen widely translated books, she describes her work in a cogent way that has come to define TNI: "The job of the responsible social scientist is first to uncover these forces [of wealth, power and control], to write about them clearly, without jargon... and finally..to take an advocacy position in favour of the disadvantaged, the underdogs, the victims of injustice."
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