The Outlook for International Monetary System Reform in 2011: A Preliminary Report

Reform of the international monetary system was placed on the agenda of the Group of 20 (G-20) a year ago at the initiative of the incoming French leadership of the G-20. On November 4, 2011 in Cannes, France, the G-20 leaders will announce their conclusions and agreements after a year and half of intense dialogue and debate. The discussions cover (1) surveillance of the global economy and financial system, (2) international lender of last resort mechanisms, (3) capital flows and financial pressures, (4) the currency and reserve asset system, and (5) governance of the international monetary system. While the governance issue, in the form of governance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is not explicitly on the agenda of the G-20 leaders, the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF has placed it on the agenda with high priority. Based on the evidence to date, Truman expects that by the end of 2011, the result will produce a barely passing grade on substance—below B on the inflated scale of grades today—but an A for effort. As long as the process achieves the A for effort via a thorough examination of the full range of reform issues, the shortfall on substance is not crucial, and he welcomes being proved wrong on substance. More would be desirable, but the international monetary system will continue to evolve.

Promises, Promises

As host of the Olympic Games, China seeks to increase national economic and socialdevelopment and "display to the world a new image of China", and presents the Games as an opportunity to foster democracy, improve human rights and integrate China with the rest of the world. In its Olympic Action Plan promulgated in 2002, China outlined the phases of construction in the run up to the 2008 Games, and the standards to which it would hold itself in the governance and construction of venues, impact on Beijing's environment, increasing social and economic development and providing China's citizenry with greater access to information and technology.The goals and specific commitments that the government has adopted not only have implications for the smooth and successfuloperation of the Olympic Games, but also have the potential to impact on a number of China's international obligations, including its human rights obligations.Despite human rights-related commitments as diverse as transparency and accountability, access to information and freedom of the press, poverty alleviation, an improved standard of living for all people, and compensation for evictions and health issues, the record to date raises serious compliance issues

Supply of Online Environmental Information to Unknown Demand : The Importance of Interpretation and Liability Related to a National Network of River Level Data

The research described here is supported by the award made by the RCUK Digital Economy programme to the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub; award reference: EP/G066051/1. It has been ethically considered within the University of Aberdeen's Framework for Research Ethics and Governance.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Taking Blockchain Seriously

In the present techno-political moment it is clear that ignoring or dismissing the hype surrounding blockchain is unwise, and certainly for regulatory authorities and governments who must keep a grip on the technology and those promoting it, in order to ensure democratic accountability and regulatory legitimacy within the blockchain ecosystem and beyond. Blockchain is telling (and showing) us something very important about the evolution of capital and neoliberal economic reason, and the likely impact in the near future on forms and patterns of work, social organization, and, crucially, on communities and individuals who lack influence over the technologies and data that increasingly shape and control their lives. In this short essay I introduce some of the problems in the regulation of blockchain and offer counter-narratives aimed at cutting through the hype fuelling the ascendency of this most contemporary of technologies

A Social Dimension for Transatlantic Economic Relations

Transatlantic Economic Relations (TER) was neglected by politi¬cians for much of the twentieth century as international security issues took priority. Since the end of the Cold War, however, and as economic issues have come to prominence TER has assumed increasing importance and yet is largely overlooked in academic discussion. This report places TER in its historical context and demonstrates how the political agenda and institutional setup are both largely dysfunctional. Viewed through the prism of industrial relations and drawing on some real life examples from both sides of the Atlantic, it argues that the social dimension is a challenge central to the future development of the relationship and proposes institutional innovations which could also be replicated in other areas: for instance in support of environmental concerns. Presenting some guiding principles for transatlantic trade, this paper recommends the creation of a new secretariat to act as a permanent contact point and providing a variety of practical functions essential to making TER work

Development that works, March 31, 2011

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Conference Series, On March 31, 2011, more than 100 people participated in a conference titled “Development That Works,” sponsored by Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future in collaboration with the BU Global Development program. In the pages that follow, four essays written by Boston University graduate students capture the salient points and overarching themes from the four sessions, each of which featured presentations by outstanding scholars and practitioners working in the field of development. The conference agenda and speakers’ biographies are included following the essays.The theme and the title of the conference—”Development That Works”—stemmed from the conference organizers’ desire to explore, from a groundlevel perspective, what programs, policies, and practices have been shown—or appear to have the potential—to achieve sustained, long-term advances in development in various parts of the world. The intent was not to simply showcase “success stories,” but rather to explore the larger concepts and opportunities that have resulted in development that is meaningful and sustainable over time. The presentations and discussions focused on critical assessments of why and how some programs take hold, and what can be learned from them. From the influence of global economic structures to innovative private sector programs and the need to evaluate development programs at the “granular” level, the expert panelists provided well-informed and often provocative perspectives on what is and isn’t working in development programs today, and what could work better in the future

Social-ecological analysis of climate induced changes in biodiversity – outline of a research concept

The interactions of changes in climate and biodiversity with societal actions, structures and processes are a priority topic within the international scientific debate – and thus, a relevant subject matter for BiKF’s work. This paper outlines a concept for transdisciplinary research within BiKF. It focuses on the analysis of social-ecological systems supporting society with biodiversity driven ecosystem services. Such research is considering different issues: defining sustainable societal adaptations to climate induced biodiversity changes; permitting adequate understanding of the social-ecological reproduction of ecosystem functions, including their conservation and restoration; analysing the societal values and socio-economic utilisation of ecosystem services. Gaining knowledge in these areas provides an improved basis for decision-making in biodiversity and resource management

Labour Rights in the FTAA

[Excerpt] Without an overall trade agreement containing stronger labour rights linkage than that of the NAALC model, advocates will have no central forum or mechanism for dealing with workers\u27 rights in the Americas. This paper suggests that labour rights advocates can and should shape a new viable social dimension in hemispheric trade and demand its inclusion in the FTAA. The emphasis of this paper is on a viable, not a definitive or triumphant, solution. Workers and their advocates do not triumph in the current conjuncture of economic and political forces. They do not will their way to victory with the sharpness of their criticism or the strength of their denunciations; they hold their losses and make small gains where possible. Workers\u27 advocates must coldly calculate what can be done with the reality they are dealt, hoping the outcomes will advance the longer-term struggle for social justice

Theorizing surveillance in the UK crime control field

Drawing upon the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Loic Wacquant, this paper argues that the demise of the Keynesian Welfare State (KWS) and the rise of neo-liberal economic policies in the UK has placed new surveillance technologies at the centre of a reconfigured “crime control field” (Garland, 2001) designed to control the problem populations created by neo-liberal economic policies (Wacquant, 2009a). The paper also suggests that field theory could be usefully deployed in future research to explore how wider global trends or social forces, such as neo-liberalism or bio-power, are refracted through the crime control field in different national jurisdictions. We conclude by showing how this approach provides a bridge between society-wide analysis and micro-sociology by exploring how the operation of new surveillance technologies is mediated by the “habitus” of surveillance agents working in the crime control field and contested by surveillance subjects