March 7, 2023

Ukraine War plus US interest rates perpetuate poverty, hunger, and injustice

UN SECRETARY–GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, in his address this week to the opening of the Summit of Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar, spoke of the current “perfect storm” for “perpetuating poverty and injustice – conflicts, droughts, hunger and extreme poverty….It is a matter of life and death….your countries are being  held back by processes and decisions that are made far beyond your borders.”

A Democracy Now! interview with Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz explained how US policies of raising interest rates during this conflict will have devastating effects on low income countries globally, reducing the value of their currencies and creating, once again, enormous debt burdens. “Countries that are poor will get even poorer.”  He points out that poverty and inequality are a matter of policy choices. Check out the podcast on 7 March Democracy Now! https://www.democracynow.org/2023/3/7/joseph_stiglitz_economy#transcript