Monsanto – A study in corporate wrongdoing

We have highlighted the ways to conduct responsible capitalism, we have written at length about the good practices of other organisations.  now it is time to highlight how capitalism perpetrates some of the most evil and reprehensible acts ever witnessed in the history of capitalism.  What do they do? Perhaps they make weapons and sell them to the highest bidder? No, perhaps then they create highly toxic pollutants and dump them in populated areas?  Again no.  Monsanto are an agricultural bio tech company which creates GM seeds for farmers.  They have cornered the market in America and are the largest producers of GM seeds in the world.  

 

Some Unpalatable Facts – The Need for a Global Minimum Wage

 

 At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.

More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening.

The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world

According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.

Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

If current trends continue, the Millennium Development Goals target of halving the proportion of underweight children will be missed by 30 million children, largely because of slow progress in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan

Based on enrolment data, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls. And these are regarded as optimistic numbers.

Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.

Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.

Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.

 

A Global Minimum Wage would end all of this…….

 

 

 

No Ifs No Buts – Wins the Battle but the War Rages ON!

No Ifs No Buts, John Prescott’s campaign against the proposed payment by RBS of £1 billion in bonuses to staff despite its spectacular failure and aggravation of the credit crisis, has succeeded in pressuring the bank to cut this figure to £175 million, the apparent legal minimum that could be paid under the existing contracts to staff.  An apparent victory for people power as over 31,000 joined the on line campaign against the bonuses.  Prescott issued a press release to both the media and supporters of his campaign in which he reported that

“You might have heard on the news that RBS have now agreed to pay out £175m in bonuses. This is 7% of what they paid last year and £825 million less than its reported they wanted to pay out this year. So I think this is a 93% victory for people power, common sense and Government intervention.”

 

Llyods Takeover Worries

 

Lloyds TSB’s acquisition of troubled HBOS, a deal brokered by Alistair Darling has been blamed for its recent downgrading by credit agency Moodys.  This video gives a great introduction to the merger and we will be following up the actions of Llyods since the takeover closely to demonstrate how irresponsible capitalism is costing us a fortune in tax revenues, and whether or not the government is enabling a new and fairer system to be put in place

 

Lloyds has Credit Rating Downgraded

Lloyds, one of the big British banks has had its triple Aaa rating downgraded by Moody’s, the reference agency.  this downgrade puts Lloyds on par with RBS and Barclays and could see the troubled institution appealing for more help from central government, effectively taking it into state ownership.  This comes the week after the governments committee into the credit crisis and collapse of the banking sector last year.  A stark warning to all that the credit crisis is far from over and that the capital requirements of these institutions are not even now fully understood.  banks require access to cheap capital for all of their operations, from maintaining the integrity of their mortgage portfolios to trading and investment functions.  Since the deregulation of the 1990′s they also increasingly utilise savers funds for ongoing operations and thus when credit tightens it puts savers at risk from a total collapse of the bank.