Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has helped a lot of poor women, but
the basic problem in developing countries is landlessness. A $130
microloan won't solve that problem.
The Swedish Academy bestowed this year's Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus, the father of microcredit. It's easy to believe Yunus's low-interest loans to the poor are a silver bullet against global economic injustice. But it's not that simple.
The former Treasury Secretary speaks candidly on the inherent
inequities of globalization and the political, social and economic
challenges that lie ahead.
New federal guidelines for banks and credit card companies that boost minimum monthly payments have wreaked havoc on American families struggling to pay their bills and avoid bankruptcy.
Nicholas Kristof produces a steady stream of titillating reports on
child prostitution in the Third World. Better to focus on draconian
economic reforms driven by the World Bank that create the conditions
for prostitution.
The late socialist economist Harry Magdoff read Marx at
fifteen and never looked back. A self-educated co-editor of the
Monthly Review, he not only fought for a just and humane world;
he embodied his politics in the way he conducted his life.
It's easy to scoff at a rock star like Bono pairing up with
economist Jeffrey Sachs. But their tireless lobbying for debt relief
for the poorest nations could make a real difference for the 1 billion
people who live on less than a dollar a day.
