Time for a fair economy

A note from the editor

Vanessa Baird

‘You know what would be really useful,’ said Jamie Kelsey-Fry, a London teacher and contributing editor to New Internationalist. ‘A guide or “roadmap” for the kind of economy we want.’

Jamie had been at the Occupy London camp pretty much every day since protesters took up residence outside St Paul’s Cathedral in the heart of the capital’s financial district in mid-October 2011.

His request for a roadmap seemed like a big ask at a time when leading politicians and their bevvy of economic advisers were plainly clueless and floundering at the helm.

But then New Internationalist has never shied away from such bold – or foolish? – attempts. We have always thought that the media convention of reporting the ills of the world but rarely coming up with ideas for resolving them, is simply not good enough.

And actually, when we started outlining the Roadmap that features as part of our main theme this month we found that, apart from our own ideas, there was a wealth of creative thinking and very practical proposals being formulated by progressive individuals, groups and networks.

It’s a reminder of how easy it is to slip into believing that ‘there is no alternative’ if you rely on the mainstream media for too much of your information.

This month, we also welcome Josie Long, a rising star of the alternative comedy circuit in Britain, who writes her first column for us on the topic of political awakening. There’s no getting away from it. Alternative ways of seeing things aren’t that hard to find at all.

Vanessa Baird for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

 Bill Proud / Cartoon Stock

Bill Proud / Cartoon Stock

Put equality first

Both inequality and economic instability are growing. How deep does the connection go? wonders Vanessa Baird.

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Features

Paul, from Ghana,
sells on the streets
of Buenos Aires.Sebastiano Vitale

Frontline Africans: migrants hit by Europe's economic decline

What can African migrant workers do when faced with rising unemployment and racism in Europe? Sarah Babiker reports from Spain and Argentina.

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A roadmap for a fair economy

Here's how to get from where we are to where we want to be...

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What the squid did next Illustration by Ed Hall

What the squid did next

They say that US investment bank Goldman Sachs runs the world. Kenneth Haar investigates just how it's wrapping its tentacles around Europe.

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Young Mexicans demand solar power.Eliana Aporte / Reuters

Is the Green New Deal a dead duck?

Four years ago it was hailed as the cure for our
economic and environmental woes. So what’s
happened? Zoe Cormier investigates.

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Tee time in Bali: a
tourist plays golf from a
tee surrounded by paddy
fields. Farmland is being
sacrificed to make way for
development – leading to
soaring food prices.Murdani Usman / Reuters

Boom Times in Bali

Life has changed on the 'island paradise'- but foreign investment is not all it's cracked up to be. Jamie James looks beyond the tourist brochures.

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Blogs

Podcast: child soldiers in Colombia

Podcast: child soldiers in Colombia


Seth Biderman
discusses the plight of children forced to fight in Colombia's civil war and what happens when they try to reintegrate into civil society

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Opinion

Should assisted suicide be legalized?

Should assisted suicide be legalized?

Right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy and palliative medicine professor Ilora Finlay go head-to-head - read their arguments and join the debate.

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Obama's broken resolutions Wonderlane Under a CC Licence

Obama's broken resolutions

Unfulfilled promises may come back to haunt Obama this election year, says Mark Engler.

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Agenda

An Occupy Wall Street demonstrator
is arrested by New York City police.Mike Segar / Reuters

Brute forces: a year of rough injustice

On the International Day Against Police Brutality, Nick Harvey looks back on a busy year for out-of-control officers.

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Women gather outside Cairo’s
State Council court to protest
against virginity tests.Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

Blue bras and mettle: Egypt's women stand their ground

Libby Powell reflects on last year's International Womens Day when women took to the streets of Egypt to fight for their rights.

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Regulars

Celebrating at a wedding in Jalalabad.Nick Megoran

Kyrgyzstan

Nick Megoran revisits one of the poorest of the former Soviet republics and finds that instability, corruption and ethnic tensions remain.

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Josie LongIdil Sukan

Going to Glastonbury is NOT political activism!

Our superb new columnist, comedian and writer Josie Long, on her political awakening and not having a smock.

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From left to
right: Metropolis,
Orifice Vulgatron,
Nonames.

Foreign Beggars

The artists from hip-hop group Foreign Beggars on street-rooted storytelling and why they won't dumb down their music.

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Letter from Botswana: ET is not an alien Illustration: Sarah John

Letter from Botswana: ET is not an alien

New columnist Lauri Kubuitsile introduces dry and dusty Mahalapye- a town that has stolen her heart.

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Film, Book & Music Reviews

Reviews

Reviews

Films, books and music from around the world.

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Festival of Respect

Festival of Respect

Claire Colley visits Rajasthan’s International Folk Festival.

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