Economy
New Internationalist provides comprehensive analysis on burgeoning corporate power and its impact on people and planet, as well as ideas on how we can change our economies for the better.
On this page, readers will find extensive coverage on the social movements – working on both a micro and macro-level – to critique and challenge capitalism – from garment factory unions in Bangladesh to rail staff striking against cuts in the name of ‘modernization’, as well as the causes of the global cost of living crisis.
Trade unions – the facts
From the changing workplace to zero-hours contracts, precarious working and outsourcing: workers are open to extreme exploitation. Here are the facts.
A migrant’s story
Trade unions aren’t even on the radar of most of London’s poorly treated hospitality workers. But a union could help them find their voice, as Afrika explains.
‘Politics is the battle of remembering over forgetting’
Comedian and activist Mark Thomas talks socialist sheds, working-class stories and the importance of sticking together.
Digital work marketplaces impose a new balance of power
Can we reverse the diminishing power of workers in a world of hyper-geographically mobile work? asks Mark Graham.
Mind the technology gap - the facts
Technology can be a big enabler – yet the difference in terms of what’s available to rich and poor is vast.
Technology as if people mattered*
The world's poor are still losing out. They need a better deal, argues Dinyar Godrej.
Mostafa's story
One man's inspiring but disturbing journey to become a rickshaw rider in Bangladesh. Photos by Ana Norman Bermudez.
Former Kamlari slave girls pave the way for change in Nepal
By speaking out about their experiences, survivors have helped change society, reports Kevin Childs.
Breaking the system designed to keep tea workers poor
Sabita Banerji reports on the challenge of securing labour rights for plantation workers in India.
Myth 7: Financial regulation will destroy a profitable banking sector
Why should financial markets be accountable only to themselves? asks David Ransom.
Myth 6: Fossil fuels are more economically viable than renewables
Not if you look at the environmental costs, says Dinyar Godrej.
Myth 5: The private sector is more efficient than the public sector
There is no evidence of greater efficiency, explains Dinyar Godrej.
Myth 3: Taxing the rich scares off investors and stalls economic performance
Taxation creates prosperity just as much as private enterprise, says David Ransom.
Myth 1: Austerity will lead to 'jobs and growth'
It's wrong to sell austerity as a cure for economic woes, says Dinyar Godrej.
The Left should embrace degrowth
Giorgos Kallis explains why we should all be living ‘the degrowth way’.
Worshippers of the Almighty Invisible Hand
Robert W Parenteau’s satirical look at true believers in the ‘free market’.
21st-century coffin ships
As we consider the plight of today’s asylum-seekers, the fate of Irish refugees two centuries ago is instructive, writes Jeremy Seabrook.
The big bank boondoggle*
Big private banks have been resurrected by the crisis they caused, says David Ransom.
Does our money-obsessed world really make us happy?
Life under capitalism is a long way from the image we are sold, says Amit Singh. We need another way.
Unfulfilled promises and unrelenting poverty
Iris Gonzales looks back on a difficult year for the Philippines.
The unwelcome return of development pornography
John Hilary on a degrading spectacle that keeps coming back.
The company they keep
Big NGOs and big corporations – Ian Brown finds they are getting a bit too close.
Eight Facts About American Inequality
Pierce Nahigyan points out some hard facts on the country’s economy.
There’s a lot more at stake than didgeridoos
Amarina Smith looks at the lack of protection for indigenous traditional knowledge in Australia and beyond.
The truth behind Cambodia’s inequalities
David Nathan looks at a country where gold BMWs are parked next to families living in cardboard houses.
The Western way isn’t always the best way
Development – when forced onto poor countries – is a dangerous concept, argues Amit Singh.
The gold standard is nothing but a shiny distraction
And it offers a false sense of security in an unstable world, says Philip Pilkington.
Trade unions are feminism’s forgotten ally
We should learn from and link to the unions, says Rebecca Winson: solidarity works!
