There's only one principle behind TTIP, CETA and other 'free trade' agreements, writes Conor J. Lynch. And no, it's not 'free trade' but 'corporate profit' - at the expense of consumers, taxpayers, environment, workers and democracy itself.
… TTIP hypocrisy - making corporations 'more equal' than people Conor J. … | 13th March 2015 Comment Trade Economics Corporations Politics ttip-democracy-cut.jpg … friendly environment for multinational corporations around the globe. Protective …
There are many good reasons to criticise Donald Trump, writes John McMurtry. But none of these matter to the US media, political and corporate powers determined to keep him out of the White House. With his radical talk of halving military spending, controlling Big Pharma and exiting 'free trade' agreements, Trump is a direct threat to the parasite capitalism that's destroying America.
… | 11th April 2016 Comment US Politics Finance Corporations War Health Trade … the lives of American workers" with rights to corporations to move anywhere to get cheaper …
What kind of companies is the European Central Bank supporting by buying €46 billion of their bonds under its QE programme? Research by Corporate Europe Observatory reveals a strong preference for oil, gas, tar sands, dirty power generation, armaments, aviation, airports, car makers, motorways, luxury goods and gambling. Our sustainable be future be damned!
… | 14th December 2016 News Finance EU Corporations Fossil Fuels Energy Aviation … bonds - essentially, making cheap loans to corporations, which is fundamentally a kind of … So who are the beneficiaries? Which corporations are enjoying the goodwill of the …
The leaked chapters of the EU-US TTIP 'free trade' deal reveal a shredding of health, environmental and other protections for consumers and citizens, writes Pete Dolack. It's a wet dream for corporate monopolists and profiteers, and the elite bureaucrats that serve them. But for civil society it represents an irreversible destruction of democracy itself.
… Pete Dolack | 5th May 2016 News Trade EU US Corporations Politics GMOs Toxics … at the behest of European multi-national corporations. The Transatlantic Trade and … expected to do on behalf of multi-national corporations but words like 'may' and 'can' …
President Obama faced reality last Friday when he conceded that the TPP would not be ratified by this Congress, write Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers. It was a massive victory for a people power: the culmination of a years-long campaign to expose the corporate depravity at TPP's heart, and turn it into political poison. Trump's victory was just the last straw that broke TPP's back.
… | 14th November 2016 News Trade USA Politics Corporations … people still told us we could not win, the corporations wanted this and they would get … the prices of pharmaceuticals? Making corporations more powerful than governments? …
A series of judgments against Canada in secret corporate tribunals costing taxpayers $100s of millions show that 'free trade' agreements really do restrict governments' right to protect health, environment and endangered species, writes Nick Dearden.
… Dearden | 26th March 2014 Comment Politics Corporations Trade Mining Canada EU … a corporate court system - allowing foreign corporations to sue governments in secret …
To understand how technology is used in the real world we must appreciate who owns and controls it, writes Colin Todhunter: whose interests it serves, and how it works in an economic system driven by profit, geopolitics and the compulsion to capture and control markets - while the monopolists proclaim a noble ideology of 'free choice' and 'democracy'.
… 14th March 2016 Comment Food Farming Politics Corporations USA kalimantan-cut.jpg To … and the environment by powerful transnational corporations. Look no further to see how … and the WTO serves the interests of these corporations, for instance, or the roles that …
Environmental campaigner and former politician Donnachadh McCarthy on the power of political lobbyists and the damage they do to democracy.
… – are increasingly being sponsored by corporations. Even in inner-city Peckham, … corporate PR fronts, whether they are oil corporations or disgraced banks. All of the … selling their political-lobbying services to corporations. When I then examined fundraising …
With the EU Parliament voting next week on CETA, the EU-Canada trade deal, 89 MEPs are demanding that its system of 'corporate courts' must first be verified by the European Court of Justice as compatible with existing EU law. But pro-CETA parliamentary leaders are trying to block all debate in the run-up to the vote.
… coming into force. The ICS would enable corporations to sue participating governments … sought from Canada. In many ways, CETA gives corporations even clearer powers to sue. Canadian corporations have launched 42 cases against …
Boosters of 'free trade' agreements - like the Trans Pacific Partnership that's being signed today - like to make big promises, writes Pete Dolack: trillions of dollars of economic gains, billions of dollars of investment, millions of new jobs. But there's only one certainty, and it's one they never mention: the permanent redistribution of power and income from working people to capital.
… damned: TPP 'benefits' are strictly for the corporations Pete Dolack | 4th February 2016 News Trade Politics Regulation Economics Corporations New Zealand Pacific … ' provision, whereby multi-national corporations can sue governments to overturn …
If you're expecting COP21 in Paris to save the world's climate you're in for a disappointment, writes Alex Scrivener. For governments, climate is secondary to the really big issues - like endless economic growth and ever-increasing corporate profit. But there's still plenty campaigners can do to shame politicians, businesses and investors into meaningful action.
… | 14th August 2015 News Climate Change COP21 Corporations Politics Unfccc … puts the interest of fossil fuel addicted corporations above those of the people. … trade deals that bestow rights on fossil fuel corporations. It means fighting the politics …
Newly assertive citizens and consumers are putting the world's most feared and powerful corporations on the defensive, writes Ronnie Cummins. Now is the time to press home our advantage!
… putting the world's most feared and powerful corporations on the defensive, writes Ronnie … shelves - industrial food and biotech corporations are in a panic. After being … heavy restrictions on GMOs and pesticide corporations, and where Hawaii County (Kona) …
The TTIP EU-US trade deal has finally hit the rocks with massive popular opposition on both sides of the Atlantic gaining serious political traction, write Guy Taylor & Nick Dearden. There's now a good chance that TTIP will be defeated - but first we must make sure that CETA, the equally toxic EU-Canada 'Trojan Horse' deal, bites the dust.
… May 2016 Comment Trade EU US Canada Politics Corporations ttip-horse-cut.jpg The TTIP EU-US … no benefits . CETA - a Trojan horse for US corporations' attack on Europe Events have … a terrible idea. It's not EU versus US - it's corporations versus people There is a danger, …
It's now clear what place government ministers and senior officials want for the UK in a post-Brexit world, writes Mark Curtis - and it's not pretty! A new era of corporate 'free trade' colonialism looms, spearheaded by aid spending, with ramped-up arms exports to the world's most corrupt and repressive regimes, all backed up by military force to project the Britain's global financial interests.
… and deregulation and which empower corporations to take legal action against … , boosted by Donald Trump's election. Aid for corporations, not people International … £1.5 billion to £6 billion. CDC invests in corporations overseas and has been widely …
Would UKIP be riding so high if voters knew of the party's links with powerful right-wing US corporate interests promoting fossil fuels, denying climate change, opposing gun control, and supporting big tobacco, teaching creationism in schools, healthcare privatisation and the lifting of nuclear power regulation? An Ecologist investigation exposes the real UKIP.
… links with American right-wingers who support corporations' rights above those of both … us into vassals of unaccountable American corporations. Helmer's response to these … us into vassals of unaccountable American corporations. …
Britain's corporate energy oligarchy has failed us, writes Calum McGregor. It's given us widespread fuel poverty, unfair tariffs, constant price hikes, billions siphoned off to shareholders, and chronic under-investment in renewables. Now is the time for a new model: public and co-operative ownership of energy infrastructure under participative democratic control.
… Energy Commons UK Politics Green Economy Corporations westmill-cut.jpg Britain's … change. It demands independence from large corporations, decentralisation, and a shift … democracy, is no panacea. Large state-owned corporations are still guilty of …
The corporate dominance of 'free' media in western democracies imposes deep structural constraints on what may be reported, and how, writes Jonathan Cook. Syria is now the latest example of skewed reportage - and even journalists seeking to analyse the problem must carefully avoid the real reasons for it.
… Cook | 21st February 2016 Comment War Media Corporations Politics Syria US UK ypg-cut.jpg … to reflect the interests of power - and the corporations that control our media are power. … to reflect the interests of power - and the corporations that control our media are power. …
A final vote to give President Obama 'fast track' authority to pursue the TTP and TTIP trade negotiations is will take place in the US House of Representatives today, writes Conor J. Lynch. This time, it's final. And yes, it really does matter. A 'yes' vote would represent the greatest corporate power grab of our times - and there's just hours in which to stop it.
… | 12th June 2015 Activism Trade Politics USA Corporations la-oroya-peru-cut.jpg A final … or regulation" , it can and has been used by corporations as a bargaining tool, pushing … annual cases filed by 2012. Basically, big corporations discovered how valuable the ISDS …
For the world's multinational corporations, the climate crisis is just another business opportunity, writes Philippa de Boissière. One example is Enel-Endesa's 'climate friendly' 217m high El Quimbo dam in Colombia - a huge exercise in expropriation at taxpayer expense, backed by police violence against strong local resistance.
… de Boissière | 13th January 2015 News Corporations Colombia South America Energy … For the world's multinational corporations, the climate crisis is just … local resistance. Certain multinational corporations the world over are not only …
A bill to quadruple the UK's aid funding to a profit-driven 'private equity' company owned by the government comes before MPs today for its third reading, writes Global Justice Now. Trouble is the investments do little or nothing for the poor, and instead entrench corporate power in health, education and infrastructure. Parliament should seize this last chance to reject the new law.
UK's 'development for profit' private equity arm set to grab £6 billion of aid funds Global Justice Now | 10th January 2017 Activism Development UK Law Politics beggar-india-cut.jpg A bill to …
The LibDems fear the Greens will beat them in the Euro-elections, writes Rupert Read. Now they plan to use Green opposition to the 'corporate charter' TTIP trade deal to batter the Greens on 'jobs'.
… Read | 10th March 2014 News UK Politics Trade Corporations cleggie-2.png The LibDems fear … Neo-liberal It also lays bare their pro-large-corporations agenda. The LibDems are going to … tribunals' to decide on complaints made by corporations against states that, they claim, …
Donnachadh McCarthy, former deputy chair of the Lib-Dems, speaks to The Ecologist about the collapse of British democracy and his hopes for reform.
… policy are often propaganda fronts for corporations, whether oil corporations or robber banks. All of the … peers selling political-lobbying services to corporations. When I then examined …
Donald Trump's scheme to rebuild US infrastructure could be among the world's greatest ever financial heists, writes Pete Dolack. He has chosen the most expensive, anti-democratic way to do the job, through the mass privatization of priceless public assets - sticking users and taxpayers for exorbitant charges for decades to come, while banks and speculators reap the profits.
… of the infrastructure needs that the US has." Corporations plunder, people pay in Britain … public services to Macquarie-led consortiums. Corporations plunder, people pay across Europe … back their water after selling systems to corporations. The city of Paris' contracts …