NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Corporate Watch recently released a provocative report on the upcoming G8 summit to be held in Scotland this July. The G8 has had some important things to say about development and the role of private enterprise, especially in Africa under the UK’s presidency. The report, Bringing the G8 Home, puts some important issues on the table such as ecological health, social justice, and transparency -I agree these are important to the discussion. I can’t comment directly on the authors’ claims about the impacts of specific companies on Scotland or other areas, and I find some problems with the language that suggests that all the money directed to corporations somehow does no good at all, for these companies are sources of jobs, capital, and innovation. Despite all, I would still suggest that in a globalized world, with subsistance existences largely out of the question (as well as being inherently unequal in terms of health, education, and other critical ’quality of life’ areas), the global cash economy demands that we work toward creating jobs — good jobs — and that can only be done sustainably through the private sector. I wonder what others think of Corporate Watch’s take on the G8 – feel free to share a comment or send me a message.