The world financial crisis, and Russia's collapse in particular, have provoked a rush of proclamations by experts of all varieties that the neo-liberal consensus may not be perfect. Critics like the 50 Years is Enough Network have been saying this for years, of course, but there’s nothing like some pain for the powerful to drive plain realities home to pundits.

The powerful business interests and political elites pushing the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), the "investors' bill of rights" that would require countries to privilege corporate privilege over individual and societal rights, are nearing the end of their self-declared break. They have been hoping that the six-month recess from negotiations which widespread protests over the treaty's provisions forced on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the club of the 29 richest countries, would convince opponents that the treaty is dead.

But as the negotiations re-open on October 20, the worldwide movement that sprang up to kill the MAI is ready and waiting.

Since the latest push for IMF expansion began in January, opponents have been arguing that the IMF should not receive any more money from the U.S. at this time, certainly not a $14.5 billion increase in the U.S. quota to the IMF. The disastrous track record of the IMF, including its handling of the Asian financial crisis and the recent developments in Russia, suggest that the IMF continues to implement policies that hurt the countries that it is supposed to be helping.

In a Congress eager to do the bidding of Big Business, an item atop the Chamber of Commerce's corporate welfare agenda is in serious jeopardy.

Why We Oppose the IMF Quota Increase

Should international development assistance from the World Bank for two of the poorest countries in Africa be used to support the world's richest oil companies? An international consortium consisting of Exxon, Shell and ELF is planning a multi-billion dollar oil exploitation project with serious environmental and social risks that many fear may create another Ogoniland, Nigeria's oil-producing region marked by environmental devastation and brutal human rights violations. The oil project is in Chad and Cameroon, two countries that have few democratic freedoms for its people.