Hello.

The G8 summit has ended. The question is what did they really achieve? Certainly there were many different pledges, statements of support and non binding promises. None of which will lead to any concrete action on the part of the G8.

As the globalization race heats up, countries are becoming more xenophobic and self interest is at an all time high. This new march in particular is led by the U.S. which instead of opening economic doors seems to be in the process of slamming them as fast as possible. NGO’s and African movements bang on about the lack of funding for Africa, and really, what did they expect? We’re talking about a group of countries that refuse to rein in Oil company profits or at the very least regulate the way in which those companies do business in Africa. Unwilling to do this they are also stalling on opening markets in developing countries. And this is the group to which the NGO’s are putting their trust in in order to fund aid to Africa. I believed two years ago that the G8 declarations would dwindle to a mere ghost of promises and this year’s summit did nothing more than prove me correct. They are not interested in raising the standard of living in other countries as it would damage their own.To have fully industrialized Africa would cut Western power to a minimum.This is not what the G8 is about. They are about maintaining their strangle hold on the world markets and increasing profits. Period. Their pledges of aid are just crumbs they are throwing to the masses as a gesture of high morality. A false morality to say the least.

If the G8 were interested in maintaining a sense of fairness among world markets they would have made a ruling in the growth of hedge funds. A little nugget most news agencies have ignored. Hedge funds are fast growing for profit only investment funds that are reaching dangerous proportions in the world economic market. More and more companies are turning to privately held hedge funds to do business, in effect very slowly closing the public market. The last time these types of funds were allowed to grow at such a rate we had a bit of a world wide problem. Somewhere around 1929. But why make ruling when investors in these funds are reaping unprecedented profit? Keep in mind that hedge funds are only available to those with incomes in the six figures. There are rules governing who can join a hedge fund and it generally revolves around their net worth. Hedge funds do not exist for the general Joe whose got a fiver to invest. The wealthiest investors are closing ranks and choking the market with both hedge funds and private equity firms. Both types of investment firms are free from the strict oversight of the SEC and other federal agencies. So the G8 are behaving exactly as one would expect. As long as painfully wealthy investors are willing to risk big losses for even bigger gains through profit and fees the G8 will pretend they can’t see where this type of investing will lead.

By increasing both the oversight and the instituting stricter rules for hedge funds and private equity firms, thereby reducing the number of these types of investment houses, the G8 would actually be helping markets that are still developing. And if they can’t pony up enough cash for vaccinations and anti-retro-viral meds for those who are poor and dying by the thousands, it comes as no surprise that they are unwilling to rein in investment strategies that help only the ultra rich, does it?

Dogwoman