Posted on 01/26/2005 10:30:20 AM PST by ejdrapes
DAVOS, Switzerland - French President Jacques Chirac called on the world's richest nations Wednesday to provide billions of dollars in aid for poor countries through new taxes and other measures that would help combat AIDS, poverty and natural disasters. He said the tsunami that struck Asian coastlines last month — possibly killing up to 300,000 people — should trigger not only aid to that region but a broader coordinated drive by developed nations to reach out to the Third World. "The world suffers chronically from what has been strikingly called the 'silent tsunamis.' Famine. Infectious diseases that decimate the life force of entire continents," Chirac said in a video message from Paris to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. The annual meeting, in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, has taken on increased importance in recent years as globalization and common threats — from terrorism to increased vulnerability to natural disasters — have made the world's nations and governments more dependent on each other. Chirac alluded to such interdependence, saying that natural disasters, political unrest, uncontrolled migration and extremism are "breeding grounds for terrorism" — suggesting developed nations had a stake in resolving the problem. The French leader outlined a number of steps to raise billions of dollars through taxes on international financial transactions, plane tickets or fuel used by airliners and oceangoing vessels. He also proposed that countries with bank secrecy laws make a special contribution to Third World aid and that developed nations provide "coordinated tax incentives" to stimulate private donations. Chirac asked that the world's eight leading developed nations debate his plan at a G-8 summit in July in Scotland that will be hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He did not spell out an amount of money that would be generated, but gave several examples. A tax on international financial transactions — which the United States strongly opposes — would raise $10 billion a year, while a $1 tax on every plane ticket sold worldwide would raise "at least $3 billion" a year without causing the aviation industry much harm, Chirac said. Bad weather prevented Chirac from attending. Blair was to deliver an address later Wednesday at the gathering of the world's elite. Some 2,500 corporate, political and other leaders who spend five days debating an array of issues from AIDS to U.S. leadership, from Europe's anemic growth to China's phenomenal expansion. In over 200 workshops and debates, the Davos participants focus on "tough choices." One example is China, whose economic transformation is redrafting the world order and whose phenomenal growth has already triggered higher oil prices — which, in turn, sharpens the global climate change debate. China's growth will help spur "global demand for energy ... by 60 percent by 2030," said N.R. Narayana Murthy, chairman of Infosys Technologies of India. "There is no stopping this giant," said Takatoshi Ito of the University of Tokyo. China's economy grew at an annual rate of 9.5 percent in 2004, and many expect the 2005 figure to surpass that. He also said that China accounted for a staggering proportion of the world's consumption of some materials. "Last year, China consumed 25 to 30 percent of most major industrial materials, especially metals," said Stephen S. Roach, chief economist for Morgan Stanley USA. China was responsible for 43 percent of the world's consumption of concrete, he added. Conference attendees also focused on Europe's lackluster economic performance, the seemingly improved chances for peace in the Middle East, the future of U.S. global leadership, the fate of world trade talks, what to do with weapons of mass destruction and combatting poverty. "The three richest people in the world own more than the gross domestic product of 40 of the world's poorest nations," said Daniel Vasella, chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG. Former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, who now heads the International Crisis Group, said 2005 was a pivotal year considering the pending world trade talks, a September summit of world leaders on global security issues and the need to meet U.N. development goals including halving global poverty by 2015. "If we don't understand the significance of 2005, we're just missing a really fundamental point," he said. "This is a make or break year." The administration of President Bush also has a crucial role, participants said. The United States "produces 30 percent of the world's goods and buys $600 billion in products from developing nations," said John A. Thain, chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange. "The U.S. leadership role in the global economy is an important one." Americans were also criticized, however, for borrowing a lot and saving little — suggesting excessive consumption. Stephen S. Roach, chief economist for Morgan Stanley USA, called U.S. consumers self-indulgent — terming them "an accident waiting to happen." Chirac Urges Taxes to Help World's Poor
Gee....if I had no clean water, I might just visit with my neighbors, organize a group of interested citizens and take up a collection to sink a well in a central location. Do you think that might work?
How did Americans do it? Did someone do it for us? The clean water fairy perhaps?
Nonsense.
No, not lazy, but victims of corrupt dictatorships and brutal Islamic fundamental regimes. Many are of course Islamic, you know, the religion of peace, which happens to be the cult these dictators and fundamentalist regimes belong to as well. That's how they take care of their population, it's Allah's way after all. They are supposed to be poor and suffer on earth, while Allah takes the wealth to buy arms to fight the infidel.
It's not tax that is needed to "feed the poor", it's the will to wipe out these regimes and this evil cult that breeds this poverty in the first place.
Tossing money at it, feeding these ignorant people is never going to solve the problem. We've been doing that for 100 years, all it does is make them breed more Jihadists. And lazyness as well does play a part. Whats so hard about boiling water to kill bacteria and parasites?
Ah yes.......the famed "FOR THE CHILDREN" argument. Is that the best you can do when advocating the extortion of more US dollars?
Dirty little secret: most of Africa's problems -- water, AIDS, mass starvation -- can be traced to their corrupt governments.
I blame Africa's problems on British colonialism.
Jacques, garder vos mains de mon portefeuille.
Keep going! You're sooo entertaining!
This is funny considering Chirac has generally stood for lower tax rates
How do we get clean drinking water here in the United States?"
Because you have the resources.
So are these people lazy then?
What resources do they lack?
Clean water and good soil.
You said they didn't have clean water because they lacked resources. Now you say the resource they lack is "clean water". I think we’re getting nowhere, fast.
It always raises my interest when I hear that 300 million people, or a whole continent, can’t do something unless we give it to them.
I guess we had no compassion after the tsunami either, huh?
Precisely
All you water are belong to us.
That's right. We stole it all too. We want to deprive the whole world of clean water. Mean, heartless Americans...
Why don't we just give millions of dollars of aid and volunteer labor to Africa. Oh, wait... we already do.
And if not for the poor then make it a tax for AIDS.. anything, just start a new tax !
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/050126/1/3q44a.html
The rain fell on Zimbabwe when it was Rhodesia and its soil was good. But now...
*sigh* what a humanitarian... < /sarc >
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.