A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only.
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leaders to introduce a Currency Transaction Levy to meet the aid revenue shortfall and safeguard lives from
the worst ravages of the economic storm (Stamp Out Poverty). One unanswered question is how such a
global tax would be enforced (Global Tax - The International Debate Education Association (IDEA)). Ideally a
levy would be managed by the UN but some countries in Latin America have already implemented levies.
Recently some support amongst senior EU politicians has been emerging, especially in Germany.
Reducing the over $1 trillion annually countries spend on military hardware. For the London G20 Summit in
April 2009, Hazel Henderson’s proposed reducing the over $1 trillion annually spent on military hardware:
“The summiteers can agree on the proposed United Nations Security Insurance Agency (UNSIA). Militarism is
ever-less useful in resolving today’s conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other guerrilla insurgencies. This UNSIA
proposal, backed by four Nobel laureates, would allow countries which wished to follow Costa Rica’s lead in
1947 and abolish their armed forces. Instead, countries could buy the insurance of a peacekeeping force from
the UN Security Council (expanded and veto-less). ……. The premiums would fund a standing, properly
trained UN peace-keeping force and complimentary contingents of NGO peace-making conflict-resolution
groups. The UNSIA proposal is taught in many university programs and was debated in the UN Security
Council in 1996 (see UNSIA). This and other proposals, including the Foreign Exchange Transaction Reporting
System (FXTRS) for Central Banks (Foreign Exchange Transaction Reporting System (FXTRS), are also
described in The United Nations Policy and Financing Alternatives, (1995) (UN Policy and Financing
Alternatives and Henderson, H).
Perverse National Public Spending
Perverse subsidies are another global issue. It is estimated that $1.5 to $2 trillion a year is spent worldwide
on perverse subsidies, which encourage economically, socially and environmentally damaging activities.
These include the subsidies from rich-country governments to their farming and agricultural sectors, most of
which go to large instead of small farmers and small organic farmers who most need help. Combined with
tariffs against imported food, these subsidies devastate these sectors in poorer countries and expose the
hypocrisy of rich-country support for free trade. But there are many other examples of perverse subsidies
such as subsidies to the oil industry which disguise the full costs of extraction and supply.
German subsidies for coal mining are so large that it would be economically efficient for the government to
close down all the mines and send the workers home on full pay for the rest of their lives. The environment
would benefit too. Subsidies for agriculture foster over-loading of croplands, leading to erosion of topsoil,
pollution from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and release of greenhouse gases. Subsidies for fossil fuels
aggravate pollution such as acid rain, urban smog and contribute to global warming. Subsidies for road
transportation promote some of the worst and most widespread forms of pollution. Subsidies for water
encourage misuse and over-use of supplies that are increasingly scarce in many lands. Subsidies for ocean
fisheries foster over-harvesting of fish stocks. Forestry subsidies encourage over-logging and other forms of
deforestation. Apart from the environmental and economic costs, these subsidies act as direct drains on
economies. Perverse subsidies in just these six sectors total at least $2 trillion per year.
This enormous sum contrasts markedly with the inadequate subsidies to green energy. Systematic national
and international measures are needed to reduce these perverse subsidies, year by year, and transfer the
money to green energy subsidies for both consumers and producers.
Conclusion
The proposals in this chapter, offer the prospect of:
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