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...OK, in New York,
in the Conference organised by the
General Assembly of the United Nations,
which is usually meant to gather the Heads of State,
but was only attended by one Head of State,
Rafael Correa.
But, yes, it was attended by many state representatives:
prime ministers, ministers...
Precisely to make decisions
with regards to the crisis.
This was clearly contradictory
to the G-20.
Miguel d'Escoto has spoken of a G-192.
But as the G-20 is more powerful -
it will pretty much be the G-20 who
will make the decisions in the future.
Nevertheless, the Conference was interesting
- precisely to ask more fundamental questions.
The preparatory work done by the
comission directed by Stieglitz
has been interesting,
but it has not gone any further from the regulations
I mean, they were all economists,
I was the only non-economist in the comission...
Neo-Keynesian economists, that is to say,
who favour a strong regulation of the system.
But with a basic fault:
They looked to gather interesting ideas to revive it
and make the financial system flow again,
but they did not ask what for.
And the entire problem for the future is in that question.
When we fix the engine,
if we are to do things the same as before,
that would not be a solution.
In that sense, yes,
we must continue the work.
At the UN they will continue a bit,
the next Assembly, well, the current Assembly,
will have to continue working on this,
but we should not expect much from that.
So, it is necessary to continue working.
Yes, I think it is interesting that several bodies
continue this discussion.
There are a few initiatives in that sense,
I don't know if you have heard of
the initiative proposed by Albert,
about the internet? He is also
mobilising many people, trying to obtain
a transforming strategy.
At the end of October we will meet up in Brussels
for a meeting of the World Alternatives Forum,
which got together last year in Caracas,
but will now try to build more organised foundations
for the continuation of the work.
It is really great that there are so many places
going on with such work.
In that sense, yes, this initiative,
the Barcelona Consensus, seems interesting.
Not only to ask more fundamental questions,
but also to do it in a way
that can be understood by most people.
Especially the ones who make the decisions.
I also think it is interesting
to link to the World Social Forum,
which clearly is an important initiative.
It has got its limitations, in its very essence.
It must be supported on one hand,
and completed on the other.
In that sense this seems
like a completely positive project to me.