Issues

Documento de Investigación 85, Mayo 2018

Acceso a medicamentos: experiencias con licencias obligatorias y uso gubernamental – el caso de la Hepatitis C

Por Dr. Carlos M. Correa y Dr. Germán Velásquez

El acceso a medicamentos está fuertemente condicionado por su precio y por los mecanismos de financiamiento que pueden aplicarse en cada país. […] Un factor determinante en la fijación del precio de los medicamentos es el grado de competencia existente en una particular clase terapéutica, la que a su vez es influenciada por la existencia o no de derechos de propiedad intelectual, como patentes de invención.

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SouthViews No. 168, 12 June 2018

Warnings of a new global financial crisis

By Martin Khor

There are increasing warnings of an imminent new financial crisis, not only from the billionaire investor George Soros, but also from eminent economists associated with the Bank for International Settlements, the bank of central banks. The warnings come at a moment when there are signs of international capital flowing out of some emerging economies, including Turkey, Argentina and Indonesia. Some economists have been warning that the boom-bust cycle in capital flows to developing countries will cause disruption, when there is a turn from boom to bust. All it needs is a trigger, which may then snowball as investors in herd-like manner head for the exit door. Their behaviour is akin to a self-fulfilling prophecy: if enough speculative investors think this is the time to move back to the global financial capitals, then the exodus will happen, as it did in previous “bust” phases of the cycle. (more…)

SC Lunch Briefing with the Executive Director, 17 April 2018

Title:                 The Global South Facing a New Era of Unilateralism and Protectionism: Challenges and                                            Prospects

Date:                 Tuesday, 17 April 2018, 13h00-15h00

Venue:              Room XXIII, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Organizers:      The South Centre

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Policy Brief 48, June 2018

Collaboration or Co-optation? A review of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax

By Manuel F. Montes and Pooja Rangaprasad

The Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT), launched in April 2016, is an effort to intensify cooperation on tax issues among the staff of the OECD, IMF, World Bank and the United Nations.  The PCT’s stated objectives include the production of joint outputs, strengthening interactions between standard setting, capacity building and technical assistance and sharing information. PCT has since produced toolkits on issues such as tax incentives, transfer pricing, and taxation of offshore indirect transfers. The PCT also held its first global conference in February 2018 at the UN where a concluding ‘conference statement’, negotiated among the four secretariats, was produced.

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Policy Brief 47, June 2018

Renewed crises in emerging economies and the IMF ‒ Muddling through again?

As recognised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global financial safety net including international reserves, Fund resources, bilateral swap arrangements, regional financing arrangements is “fragmented with uneven coverage” and “too costly, unreliable and conducive to moral hazard”.  Given the aversion of emerging economies to the IMF and unilateral debt standstills and exchange controls, the next crisis is likely to be even messier than the previous ones.  Some countries may seek and succeed in getting bilateral support from China or some reserve-currency countries according to their political stance and affiliation.  In such cases, crisis intervention would become even more politicised than in the past and a lot less reliant on multilateral arrangements.  By failing to establish an orderly and equitable system of crisis resolution, the IMF may very well find its role significantly diminished in the management of the next bout of crises in emerging economies.  In other words, multilateralism, however imperfect, could face another blow in the sphere of finance after trade.

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Statement, May 2018

South Centre Statement at the Meeting of Ministers of Health of the Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement

The South Centre reiterates its commitment to support the Non-Aligned countries so that there is close and effective cooperation among developing countries to strengthen a global health agenda. WHO was created as an international public agency in the service of global health. Recovering and reinforcing this role should be the work of all.

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Tax Cooperation Policy Brief 2, May 2018

Transfer Pricing: Concepts and Practices of the ‘Sixth Method’ in Transfer Pricing

Many developing countries are particularly concerned with problems of transfer pricing in the extractive industries, which are often significant components of their economies. Similar to other sectors, profit attribution may be highly dependent on the valuation of commodity exports. For this reason, a number of developing countries have adopted the ‘Sixth Method’, following the Argentine experience. This method aims to establish a clear and easily administered benchmark and avoid the need for subjective judgment and discretion.

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